Yes, there really was a nearly naked PETA protestor painted to look like Mother Earth.
There was also a woman dressed up as a polar bear trying to convince me the species wasn’t in trouble.
The rallies were peaceful. Though I did see one man being arrested. “You broke the law when you made contact with him,” I heard the police officer scold him. “But he was in my face yelling at me,” the arrested man protested. I felt sorry for the guy. He was led away in handcuffs.
If you only went by who rounded up the most supporters, then the night belonged to the Gore protestors. I’d guess a few hundred people came to the Americans For Prosperity rally next to Keller fountain. They obviously had been preparing for some time. One of the speakers mentioned something about a bus and car caravan coming down from the Puget Sound area.
There were only a few dozen Gore supporters, not too surprising considering environmental groups only heard about the protest plans the day before.
But it wasn’t until I began to walk around that I noticed something really important. Despite the rhetoric, despite the chants, people were talking to each other. Small groups – maybe a dozen or so by my count – of Gore supporters and protestors talking to each other, discussing the issues, trying to make sense of it all. They were passionate, intelligent, knowledgeable and above all, respectful to the those they disagreed with.
Things turned kind of stupid when the Americans For Prosperity Rally broke up and the protestors walked Keller Auditorium chanting, “Gore Lies!” This was followed by some yelling back and forth across SW 3rd Ave. None of it was very illuminating.
But those small person-to-person conversations continued. I’m not sure any minds were changed. But was good to see that despite the strong feelings on both sides, ordinary Oregonians were still taking part in an important conversation about climate change, global warming and how we move forward.
