Take Back The Capitol, To March in the Rain

The Bus to No Where

Day two began with less confusion than the day before. In an attempt to get ahead of the game, I wanted to board the first bus leaving the 4H Center in route to the main camp. This would give me a little more time to do things like fill my coffee thermos, check my email and blog stats, and generally try to get an understanding of today’s planned events. Just as I got out to the bus assembly area, I noticed the first bus just pulling out. Bad luck for me. I quickly boarded the next bus in line and noticed my friend Mark already on the bus. After a short wait of a few minutes, the bus pulled out and after a few  minutes took a turn that I did not recognize from the ride of the day before. Confident that the bus driver was sure of his route (being a local and all) and was avoiding some of the road construction I had noticed before, for the ride. I sat back and got comfortable as the bus took various turns and twists through the tight streets of Chevy Chase, Maryland on its way to Washington DC. After a while most of noticed that at the 45 minute point that we should have reached the  Main Camp had come and gone, we were still making turns and turn a rounds and that the bus driver was obviously lost. The bus would become to be known later in the day as the “lost bus”.

One of our organizers was on the bus and approached the driver, who by now was somewhat frustrated and a little bit defensive of his performance. With the use of a bit of delegation and the technology of an IPhone with GPS, he determined our location and a suitable route to the Camp and negotiated with the driver to abandon the directions he had been given and follow the instructions of our Wisconsin based organizer and his IPhone.  Finally, after a ride of almost two hours, we arrived at the camp, the last bus to arrive by almost an hour.

It was now a mad rush to the media tent to check my stats and email, then off to the food tent for breakfast burritos and hot black instant coffee. While getting my coffee, I was informed that our group from Wisconsin would be assembling next to the tent for the big march into the downtown area and K Street, home of the celebrated Washington and Wall Street Lobbyists that short of the Federal Reserve Bank, seem to be the root of our current evils. 

The rain was now a steady downpour, increasing from the steady mist of the morning. It was going to be a wet day and a wet march. Upon reflection, it dawned on me that the weather would suit our needs as to letting those who we were speaking to that we were serious enough to not to be deterred what so ever and put off by a bit of harsh weather. We were serious about what we were doing and the message we were there to deliver. And a bit of bad weather would not deter us.

Assembling the March

For close to an hour the various groups representing the several dozen states present began to organize as one long formation. Separated and designated by the color of their signs representing their various states, and any other groups and or organizations they may have been representing, the large formation came slowly together. One such example of a specific organization is Wisconsin Jobs Now, a major organizer of the group from Wisconsin.

Once the various groups were organized by the states and groups they came with, the large long procession finally started out of the camp mall and on their way to K Street. While this formation was headed out of the Mall where the camp is located, the other #Occupy Wall Street camps were also just setting out with their own groups in large processions of protesters marching to the same location. Within an hour, the various groups and processions all converged on K Street. It was quite a sight. 

We March to K Street

I have seen larger demonstrations, but never in a march that targeted a specific location that represented a specific influence over our lives and our rulers. Seeing the merging of the various processions and the large diversity of the being represented by the marchers, I was quite impressed. It did feel as if what I was doing was historical, not only  in its importance to our lives and the future of our country, but in personal sense as well.

As the processions moved, the Washington DC Metro Police, as well as several other agencies whose vehicles identified them from the FBI to Homeland Security, moved dynamically with the crowds and adjusted to the size,  movement scope and movement of the massive demonstration.

As I was photographing the march, I noticed a good number of locals who had to admit that this was far different than the many other demonstrations that occur in Washington DC. This one was different in its makeup, more vocal, louder, and much larger than was usual. It was also spread out in a way over several blocks to make maximum usage of the people present in order to achieve that most disruption and attract the most amount of attention.  

As the rain picked up a bit, I wondered at what point the Police may take action as several intersections were being actively blocked along K Street. Even small tents were being rapidly set up smack in the middle of one intersection.

The weather was becoming a challenge, least for my camera, a Nikon P90. The moisture was badly fogging up not only my lens, but the sensor as well. Just repeatedly cleaning and wiping the lens was not working.  I had lost my camera lens cap in Milwaukee while covering the Occupy the Bridge event. It fell through the one large crack I saw in the bridge to the Highway below. Everything in my pack from notebooks to spare gloves and food were getting wet. The new cheaply made civilian pack I was using was not designed for inclement weather. 

