Noe Valley Against the War, Kinda

It's not that the march started too early, or that there weren't enough people, or that they marched 'way too fast, or that everybody was so smilingly well behaved, or that there were so many people sitting drinking their coffees in the outdoor cafes who barely looked up as the marchers marched past, or that the Farmers' Market banjo players couldn't stop their 'This Little Piggy Went to Market' long enough to even play a few bars of 'This Land Is Your Land,' or that nobody in line really chanted and everyone seemed pretty sleepy -- but it was all of that, and it was the realization that, in the end, we are five years into a war nobody likes and Noe Valley could only muster up 75 or so people to complain about it.



The Great Plotnik had this realization: Protest will only become action when one of two things happen. One: Disaster. Without a draft, you won't get younger people out of their XBoxes and without an economic crunch not many older people will even notice. War? Thank you, no. Wine? Yes, Please.

With a volunteer army, the only parents with kids serving are in neighborhoods not a bit like Noe Valley.



Barring the Great Crunch, it will take leaders with vision. We will all follow a dynamic, brilliant politician with an agenda. Sadly, it has become all too clear that the Democrats are interested in winning in 2008, which they probably will do, but that is all they're interested in. It's very discouraging. Nothing wrong with Hillary, and she's a lot better than Bush, but she's not going to change a thing, not really, and she won't get us marching, not really, and she won't attempt to direct our dreams to the stars so we might reach for our possiblities. Not really. Bill didn't do it either. Barack might but he's the future.

All that money and blood poured into the sand. Our futures mortgaged for people who despise us and everything that we believe in. Corruption on an internationally grand scale and we don't have enough money to keep the new Glen Park Library open on Sunday.

Think about it: you probably don't support the war. You realize we are behaving like spoiled, playground bullies in Iraq. But what have you done about it? What has Plotnik done about it? Little. Why? Because we're having a good time anyway.

So why march? Plotnik walked with the marchers, took a few photos, then found his friend Beverly and walked back home, talking about restaurants.