OKC Peace Rally Draws 500

About 500 peaceniks gathered in Oklahoma City's Peace Rally today. James Nimmo of OK Stonewall Democrats reports on a subtle act of civil disobedience at the State Capital building:

[W]e heard from, among others in the state legislature, Sen. Constance Johnson and Rep. Anastasia Pittman. ... Family members of deceased American veterans and those who have survived tours of duty to the Iraq Civil War also spoke of their experiences. Keynote speaker for Saturday was the redoubtable Dr. Robin Meyers, senior minster at OKC's Mayflower Congregational Church. Dr. Meyers spoke of the economic draft created by the Bu$h Administration in which an economy geared for tax cuts for the wealthy as created so little advantage for the the middle and poor classes of America that they have little opportunity other than to join the military. ... De-facto President Cheney did not go unremarked. Cheney, by calling those who see the need for a withdrawal from Iraq as dividing America's support for the troops as a 'slow bleed', Dr. Meyers turned the tables and referred to the budget cuts in veterans assistance and health care as well as the lack of military equipment such as body and vehicle armor as the insidious siphoning off of our human treasure and moral reputation. ...

The rally concluded with a reading of all of the Oklahoma military personnel killed so far in the Iraq Civil War. As the Oklahoma legislature has passed a law forbidding the public use of these names in the public record, this respectful reading of these Oklahoma citizens is an act of civil disobedience, an intervention, in which many Oklahomans, including this writer, stepped forward to participate. The activities today and on Sunday could not have taken place without the experience and good nature of the OKC Peace House volunteers, Nathaniel Batchelder, director, ; and Darla Sheldon, of MoveOn. OK Stonewall Democrats was a co-sponsor.

The Associated Press reports on the big March on the Pentagon via the Guardian.