As the rain increased, in noticed a disruption in the crowd about two hours after the march had started. Something had occurred that caused the Police to react and at least one man I could see was being arrested. He appeared to be an organizer of some sort. He appeared to a member of the local #Occupy Wall Street movement, Occupy Washington DC. As there is more than one #Occupy Camp in Downtown Washington DC, I was not sure which group or camp he was from. There was a huge amount of media present while this man was being arrested. There were individuals there among the officers and basically surrounding the area that were verbally protesting to the arrest. As the arrest was occurring I even noticed the man being arrested joking and laughing, with the officers keeping a light mood as well. It did appear that Law Enforcement as well as event  and protest leaders and or organizers where making a strong effort to keep the events violence free. I even noticed several people actually petting the nose of one of the Horses the Mounted Police Officers were on, and all seamed well and cordial at that point. I did hear of other incidents , but I did not observe any myself. On a note, the #Occupy Wall Street movement has no specific leaders, only organizers, according to their original mandate. This was one of the specific points of the first #Occupy  Camps on Wall Street in New York City.

Shortly after this, I noticed that I had completely lost the local  Wisconsin Delegation of the March. I was not sure what group I was now photographing. At any matter, at that point my camera battery was letting me know I was getting to the last few shots. I would do my best to make the last shots count. I quickly pulled out my military issue compass to shoot a quick azimuth. I would follow the group I was with back to the main camp. After a turn, the large crowd I was now following, or leading actually (in order to get good frontal shots) was now being escorted by a Metro Squad car, and at times it actually appeared to me that some uniformed officers were marching with the protesters, not just among them. Interesting? In any way, I did not see any violence. There was some though. There are quite a few videos of the event on YouTube. I hope to again be Video ready soon, as I  am never really satisfied by what I find on the YouTube.

The size and overall intensity of the March was what impressed me. That combined with the location and organization of the several different groups converging from different directions. This impressed me as the kind of organization methods that will eventually result in actual change. From the reaction of the locals, it appeared to be a March and protest for the books. I observed locals watching the march from rooftops, and high office windows. One would have to assume, if  this was just another march like any other, this would be a reaction that would not be expected. I took this as a sign that this was a  protest that was being noticed.

The procession I was following, now maybe about 700 to 1000 Marchers that had broken off from the other Marches and main location downtown on K Street, was now headed in the direction of the Mall and the main “Take Back the Capitol”  camp. I followed along on the side and sometimes in the front next to the escorting squad as we slowly headed back to the camp. At that point the camera was out of battery, and I was now just along for the ride.

RTB

Like the day before, upon arrival at the camp my first stop was the media tent to write a story and publish a  handful of  photos of the march as quickly as I could. After a struggle to get my camera connected to the media tent laptop (with no drivers, the SD card readers did not work) in order to get some photos, the story was easy to write, even if I didn’t spend much time in the editing process. I always seem to make a few blaring errors. I was done with and had published my report in no less than 60 minutes. I was surprised to see it was almost dark already. 

Even more soaked than the day before, and pretty muddy too, I finally made my cold and wet self to a bus waiting to fill up with riders to go back the 4H Center. There was one person on the bus (the media man from Wisconsin Jobs Now) and the wait would be a long one. I quickly made my way back through the camp in the hopes of recruiting a few more riders, but to no avail. Now resigned to a long wait on the bus, I was happy to see quite a few other riders on the bus by the time I got back on, and within a short 15 minutes, we were on our way. No lost bus this time. 

Within an hour we arrived back to a quiet facility, as most were in the process of drying out and getting dry clothes on. A  rumor of Pizza in the lobby circulated. My friend from Milwaukee Ryan and I went to  see but wondered if it was a false rumor as no Pizza seamed present. About 25 minutes later we decided the rumor was not for real, and headed the recreation room. Ah … Pizza. At least one last piece was still on the last Pizza tray with my name on it. The rumor as it turned out was “part”  accurate. I still had some soggy sandwiches for later, and they would come in handy.

