I'll add my story of a Jan-2006 event, it was with Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) protest in a suburb of Minneapolis, Mn. Not being the hub of terrorism, never the less one evening standing on a corner at rush hour, our group (7-8 women with a young girl and myself/male) held signs inciting "Peace Not War and Support Our Troops Bring Them Home." This evening however a gov-licensed van drove slowly by taking our pictures. Being 70 years old and knowing it takes at least a decade to see change, I have resigned myself as unlikely to see the fall of America, although I see no alternative.

It started on the east coast long ago--- Thanks to J. Collins for her article about protestors being harassed. I was actually surprised at her response (at this point in time). I live in Washington, DC and this kind of harassment happened to me before the war even started. I am a 63-year old grandmother who has never been active in politics. There was a candlelight prayer vigil held at the Lincoln Memorial two weeks before the war began. We all knew it was being planned, and I felt the hand of intuition (or God) pushing me to go to this prayer vigil even though it was a cold, rainy Sunday night. I traveled alone from the suburbs, not even aware that Peter, Paul and Mary would be performing. They did, reminiscent of the 60's. And there were prayers from many religions. Candles were lit around the Reflecting Pool; it was a gorgeous photo op. The sadness and the spiritual desire for peace from those attending was obvious. HOWEVER, there were a dozen men in suits with earwires and cameras. They took pictures of everyone there--performer or attendee. They were not the least subtle about the picture-taking. They were obvious having a good time doing this. It truly seemed like a form of intimidation. I know that I have a permanent place in their files for going to a prayer vigil. The lowest kick of all? The "Washington Post" never even showed a picture of the candles. I looked from front page to second section to the 'Metro' section. They had a small square reporting the event. No pictures, AND they lied about the number of people attending--400 rather 4,000. At least the TV stations had the courage to show the event for a few seconds, and actually say 4,000 people.

Thank you for your article. My husband & I are thinking of retiring in the Ozarks to be near our family. It is heartwarming to find that there are people of like mind there, such as the author of this article! In 1968 the FBI photographed people reading names of our dead outside the Selective Service office - we had a permit. They refused to answer when we asked why. 1968???