A Wake-up Call?

[mnaz]

Cindy Sheehan has more guts than I'll ever have, I suppose. Her courageous stand against the President's Recycled Spin Machine, on the President's home turf, seems to have energized a moribund anti-Iraq war movement and given it a badly-needed voice. I really admire her for this.

I would love to think of this as some sort of turning point in public awareness and a new desire of the electorate to actively and continually demand accountability of its leaders, but I won't delude myself. There is still, after all, our entrenched overall apathy and legendary short attention-span to overcome. Two or three years from now, we'll probably rubber-stamp the next great snake-oil salesman of **Freedom** and the next unavoidable war on its behalf.

Take Sheehan herself. She met with Bush in June of '04 (along with other families who had lost sons or daughters in Iraq), and she came away satisfied that Bush honestly thought this war was not only for a noble cause, but that it was unavoidable.

It was only after more widespread reports of falsified intelligence surfaced that she became enraged at the President and his deception. But these reports had been readily available on the internet for months before June, '04. So where was Sheehan and everyone else? What has taken everyone so long?

[gypsyjoker]

Everybody got their own agenda. I remember this about the anti war movement. It was different in the sixties. The short hairs were the ones having the demos. In the seventies it was the power freaks who took over. The sixties were peaceful demonstrations. The seventies were more like new age camp outs. I worked with a group of returning combat medics. The Medical Cadre for Human rRghts. They seemed like kids to me, barely in their twenties. Determined to stop the war. I was trained as a street medic worked the demo's in DC in the early seventies. The New Mobe as it was called. I wish her well. I hope it makes a difference. It is better too late then not at all.. I don't know what she expects to accomplish if she does meet with him. But I hope it helps.

Just the way I remember it. Maybe I am wrong. But I wasn't doing drugs in the sixties so maybe I am right.

[gypsyjoker]

If you look at the pictures of the first peace demonstrations of the 65 to 66. The people all looked like squares. No bearded hippies. Just plain ordinary looking people holding candles. Peaceful demonstrations. By 1968 it was different. Marxist radicals SDS want to be reovolutionaries. The sanest people I met during my time as a anti war demonstration were from the physics department. They were the most sincere. Political science students were the most ambitious. I don't know who will be grabbing onto her coat tails. I can't forget that Hillary and Kerry went along with it because they were calculating politicains. Hard to believe they did not know it was bogus. Meanwhile what happened to the story on rove and the cia leaks? Yeah joni mitchell is right, always leave them laughing when you go. Meanwhile the ratings are up on tv, got another hot story to follow. Next week it will be back to man bites dog. Bread and circuses.

[mnaz]

The anti-war movement was different for Vietnam than it is for Iraq for two main reasons. First, the duration and casualty toll was much higher in Vietnam, and second, the draft was in place for Vietnam. That is why it was such a powerful campus issue, and why it grew stronger and more radical as the war dragged on.... all of those students who were facing the draft upon graduation.

What we're starting to see now with Iraq are signs of protest beginning to make inroads within the heartland.... within a growing number of "solid, traditional military families", though these families are still substantially outnumbered.

This is something I wrote about several times in the last 18 months or so..... how long would these proud families, the "backbone of America", put up with Bushco's lies and ineptitude in regard to this unnecessary war? Some of them have had enough. I predict more will follow.

[Lightning Rod]

This is a Lightning Rod speaking

take it from me

a Lightning Rod doesn't come into use until there is sufficient static electricity in the clouds to produce a discharge. There is a static charge of anti-war sentiment out there and that's why the president's bike has rubber wheels.

Cindy Sheehan is a lightning rod and she is pointing the discharge straight to the ground like any good lightning rod would do. The ground in this case happens to be at Gdumb's front door.

I tossed tear gas cannisters back at the cops during the anti-war demonstrations for Vietnam.

You are right, this is a different kind of protest, but 'spreading democracy' has as hollow a ring as 'the domino theory.'

[mnaz]

I guess I just need to "believe". I don't know. It's hard for me to put major stock in this movement just yet, not after everything that has transpired....

And yes, the Manifesto rings hollow now, as it did then.


Historically, I suppose there was a time when a semi-reasonable case could be made for the "domino theory". In the '50s, Communist nations were actively invading and annexing neighboring countries.... hence US involvement in Korea, etc. I don't agree with this policy, but at least a somewhat rational case could be made in support of it.

But this logic was pushed to ridiculous extremes, for far too long.... I hardly see any meaningful application of the domino theory to Southeast Asia, circa 1970, at least as truly relevant to national security....

But that's how they get us, with those sweeping manifestos of fear and glory, propelled by those carefully-crafted buzz-word orations; a powerful drug cocktail of speech.

[hester_prynne]

Remember, the very first protests against the war in Iraq were considered hysterical and insane.
But those initial protests were right on from the start.
It is us, that allows this kind of thing to happen. We have given up our power to the point of laziness, complacency and worst of all, fear.

But wake up time is better late than never.
We ain't dead yet thanks to Sheehan's lightening strike.
One person's breaking the silence has finally given way to many voices.

If I don't get this job I'm hoping to get, i'm seriously considering joining her on this cause.
Why not?

H

[Dave The Dov]

"Complacency" the key word here!!!! Too long we've been following this dumb.....bas.....oh you know what the word is!!!! Now it's time for us to follow our commomn sense and say bye bye to his idiocy!!!!
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Katana