Bus Ride.(The Talk of the Town)(Students for a Democratic Society's protests on Iraq War)

At 5:30 A.M. one recent Saturday, twenty or so people stood huddled in the northeast corner of Union Square. They were waiting for buses that would take them to Washington, D.C., for a protest at the Pentagon, timed to coincide with the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, and, more or less, with the fortieth anniversary of the 1967 March on the Pentagon. Among those gathered were members of the pro-impeachment organization World Can't Wait (which had chartered two buses), some Revolutionary Communists, and a contingent from Students for a Democratic Society--this final group being remarkable because, until last year, it had been dormant for nearly four decades.

The two founders of the reborn S.D.S., Pat Korte, a freshman at the New School, and Jessica Rapchik, a freshman at Antioch College, met as high-school students. "We read the Port Huron Statement, and that resounded with us so much," Rapchik recalled. At Union Square, they chatted with several students about their predawn breakfasts. "I think I ate somebody's leftover Chinese food," someone said. Korte had just spent a night in jail, after "occupying" an Army recruiting office on Chambers Street. ("It's the third time I've been in jail," he said later.) Everyone fidgeted to stay warm.

At around five-forty-five, several teen-agers carrying large red banners arrived. "They're Commies," one of the S.D.S. group said. "They're so cute." The protesters clustered around an organizer named Tony, who was collecting bus money (student fare: ten dollars). He announced, "If you're cold, you can wait at the Starbucks." People cheered and headed over. A lanky student named Matt De Vlieger said, "This place is rocking. You know, at the last big march on the Pentagon Abbie Hoffman tried to levitate the building."

By six-thirty, the buses had arrived. Korte sat in the back row of one, gazed out the window, and said, "I got kicked off a bus in the fourth grade." He had just completed his political-science midterm. His hair was unruly. His feet were cold. This was spring break. De Vlieger sat beside him and prepared to nap. Before shutting ...