After a discussion of the day’s events and their effectiveness with some of the organizers from Wisconsin, we agreed that it was a good two days of events. By early evening it was time to retire to my room to clean up and get some rest for the next day’s events. We had received word that the touring buses would be there in the morning. We were to load our belongings onto the touring buses as we would not be returning to the center the next day. Instead we would head out of Washington DC directly from there to get a jump on the mind boggling traffic. I wondered if everyone had got the message.

The Alarm Sounds

The next morning started with the fire alarm going off around 5:30. As we quickly rose and assembled outside, it soon  became apparent that there was no major fire. Although we did not know it at the time, a small fire was started (someone burning a small piece of paper apparently) in a garbage can. Another group was staying at the Center and was the cause.  We quickly returned to our rooms to prepare our things to load on the bus home and waited for the tour buses to show. As the same school buses were waiting, and we were to board the tour buses, a few of our group left on one of the school buses. They did not inform anyone either. Once it had been determined that a group had in fact headed out, the tour buses departed for our last day in Washington DC as part of the “Take Back the Capitol” event.

Sunshine, and Mud.

The camp was still pretty wet from the rain, but at least the sky was clear. After a quick check of the email, and an Egg Burrito, it was off to see what the day held. I heard of a group that was going to John Boehner’s office. I went to the area where a group was being prepared. There was a rather good speaker there motivating and organizing his troops.

Once again, I had a plan of sorts. I was aware of some of the bills that Congressman Boehner was working on and or looking at. I wished to ask him directly on the status of HR 459, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2011. Rep. Sean Duffy was listed as a co-sponsor. I wanted to know why Mr. Boehner was not pushing the bill. I did have some bi-partisan support. I was quickly shot down, being told that there was only one person designated to actually speak to or at Congressman Boehner if in fact the opportunity arose.  That person would be stressing jobs.

My Opinion 

As I said earlier, I usually attribute most of these problems (like the loss of living wage jobs and their replacement with low wage jobs, often doing the exactly same job) to the Federal Reserve, Wall Street, and the nice, close personal relationship they enjoy. I was not to get my opportunity. I decided to go my own way, and quickly moved to the media tent to do some research on what and where Mr. Boehner would be. I soon discovered he would be in session most of the day, and it would be very unlikely that anyone (other than maybe some close lobbyists) would get to see him, especially on the hill.

Making my way around downtown Washington for a bit, and shopping for some snacks and items for the bus ride home took up most of the rest of my day. Taking a little time to enjoy the capitol area was a nice break.

The camp was filling up with the returning groups and individuals. There would be a ceremony at the end of the day along with a meal. It would start around the time we were to assemble at the Tour Bus pick up site. Although less that several hundred meters away, we would not be able to take part in  either.

The Ride Home

We didn’t wait long and soon we were boarded and on our way out of Washington for a supper and an uneventful ride back to Wisconsin. We would break back up in Milwaukee to head to our various homes throughout the state.

Overall I think the trip and the method of going directly to the persons responsible for the laws that make the country tick is the best example of democracy in action. If nothing else it lets those in power know that there are people out there, a lot of them, who are unhappy with their money being taken from them and used by others (courtesy of the Federal Reserve) to make fortunes. Just like the chant goes, “Tell me what democracy looks like, this is what democracy looks like”.

Indeed.

I am searching for sponsors for my blog reporting. Please, if you like you can Donate here. If you would like to become a full sponsor and advertise on my page or just show your support, please contact me through Facebook or email me at “mylastnameatgmail.com”. Your promo will appear on my pages and the sponsors will receive promotional mention in my videos in the form of custom produced advertisement spots at the beginning and end of the video reports. I am desperate need of a new full HD pro video recording camera. I have been unable to create video reports for some time now, and will be at major events throughout the United States in the next few months. Help me deliver the news in HD video to you. It takes a lot of time and effort to deliver you independent news and video. The time I can offer, but the costs of providing corporate influence free news and outlooks take time and money. You can help Wisconsin Confidential, and Green Bay Confidential by making a small donation to help pay for the gear, bandwidth, and gas we use to do these reports. Please, if you like you can Donate here. If you do not have a PayPal account, go to the lower left hand section of the donation page.