When I left the U.S. Capitol on Friday to go home, I walked down to the train station along with dozens of people who had rallied on the West Front of the Capitol, and some who were protesting that rally.

It was all part of a national day of praryer organized by Muslim groups, as several thousand gathered in the same spot where the Tea Party marchers had been earlier in the month, but in far smaller numbers.

I had looked out the window a few times during the day and seen that it wasn't any huge event, so I went back to listening to Senators talk about health care reform.

I should have walked around the back of the Capitol to take in the scene, because there were people who didn't really like having the Muslims out there, and they let them know it.

There were Christian protestors across the street, armed with a loudspeaker and their own signs, they evidently gave the Muslims a piece of their mind.

Would it have been a bigger story if it were Muslims gathered across the street ripping a bunch of Christians doing a day of prayer on the Capitol lawn?

A fair question.

So, as I walked down the street after the event was over, there were small knots of people here and there having very agitated discussions.

It was usually one Christian guy, trying to hand out Bibles to the Muslims, and getting into a somewhat heated discussion of their religions.

"Who is Muhammad anyway?" sneered one Christian, which elicited an aggravated response from one person who had been at the prayer event.

That played out for almost three blocks, all the way down to Union Station, where even more people were having animated discussions by the fountain that's a tribute to Christopher Columbus.

It's a reminder that small protests go on all the time in Washington, D.C., but most of them hardly make a ripple on the news.