The usual suspects finally have something worth protesting about, and they aren’t about to let it get away. Last week, a “Not in our name” peace rally at State Street’s Orpheum Theatre drew over 2,000 pacifists, hippies and undercover-conservative operatives like myself.
Soon after sitting down in the theater, I overheard a surprising conversation. The man sitting next to me asked his friend, “Did we put any beer in the refrigerator?” His friend replied, “No.” The questioner quickly snipped back, “Goddamnit.”
These two were actually my buddies who had no interest in the peace gathering but simply had nothing better to do Tuesday night. Plus, I promised to buy the first round after the show. Regardless, our priorities stood in contrast to the majority of the spectators.
After settling the beer situation and settling into my seat, speakers and audience members filled the evening with predictable rhetoric.
Despite its billing as a peace rally, the majority of the speakers spent the majority of their time bashing Bush. I heard Bush was “selected, not elected” so many times I became convinced we were actually at the constitutional convention debating the merits of the electoral college.
If not for the trend of Anti-Zionism amongst the speakers, the audience would have been a Jerry Seinfeld dream as they seemed to find the 23rd joke about the president’s intellect as funny as the first.
Jokes and electoral reforms aside, the peace activists’ organizing ability has been nothing short of impressive considering a true ground war has not yet even begun. Unfortunately for pacifists and their cause, the people doing the organizing are not mainstream Americans putting forth coherent policy alternatives. Instead they are a rag-tag group of Communists, Trotskyists and Maoists who tie their peace agenda to a hatred for free markets and individual liberties, and sometimes Israel.
Take for example, keynote speaker David McReynolds. McReynolds ran as the Socialist Party’s candidate for president in 2000 on a platform advocating an immediate 50 percent reduction in defense spending.
McReynolds asserted that he came to the Orpheum to “defend the women and children of Iraq,” but spent most of his speech accusing George W. Bush of exploiting Sept. 11, 2001 to deliver America into the hands of corporate interests.
McReynolds took the usual pot shots at Israel, wondering why their efforts to protect their people from Palestinian suicide bombers is not considered a problem on par with Saddam Hussein’s documented use of chemical weapons for genocide.
Facing the fact that the only reason Hans Blix and his band of scavenger hunters are in Iraq today is because of the credible threat of U.S. military action, McReynolds had a tough time iterating an alternative to current U.S. policy. The policy initiative he finally pulled out of his socialist hat was to “nationalize United States oil resources.”
But more shocking than McReynolds’ desire for a socialist economy is the “Not in our name” statement of conscience. The statement reads, “We too watched with shock the horrific events of September 11, 2001. We too mourned the thousands of innocent dead and shook our heads at the terrible scenes of carnage — even as we recalled similar scenes in Baghdad, Panama City and, a generation ago, Vietnam.”
Now I can tolerate the Green’s desire to take away my car, and I can tolerate the Socialists’ desire to unionize my job, but I cannot tolerate a group who would trivialize the tragedy of Sept. 11.
Our Baghdad-bombing campaign was in response to a vile dictator who aggressively invaded and pillaged his weaker neighbor, threatening regional stability and further loss of innocent life. Our actions in Panama were successful in removing a violent dictator and convicted drug trafficker.
Putting these incidents on the same moral ground as the Sept. 11 attacks is disrespectful to the Americans who fought and lost their lives for this country, as well as disrespectful to the victims and heroes who died in New York City.
There are many patriotic proponents of peace, and in no way does expressing dissatisfaction with your government’s policies make you unpatriotic. However, there are many vocal activists who are little more than anti-American in their rhetoric and their beliefs. Sadly, they appear to be leading and organizing the peace movement.
The fundamental role of our government is to protect our inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Americans should not cower from criticizing those who do not share our appreciation for these rights.
A.J. Hughes ([email protected]) is a software developer and UW graduate.
