Report from the Western Front (Seattle)

[fran7371@uidaho.edu (John Francis)]

To bring you close to the action, here's a note my son Eric posted to me
Tuesday night, after he spent the day in the Seattle action.


>Now, to the protests or, as I heard one overdramatization masquerading as
>news coverage call it, the Battle in Seattle. Far less dramatic than the
>news coverage made it look, at least while I was there. I didn't end up
>marching with the union because they had about two hours worth of speakers
>and I was more there to spectate the action.
>
>Didn't see the anarchists, but saw a few broken windows. I can't believe
>people are calling the protest violent because the GAP and McDonalds are a
>little draftier. Most of the people I saw were very well behaved.
>
>Most distressing was the CNN coverage, a two-minute report almost devoid of
>factually correct information. They had "dozens" of people getting arrested
>at 3 p.m. The latest count I heard (at 9:30 p.m.) was 12. They also
>described the area vandalized as "a war zone." If I didn't know better, I'd
>wonder how much of Seattle was left.
>
>I don't know if you still get it, but Northwest Cable News is running a live
>feed from King TV (our NBC affiliate) so you can see more Wednesday.
>
>Talk to you later,
>
>Eric
>
>P.S. Pat Buchanan is in town to join the protest, making me question my own
>sanity.
>

John Francis
311 East 6th St., #2
Moscow, ID 83843
(208) 883-0105       fran7371@uidaho.edu