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| Home Front: Politix |
| Anti-War, or Anti-American? |
| 2005-09-28 |
| No snarky comments needed here! "9/11 was an inside job," declared one placard being carried by a protester during Saturday's anti-war rally in downtown Washington. "Impeach the Fourth Reich," read another. "George Bush is the devil!" shrieked a woman from the stage on the Ellipse. Many on the left are defensive when their movement is classified as anti-American, but precious few conclusions can be reached when one of their representatives takes to the microphone and proclaims "With your help, American society will collapse!" And it was all downhill from there. Intellectual, principled opposition to the Iraq war gave way to seething, vulgar and juvenile acts of defiance. Most placards were not fit to print. One protester held a sign that read, "Pin the blood on the jacka*s," to which passersby could attach red construction paper blood drops to an unflattering picture of the commander in chief. One woman held a sign that read "Abort Bush." Several of the protesters brought their children along. Boys no older than 16 shaved their hair into mohawks, masked their faces with bandanas and desecrated an American flag. Even younger children assisted their parents in handing out fliers that were little more than diatribes against the president. Toddlers in strollers carried signs condemning a war they likely were unaware was happening. These and other exhibits would be more appropriately suited for Theater of the Absurd rather than American political discourse. To wit, a quite corpulent woman traipsed around in fishnet stockings and frilly underpants. To her ample posterior was attached a sign that read "Ruffled Panties for Peace." Indeed. Perhaps most regrettable is that anti-war marches don't have to look like this. Many reasonable people oppose the war in Iraq for reasonable reasons. But these people were drowned out by the commotion of the movement's fringe elements. The reasonable opponents of the Iraq war are being eclipsed by their rabid, frothy-mouthed brethren. It's impossible to take such people seriously, let alone engage them in a meaningful discussion: The jingling bells on their jester hats are simply too distracting. They not only undermine their own credibility, but they also embarrass the more reasonable factions of their movement, or at least, they should. If protesters such as these truly want change in government, they would serve themselves better to grow up, put on some pants and at least keep the slander PG-13. In this country, few elections have been won on the "Ruffled Panties" platform: It simply doesn't play well in the red states. There was one sign that captured the sentiment of the entire rally. It read "Feel the Love." It was not the sign's message, however, that captured this sentiment. Rather, it was the fact that it was — quite symbolically — crumpled and thrown into a trash can. Charles Repine is an editorial assistant at The Examiner and a fellow for the Collegiate Network. |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #2 Exactly: it's self-validation. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2005-09-28 18:02 |
| #1 It's never been about accomplishing anything really beyond satisfaction of the protestors own personal needs, agendas, and desires that have precious little to do with the well being of America, our troops, or anybody else for that matter. |
| Posted by: MunkarKat 2005-09-28 14:30 |