No business as usual

Written by Brian Flemming
Published March 20, 2003


If you're like me, after Bush's speech you indulged in a momentary feeling of helplessness, then rebounded and wondered what you could do, in practical terms, to stop the war.

I am guardedly optimistic. There is no reason to resign ourselves to this war. We can stop it. I'm not saying we will, but it isn't unreasonable to believe we can. Strongly in our favor are at least two unprecedented conditions: The intensity and breadth of the opposition to this war, and the ability to use communication technology to coordinate mass action. We truly have an opportunity that has never existed before. This is not your father's protest organizing. It's your father's protest organizing on steroids (instead of LSD).

If you're reading this and you're against the war, but you've never been a protester before, and you aren't sure if you want to be--I assure you, there's nothing to be afraid of. You'll be with a diverse group (parents, kids, students) of very friendly and welcoming people, and you don't have to agree with the political beliefs of every single one of the organizers. That crazy hippie who has the mic for a few minutes? Ignore the crazy hippie. We all do. And yes, those anarchists in their bandanas will be there, and they will jump around like monkeys and get themselves arrested, and we will all sigh as the TV cameras point at them, knowing that nervous pro-war folks watching TV will point to these rowdy 18-year-old boys out for fun, who represent a shrinking 1% of the movement, and say, "See--that's who's against this war." And their nagging doubts about this war--and they do have them--will be relieved by this prejudice.

Yeah, it's gonna happen. But you don't have to be like the monkey-boys to come out and protest with the other 99% of us who want to rescue this great country from this horrible choice. You won't have to perform, either--plenty of people don't chant, or don't chant the stuff they don't want to. You just need to show up, because that says all that needs to be said. It says you're against the war.

And believe me, psychologically it's a lot better at a protest than it is sitting at home, watching CNN and wishing you could do something. You can do something. You will help stop the war just by standing in public with your fellow citizens instead of sitting at home.

If you're a Republican and you feel guilty because you oppose the war but you don't want to oppose the President, you're in good company. A lot of prominent conservatives oppose this military action for precisely the same reasons the left does. Some things transcend partisan boundaries. That nagging feeling you have in the back of your mind that this is just plain wrong? Free yourself--come do what that little voice is nagging you to do. There's nothing wrong with a Republican protesting lawlessness.

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No business as usual
Published: March 20, 2003
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Filed Under: Sci/Tech: Internet
Writer: Brian Flemming
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#1 — March 20, 2003 @ 06:55AM — Rob

Does it bother anyone that Int'l A.N.S.W.E.R. is run by the Worker's World Party, a communist organization that is opposed to the US in any and every case?
Did anyone notice that these protesters didn't turn out in the streets to protest any of the dictators and murderers in power around the world, but are more the willing to show up when they can oppose the President of the U.S. ?

#2 — March 20, 2003 @ 13:41PM — Brian Flemming [URL]

Rob,

Yes, it bothers me. It bothers me when the radical left seems to have a blind obsession with hating the U.S. These folks are analogous to their counterparts on the radical right, who are similarly an embarrassment to most conservatives.

I also disagree with strictly pacifist organizations who are against war in any situation. History proves that sometimes taking up arms is the only way to achieve justice, and it is naive to believe otherwise.

However, simply because there are groups who are opposed to this war for reasons that differ from my own doesn't mean I'm going to isolate myself from the movement. That would merely be an excuse for inaction. If you've noticed, a word frequently used in the movement is "convergence." The various groups with only one agreement--this war is wrong--have banded together despite their differences.

I guess an analogy on the right would be the Log Cabin Republicans. These gays and lesbians stand side-by-side not only with Republicans who disagree with them, but also a great many who literally hate them. Their voting with and lobbying alongside conservatives doesn't mean they agree with the (usually religious) conservatives who feel they should be rounded up and killed.

I do have a feeling that "bothers" them, though.

#3 — March 20, 2003 @ 15:25PM — M. Simon

We need to block as much traffic as much as we can for as long as possible to piss off the commuters, waste gasoline, and contribute to global warming.

It is kind of like killing for peace only slower.

#4 — March 20, 2003 @ 19:34PM — Rob

Well your position is clearer in your reply than it was, to me at least, in your initial post. I think it is "convergence" that actually weakens those anti-war protesters whose motives are purely anti-war, and not anti-capitalism, anti-globalism, etc. As with any party or group affililiation you are known by the company you keep, and your Republican analogy points that out.

As for protests, anti-war Americans primarily spend time demonstrating against the U.S. actions, but never against the actions of any other country or dictator, etc. One reason for this is that we live in a country where the government is actually answerable to its citizens, so the protests might have an effect, and that makes sense. It is that so many of the protesters appear to only be involved if the US is involved This leads to the idea that the protesters are solely anti-US/gov't, and when they affiliate with A.N.S.W.E.R. and others, they weakebn their anti-war case.

Protest away, I just hope that the folks who were blocking emergency vehicles today didn't case someone's death.

#5 — March 22, 2003 @ 00:54AM — Rob

Protesters puking and defecating in public, that is somewhat unusual, and should both get their message across and rally more people to their cause.

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