Litchfield, CT
For years the small town—and county seat—of Litchfield, CT, was the venue for a persistent group of demonstrators staging quiet but determined protests each Sunday beginning with the start of the Iraq war in 2003. After a brief absence from the green, the group announced a resumption of demonstrations this past Sunday, the anniversary of that 2003 invasion. It is also the second day of "Coalition" military action in Libya. About 30 demonstrators showed up, most of them veterans of decades-long protest activity.
I have photographed here before and many of the faces were familiar (and several people recognized me, or maybe my cameras).
When I covered the protests by this group in the past (if you're curious search on "demonstrations" in the label list at this blog and at WP) there usually were counter—pro war—demonstrators present, generally at about one fifth the number of anti, or less. None were there Sunday.
In earlier protests I noticed that they had many positive responses from drivers going by the Town Green, and very little negative response. But this time, the response was overwhelmingly positive. Someone in a Hummer blasted the horn and showed a thumbs-up while his passenger flashed the peace sign. Someone in a Hummer? Farmers and tradesmen, working on Sunday as they do seven days a week, drove by in their diesel pickup trucks and sounded their horns. That didn't happen before. During an hour and a half, I only twice heard a driver yell something incomprehensible, but presumably negative, at the group. Is something changing at the small town, local level, even if nothing changes in DC? Maybe.
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