Re: [Marxism] Disjunction between antiwar sentiment and size of protest

[Walter Lippmann <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This is a response to LOUIS THE RED-BAITER who couldn't wait to write:

"This suggests that ANSWER's time has come and gone. Becker and company 
would have played a much more useful role if they had functioned as a 
leftwing of a broader coalition but they overprojected what they could 
do in their own name. My guess is that even if they wanted to merge with 
broader forces, they would lack the skills to get anything done. Working 
in a true united front requires the ability to be conciliatory. When you 
see yourself as the second coming of Lenin's Bolshevik Party, that is 
more difficult."
=======================================================================

Monday-morning quarterbacking is a familiar practice in most workplaces
where people who weren't involved in a football game come up with their
individual lists of what the team-members and coaches should have done
differently. This practice is frequently guided by a 20-20 hindsight
and a sweepingly irresponsible arrogance. Our local commander-in-chef
didn't wait until Monday to cook up his complaint list. His platform:

Immediate, unilateral and unconditional vilification of ANSWER.

LOUIS THE RED-BAITER aims at discouraging, demoralizing, demobilizing
and denigrating today's ant-war movilization in Washington, D.C. Louis
did not attend the demonstration, nor did I, so we can speak with equal
authority about what it all signified. Blaming the Communists for what
might have gone wrong is a typical approach of the corporate media and
the political figures who support keeping things as they are. Rather
than seeking to understand the broad, public, objective political and
organizational obstacles to a united anti-war protest, Proyect blames
the Communists for what failed to meet his demanding criteria.

Demonstrations are called and sometimes people respond, sometimes they
don't. It's really not easy to know beforehand how they will, in fact,
respond. There are other demonstrations also planned for the fall, and
let's hope they are much larger. The success of a demonstraiton depends
on several inter-related factors. Among these:

1-The number of dead U.S. soldiers who have been sacrificed to the war
and occupation effort. Undero 4000 official deaths so far. Byt he end
of the Vietnam war, 58,000 U.S. soldiers had lost their lives. So the
number of body-bags is far, far less.

2-The capitalist media, and the capitalist Democratic Party, in total
collusion with the capitalist Republican Party, have been pounding 
away at the them of victory or at least staying the course. Since the
pain isn't felt as directly - due to the lack of military constription,
there may be less motivation for people to come out to protest.

3-Additional factors include the transportation problems which Eli 
referred to with buses being turned away, the price of gasoline and
the instability in the job market. Students today don't appear to be
as motivated to take political action in the form of demonstrations
as we were back in the 1960s.

4-In addition to whatever ANSWER did or didn't do, responsibility can
also be assigned to other anti-war forces, such as UFPJ and so on for
not agreeing with ANSWER on a single date to which all forces in all
of the movements could coalesce. 

5-The fact that the Party of Socialism and Liberation considers itself
a vanguard party, indeed THE vanguard party, doesn't have much meaning
as an effective measure of what it has and hasn't done. Workers World
and the Socialist Workers Party felt that way about themselves back in
the 1960s and 1970s. Sometimes the public came out, sometimes they did
not respond.

6-National Public Radio provided an infinitely superior report to the
noxious vilifications of our flatulent Dr. No. Clips from speakers at
the rally were presented. An interview with a student ant-war leader
from Madison, Wisconsin (my old alma mater!) whose local groups chose
NOT to attend, but who explained that his group was organizing another
protest in Madison a few days hence. This leader spoke out strong and
eloquently AGAINST the idea that demonstrations aren't effective, the
tone of our nattering nabob of negativism and his finger-pointing
blame-a-thon againt today's protest. 

SHORT NPR REPORT ON TODAY'S ANTI-WAR MOBILIZATION
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14447237

7-Proyect reviles ANSWER for what he claims was ANSWER's refusal to
bend and become a leftist opposition within the broader UFPJ coalition.
Practicing what we preach is the best form of education through action.
Imagine how the critic would act as an opposition in broader movement?
Condemnification is the only thing he knows.

Proyect, let's remember, who campaigns actively to overthrow the Islamic
Republic of Iran, has publicly called for this same Islamic Republic to
rapidly BUILD nuclear weapons, an idea being pushed by Washington and
Tel Aviv as part of consent building for a military strike against Iran.

Iran has vigorously denied any such intention, and is working together
with the International Atomic Energy Agency to confirm the peaceful
nature of Iran's uranium enrichment program. Proyect demands that Iran
realize in practice what Washington's and Israel's propaganda claims.

When seeking fault, it's better to use a mirror, not a telescope.

Do unto others, as you would have others do unto you.

Perfectionism spells paralysis.


