One Nation rally

I decided to take advantage of today's gorgeous weather and go check out the "One Nation" rally, which is being billed by its organizers as a "historic march on Washington." My major takeaway from the experience was just how union-heavy it was, with organized labor representing, I'd estimate, no less than 70 percent of those in attendance. The remaining 30 percent was largely a smattering of socialists, anti-war folks, unclassifiable kooks, a few gay rights advocates and run of the mill Democrats.

The following are some pictures I took. Again, I'd like to emphasize the sizable union presence:

SEIU

The rainbow coalition of unions

Teacher's union

Green, red, blue...

AFSCME

Now, remember that the big criticism of the Tea Party movement -- in an addition to racism -- is that it's all "Astrotuf" (i.e. fake grass roots). In comparison, here are some pics I took at an Obamacare protest earlier this year:

I don't think you'll find a single mass produced sign in either pic, which was in sharp contrast to today's rally, where such signs were in abundance.

There were even areas set up for union members to collect their t-shirts, such as this AFL-CIO table:

And boy did people wear them:

That's not to say that there weren't any hand-made signs or evidence of grass roots, but I would estimate that among the many thousands of people I saw -- and I did a complete circuit around the reflecting pool -- I don't think I saw more than 100 such signs. Here are a few:

Danger ahead, keep left

Eat the Rich: This guy may have been my favorite

There's a lot chatter these days about the left being animated by socialism, and I don't think these guys were exactly helping to stamp out such talk:

ANSWER Coalition, who have blatant ties to the World Workers Party

This guy was literally wearing a Soviet military hat.

Freedom Socialist Party -- a contradiction in terms

General weirdness:

Protesting against Koch, which seems to be newly fashionable in leftist circles

At least there was plenty of space to move around!

I guess Glenn Beck can rest easy knowing his rally was bigger.

Update: Forgot to mention that I attended the rally from about 2-3pm, for an even that was supposed to run from noon-4.

Update: Looks like I only captured a small slice of the socialism/communism on display today.

Update: Should have also mentioned a dog that didn't bark at the rally: no Free Mumia signs were evident, which I think is literally a first for a left-wing rally/protest that I've attended.

Update: More pics here. I couldn't help notice how dirty they left the place.

Update: Video of trash littering the World War II memorial. Disgusting.