This is a shot from the top of the Museum of the American Indian at about 3rd and Independence. Here's another quick impression for those of you trying to make sense of all this.
The anti World Bank/WTO protests were made up of a large number of young people (teenaged anarchists, ponytailed bohemians) where the air was thick with the smell of pot and sandalwood cologne. At these protests, the police were often dressed in riot gear as if they were expecting trouble.
Contrast that to today's protest. I did not see one police officer in riot gear. Most of them were laid back to the point of being bored.
One couldn't help but be struck by the huge number of people aged 50 or over, many of which seemed to be attached to their local church.
This was not the usual array of chronic malcontents (sorry, guys -- I could easily count myself among you). The vast majority of the protesters today seemed to be solidly middle America.