Walter Lippmann
Los Angeles, California
======================================================================

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/washington/16protest.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

September 16, 2007
Dozens Arrested in Antiwar Protest Near Capitol
By DAVID JOHNSTON

WASHINGTON. Sept. 15 â A rally on Saturday to protest the war in
Iraq, which began with a peaceful march of several thousand people to
the Capitol, ended with dozens of arrests in a raucous demonstration
that evoked the angry spirit of the Vietnam era protests of more than
three decades ago.

The police, including some officers dressed in riot gear, tried to
halt demonstrators as they sought to climb over a low wall near the
Capitol after a march that had begun near the White House in a
festive atmosphere.

The protest grew tense as the chanting, placard-carrying
demonstrators gathered near the Capitol for a planned âdie-in.â
Officers struggled to keep demonstrators from breaking through their
ranks and began arresting those who tried.

Demonstrators were pushed to the ground, placed in plastic handcuffs
and led away to the Capitol. Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, a spokeswoman
for the Capitol Police, said that the authorities had arrested 189
people and that they would be charged with illegally crossing a
police line. Two protesters and two police officers received minor
injuries, Sergeant Schneider said.

The antiwar demonstration was held on the same day as a separate
event sponsored by a group called Gathering of Eagles, a veterans
group.

Before the antiwar marchers arrived, there was a brief physical
altercation between some members of the antiwar group Code Pink and
some of the demonstrators who said they were there to support the
troops. The police moved in to break up the scuffle. As the antiwar
demonstrators moved along Pennsylvania Avenue, the two sides
continued to trade chants and sometimes heated messages, but lines of
police officers intervened to keep the opposing sides apart.

âWhat troubles me, the thing that is so dismaying, is they donât
realize the big picture,â said John Aldins, 54, who came from Media,
Pa., with his wife, Karen, and daughter, Rachel, to show their
support for the troops. The Aldins have three other children serving
in the military. Rachel Aldins will join the Army in the fall to
serve as a nurse.

âItâs not just Iraq, itâs the whole Middle East,â Mr. Aldins said.
âItâs not a red, blue or pink issue. Itâs an all-of-us issue.â

The protests came during a week in which Iraq dominated the attention
of the White House and Congress. In a speech on Thursday, President
Bush sought support for a substantial military presence in Iraq and a
gradual troop reduction.

Members of the Answer Coalition, the umbrella organization of
activist groups behind the demonstration, are demanding an immediate
troop withdrawal. Some of the protesters called for Mr. Bushâs
impeachment. Speakers at the rally included familiar political and
antiwar activists, among them Cindy Sheehan, Ralph Nader and Ramsey
Clark.

Brian Becker, a national coordinator for the coalition, said in a
statement: âWhat Bush really intends is to keep U.S. troops in Iraq
for years or decades to come. He plans to move forward with a policy
that will continue to kill thousands of U.S. service members and
hundreds of the thousands of Iraqis.â

Several marchers said they were demonstrating against what they
called the Bush administrationâs false assertions about Iraq. Kim
Druist, 39, a nurse from Plainsboro, N.J., who wore a camouflage
shirt to represent solidarity with American troops, said she intended
to be arrested to protest the testimony by Gen. David H. Petraeus
earlier in the week in which he said there had been progress in Iraq.
Ms. Druist referred the statement to as propaganda.

Some people said they were protesting other Bush administration
policies.

Chris Hager, 62, of Falls Church, Va., and Wendy Salomon, 52, of
Arlington, Va., walked through the crowd assembled in front of the
White House wearing orange jumpsuits and dark hoods to represent the
detainees in GuantÃnamo Bay and other detention centers. âWe are here
to help to get the American people to think about what is being done
in our name,â Mr. Hager said.

He added: âWe want to make people think about what is happening. This
certainly wasnât the country I was brought up to believe in.â

Sarah Abruzzese and Holli Chmela contributed reporting.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/15/AR2007091500826_pf.html

Dueling Demonstrations
Thousands March to Capitol to Protest Iraq War; 189 Arrested; War Supporters
Take on 'Vocal Minority'

By Michelle Boorstein, V. Dion Haynes and Allison Klein
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, September 16, 2007; A08

A march by thousands of protesters demanding an end to the Iraq war
turned chaotic yesterday afternoon near the Capitol, where hundreds
sprawled on the ground in a symbolic "die-in." Police arrested 189
people, including 10 who organizers said were veterans of the war.

Capitol Police used chemical spray against a small number of the
protesters and pushed back others who tried to jump a barrier in a
self-described effort to be arrested. The "die-in," on a walkway in
front of the Capitol, was generally peaceful, but scores of arrests
came when protesters tried to climb over metal fences and a low stone
wall.

