Five plus years later, after marching in the streets (and other seemingly useless gestures) something I've dreamed about has finally come to pass: protest of the war in Iraq has moved into the blue-collar world:

William Yardley, for The New York Times: "West Coast ports were shut down on Thursday as thousands of longshoremen failed to report for work, part of what their union leaders said was a one-day, one-shift protest against the war in Iraq. Cranes and forklifts stood still from Seattle to San Diego, and ships were stalled at sea as workers held rallies up and down the coast to blame the war for distracting public attention and money from domestic needs like health care and education."