Thank you, Jane and everyone else who took part in the Peace Rally in DC!
Fonda Back in Her Most Famous Role:
"For her next act, Jane Fonda has entered the war against the Iraq war. At the tail-end of yesterday's on-the-Mall rally, organized by United for Peace and Justice, Fonda stood onstage with the Capitol behind her and addressed the sun-drenched thousands. 'I haven't spoken at an antiwar rally in 34 years,' she said. But, 'Silence is no longer an option....'"
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- WaPo: Thousands Protest Bush Policy
"A raucous and colorful multitude of protesters, led by some of the aging activists of the past, staged a series of rallies and a march on the Capitol yesterday to demand that the United States end its war in Iraq...."
- New York Times: Protest Focuses on Troop Increase for Iraq
- Tens of Thousands in DC Protest War
Technorati tags: Peace Rally, Iraq, Anti-War, Jane Fonda, Protest, Washington, DC, United for Peace and Justice, U.S. Capitol, news, commentary
5 comments:
I am a big fan of the protests, but it's difficult for me to believe they do much good.
To be fair, I'm not a political pessimist by any means, but the whole NeoCon philosophy is "action over words" and protests, despite who super awesomely cool they are to participate in, are still just words. If Bush listened to words... well... the world would already be a better place.
Although I'm not convinced he understands most words, let alone has the ability to listen to them.
Read "Conservatize Me" by John Moe for greater detail. He asked Conservatives how to be conservative, and that's basically the answers they gave.
You sound like my daughter, librocat. She and I have this argument quite often. Perhaps it is because I am of the civil rights and Vietnam War era and know firsthand the impact our student protests had on the establishment. We WERE the the change. Without our actions (protest) the war would have probably continued. Without the marches in Selma and Birmingham, Blacks would not be where they are today. Without some kind of nationwide, visible and passionate protest (which IS action), there is nothing to motivate our politicians to act in our interests -- civil disobedience is our only way to tell a government, that it is out of control and not listening to the majority of us, that we will not stand for it any longer. Only when our representatives begin to fear they will not be re-elected, will you will see change -- which is very much what we are beginning to witness in the Iraq debates in the Senate last week.
As for the Neo-Con philosophy being "action over words", I think their philosophy has been: "Say one thing, do another," or, put another way, "Lie about your actions." Time and again, the neo-cons have said things, acted on them and the deception is later revealed. You have only to follow the Libby trial to see this kind of manipulation in action.
Actually, I agree with you 100%, that it is the difference in Era (born in 1983, I didn't participate in many Vietnam protests). But there is more than just a difference in era now, there is also a difference in mentality and philosophy.
Take Sean Hannity or that guy from Crossfire. Back in 1970, any "pundit" who laughed back at an intelligent remark by the opposing side instead of at least attempting to provide a response would be shunned offstage. Now, these NeoCons barely even make an effort to respond to criticism. Instead, they laugh (as if to imply the usually correct analysis was meaningless) and completely move on, perhaps to an even stupider and more partisan topic like "Does 'Happy Feet' have liberal bias?" (It does not. It's a movie about dancing penguins. Shut the hell up Cavuto).
I would say that, likely like your daughter, I know College Republicans and Republicans of the future. They no longer engage in debate or discussion. They merely ignore the remark and, as you say, lie.
Just like that movie "The people should not be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people." Back during the civil rights protests and Vietnam rallies, they were. Since then it's no longer so, especially in the new generation.
Kind of like the "stay the course" and "I never said stay the course." Everyone was telling them not to stay the course and they still did. Now that they finally changed it (poorly) they claimed they never said that at all...... Even though it is on like 10,000 videos and that was the primary bumper sticker of the 2004 Bush/Satan Campaign.
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