Some, like Ruth Panken, 63, a psychologist from Long Island, were protest veterans who had not taken to the streets in decades. While her son and grandchildren listened in awe, Ms. Panken wistfully recounted the 1963 civil rights march in Washington and the antiwar rallies of the Vietnam era.

Her 12 year old grandson has been following the war news.

We shouldn't bomb Iraq because they haven't really done anything to us," said Jacob, who has been closely following world events in class. "Bush is just a big bully, and he's power hungry." Ms. Panken smiled with pride.

How about these Ranging Grannies?

Then there was Elaine Johnson, 59, a retired social worker from Rochester, who was buried beneath a mound of shawls and caftans. A member of a group called the Raging Grannies, Ms. Johnson spent nearly seven hours on a bus with her friends, all of them similarly costumed. "We've got to stop the madness," she said. "We came to rage against war, and we rage by singing." To make her point, she offered up one of the more popular ditties, sung to the tune "If You're Happy and You Know It": If we cannot find Osama, bomb Iraq.
If the markets hurt your mamma, bomb Iraq.
If the terrorists are Saudis and the banks take back your Audi
And the TV shows are bawdy, bomb Iraq.

In San Jose, California,

Several thousand protesters gathered in San Jose, Calif., flooding Roosevelt Park. Carrying a sign reading "I'm 84 and say no to war," and wearing the same Purple Heart-decorated American Army uniform he wore on the battlefields of Italy during World War II, Harold Unsicker said it was the first time he had felt compelled to protest in the streets. "After the war," said Mr. Unsicker, "I told myself that if I ever get out of this alive, I'm never going to complain about anything again — except this. I want this war stopped."

We didn't find too many stories of police or protester excess, except this one in Colorado Springs:

In Colorado Springs, the police fired tear gas at a crowd near Palmer Park. An unknown number of people were arrested or taken to the hospital. A police spokesman said the crowd had ignored orders to disperse. One woman, Paula Bard, 49, said she and her husband had taken their son, Sage, 7, to the rally. "My son was playing on a slide in the park when they told people to clear the park," Ms. Bard said. "They tear-gassed all the people in the park. My son was scared."

Update: Buzzflash has this exlcusive about 330 people arrested in New York--the Buzz blames Bush and Bloomberg for preventing the protesters from obtaining a permit.

Skippy has lot's more, including all the tv coverage and his own personal account of an LA rally.