[fintstone]

Indeed, the photographer's observation pointed to something telling about the day. On close examination, the Cindy Sheehan phenomenon appears not to be a mass movement of any sort but rather to consist of a small group of relatives of U.S. servicemen and women — there were perhaps 30 in all with Sheehan on Wednesday — accompanied and guided by a group of full-time organizers like Fithian, Benjamin, and the people from Mintwood Media Collective. People like Sheehan and the other Iraq relatives — many of them grieving and angry — don't know how one goes about organizing protests. Fithian and Benjamin do.

After the Capitol meeting broke up, the group re-boarded the RVs and headed toward the White House. They parked on Pennsylvania Avenue, about a block away, and walked toward the Northwest Gate. As they walked, they began to sing:

"All we are saaaayyyying is give peace a chance."

"All we are saaaayyyying is give peace a chance."

At the White House, the small group was nearly crushed by photographers as Sheehan handed the signed letter through the iron fence to a staffer inside the White House grounds. Sheehan was asked about a report that top Bush adviser Karl Rove had referred to her as a "clown" in an off-the-record discussion. "I may be a clown, but a lot of people who are in there are criminals," Sheehan said, pointing behind her. "And we need to get them out of our house."

After a few more questions, Sheehan headed back to the RVs. When the group arrived, someone turned on an external sound system, which began playing "The Very Best of Peter, Paul and Mary." The air was filled with folk music from many decades ago.

"This land is your land, this land is my land..."

The entourage began to pull away. But just at that moment, as the RV in the rear of the group began to move, someone on the sidewalk yelled out, "The Vespa! The Vespa!" It turns out the rear bumper of the RV had caught on a motorcycle parked on the sidewalk; when the RV moved forward, it dragged the Vespa to the ground and broke off a large piece of its windshield.

Peter, Paul and Mary kept singing. "How many roads must a man walk down? Before you call him a man?"

Fithian stuck her head outside the RV. "Oh, *****," she said, seeing the fallen cycle.

"You broke the Vespa!" someone yelled from the street. "You broke the Vespa!"

Fithian called for some men to help her prop up the cycle. She then began to write a note to leave for the Vespa's owner. At that point, a man came out of a building — he said he knew who owned the cycle — and began to write down the RV's license plate number. He said he would go find the owner.

Fithian decided to wait. Unable to stay still for long, she paced back and forth for a while before pulling out a cigarette. "No wonder I started smoking," she said as she lighted up.

Peter, Paul and Mary kept singing. "It ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe..."

After a while, the owner, a middle-aged man, came out, carrying a small digital camera. He was quite understanding about the accident and exchanged information with Fithian. He took a few pictures of the damage. Fithian pulled out the RV rental brochure — on the front, it said "Your fun has just begun" — and pulled out a document to give the man. There was a long wait while someone went inside to copy it.

Peter, Paul and Mary kept singing. "That's what you get for lovin' meeeee..."
While all this was going on — a half-hour passed before the situation was cleared up — Sheehan and the rest of the group were stuck in their RVs, waiting to leave. And just when it looked like they could go, a uniformed Secret Service officer drove up and asked what was going on.

It was too much for Fithian. "Jesus!" she said as the officer asked to see a driver's license and a permit to park the RV. As it turned out, Fithian had all the right papers, and the officer then politely gave her directions to the Mall. Fithian ordered everyone into the RVs, and they began to pull out.

And Peter, Paul and Mary still kept singing — "Come gather 'round people wherever you roam" — as the buses disappeared down 17th Street, heading for the next stop on Cindy Sheehan's Camp Casey media tour.