So, what was accomplished?

Hot Air has a video (warning: not family friendly - the anti-war protesters like yelling obscenities a lot) of the anti-war protest on Saturday. Now, my question is: did anything get accomplished by yelling "oink, oink" and "fascist" at the police?

Do you think there were some Republicans sitting at home who saw the protesters on TV and thought, "I used to believe that this war was necessary but that kid shouting, 'Nazi!' convinced me that I need to call my congressman and demand that he pass a non-binding resolution to bring our troops home." Or that a Republican congressman would see the "Iraq for Sale" and the protesting Santa on stilts and think, "You know, we have been the tool of the corporations. It all makes sense to me now. I 'm going to call Pelosi and request a meeting so that we can pass another non-binding resolution!"

And since the Iraq war is so unpopular you'd expect a lot more protesters, right?

What ought to have been the most massive protest ever in Washington, DC Saturday turned into a 1960s love fest, with leftover agendas and slogans from an earlier war. The long-planned march in Washington by the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) antiwar coalition, petered out with a skimpy crowd of 25,000 protesters.

Organizers of the protest claim nearly 100,000 people marcheda from the White House to the Capitol to demand an immediate end to the occupation of Iraq. The march concluded with a dramatic "die-in" of 5,000 people surrounding the Capitol. Protesters surged onto the Capitol's south lawn and up the steps, where they were met by a police line. There, Iraq veterans conducted a solemn ceremony to memorialize the US soldiers and Iraqis killed in the war.

One-hundred-and-ninety-seven people, including dozens of veterans and activists, were arrested when they tried to deliver their anti-war message to Congress and were stopped by the police.

[...]

By noon, the crowd was minimal, perhaps a few thousand people in the center of the park, listening to a variety of antiwar activists, including young Autumn Ashanti, a child who read her antiwar poems. Though half the protesters appeared to be university students attending the first march, the motley crowd of 1960s peaceniks was definitely gray.

Iraq pundit went to the protest but couldn't find any Iraqi flags and didn't hear any Iraqi speakers (via).

Here's a video of the protest from Russia

I guess what was accomplished is that the left could feel good about doing something about this war even if it was just getting together and venting against this administration. If that was their goal, mission accomplished :-)