Attended the October 26th Rally Against the War in downtown PDX. Since there were cooresponding events in Washington D.C. and San Francisco, the prospects for a large gathering were on my mind. Oddly enough, many of the usual suspects (i.e. - the marching band and Not in Our Name crew) were not present when I arrived, and the demonstration (which started at Pioneer Square) was largely spontaneous.

In the end, the group of 200+ demonstrators rallied behind the lead of a small black-clad group carrying a banner that read "No War but Class War" - and took to the streets, briefly blocking traffic and lending an interesting independant vibe to the event. The march ended up in front of the Federal Building and then stopped again briefly near the Court house, where a large anti-war banner was hung from a nearby tree. From there the marchers headed toward Pioneer Place, where a small part of the group decided to enter and protest inside the mall.
Those that made it inside were escorted out by security....

The Pioneer Place incident was emphasized by the Oregonian (that and the visit to local recruiting office near Lloyd Center) the next day.
Since the gathering was smaller than the last, the story was buried on page 5 and painted largely as a disruptive and radical gathering. Unfortunately, that's what I've come to expect from The Oregonian....partisan news. Their reporting on the rest of the nationwide protest was just as weak.