Iraq war veteran Geoff Millard, 26, of Columbia Heights wore fatigues
and clutched an American flag as he lay on the ground before he was
arrested. "It's time for the peace movement to take the next step
past protest and to resistance," said Millard, president of D.C.
chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

It was an unruly end to a day that started in brilliant sunshine with
two separate, largely upbeat rallies. One began about noon at
Lafayette Square, across from the White House, and was organized by
the antiwar ANSWER Coalition. The other, a few hours earlier on the
Mall, was organized by Gathering of Eagles, a group of Vietnam
veterans, and the D.C. chapter of the conservative group Free
Republic. Their message: The Iraq war can be and is being won, and
the troops need unqualified support.

"We just want a chance to show America we don't agree with the vocal
minority," said Deborah King-Lile, 55, of St. Augustine, Fla.

The march opposing the war was led by about 50 veterans who served in
Iraq, according to Iraq Veterans Against the War. Many wore fatigues
as the crowd marched down Pennsylvania Avenue, where several blocks
were lined with war supporters. At times, back-and-forth shouting
grew confrontational and obscene.

March organizers said Iraq war veterans were more involved and
visible at yesterday's protest than in any other similar
demonstration since the conflict began. Activists said they are
planning "a week of action" meant to push the antiwar movement to a
more confrontational stage.

Organizers of the antiwar event said tens of thousands turned out. A
law enforcement official, who declined to be indentified because
authorities no longer provide crowd counts, estimated the gathering
at closer to 10,000; the march permit obtained in advance by ANSWER
had projected that number.

Early in the day, Lafayette Square ook on a festive atmosphere, with
some war protesters wearing wigs and costumes and others drumming and
playing music even as passionate speeches were given. Vietnam
veterans chatted with Iraq war veterans young enough to be their
children.

Signs and T-shirts displayed pointed antiwar messages, but a wide
array of other causes was trumpeted, from health care and Palestinian
rights to vegan advocacy. A man with a sign on his hat that read
"Cowboys opposed to war" stood next to a woman in a hijab holding the
sign "Bush/Cheney Impeached: Don't settle for less."

Jeffrey Peskoff, 35, a former Army mechanic who served a year in
Iraq, repeated what others have said about ANSWER: It tries to attach
too many issues to the antiwar campaign. "But it's still productive,"
said Peskoff, who lives in Fort Carson, Colo. "It got people out,
which is good. Even having the [war supporters] out, that's Americana
in action."

Juan Torres Sr., 52, of Chicago held a large photo of his son, Juan
Torres Jr., in Army uniform. Torres said his 25-year old son died
while serving in the war in 2004. Military officials, he said, told
him that his son committed suicide, but Torres said he doesn't
believe it. "I continue to fight for justice," he said. "I don't want
to see other families [lose a son] like mine."

Among the speakers were several Iraq war veterans, Green Party leader
Ralph Nader and former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark, who talked
about the Iraqis exiled to refugee camps, left hungry and facing
cholera and other diseases. "You can't believe a word the
administration says," Clark said.

But supporters of the Bush administration, well represented in the
Gathering of Eagles and Free Republic counter-demonstrations, could
not have disagreed more.

"I've seen how leftist politicians hate the military. It's
disgusting. We're fighting a war not in Iraq but with them," said Lt.
Col. Robert "Buzz" Patterson, a retired Air Force pilot.

War supporters staked out three blocks on Pennyslvania Avenue to
await the war protesters. A large police presence and metal
barricades separated the groups, but not their words.

"Commies out of D.C.!" came the chants from one corner of 10th Street
NW. Across the street, two middle-aged men shouted obscenities into
the face of a young man in full camouflage and a bandanna that
concealed all but his eyes. The young man remained silent amid the
screaming, holding a sign over his head that read "Support the
troops, end the war."

There was a school bus that had been painted with antiwar slogans
including "Impeach Bush-Cheney Now!!" A man standing at Pennsylvania
Avenue and Sixth Street shouted through a bullhorn: "Drive your bus
into the Potomac. You're all idiots. . . . Relieve us of your
stupidity."

Like many yesterday, Deborah Johns, the mother of a sergeant who has
served three tours in Iraq, raised the Vietnam War for comparison.

"We're not going to let the domestic enemy here at home defeat us
like they did then," she said. "No retreat, no surrender. Not now,
not ever." A conversation began between war protester Ocek Eke, 38,
of Elon, N.C., and Rich DeStefano, 64, of Philadelphia.

"We don't have to yell and scream at each other. Ultimately, we want
the best for our country," Eke said.

"He makes good sense," DeStefano replied.

"If we call each other names, we'll never have a dialogue," said Eke.

Rich: "Absolutely right."


















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WALTER LIPPMANN
Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
writer - photographer - activist
http://www.walterlippmann.com
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