What is YOUR opinion on the Anti-War Protest in Washington D.C. this weekend?
March and Lobby in Washington on January 27th, 28th, and 29th
Come to Washington, D.C., on January 27. Join in the march for peace being organized by United for Peace and Justice, and impeachment events on January 28th being planned by Progressive Democrats of America.
On Election Day the voters delivered a dramatic, unmistakable mandate for peace. Now it’s time for action. On January 27, 2007, we will converge from all around the country in Washington, D.C. to send a strong, clear message to Congress and the Bush Administration: The people of this country want the war and occupation in Iraq to end and we want the troops brought home now!
Congress has the power to end this war through legislation. We call on people from every congressional district in the country to gather in Washington, DC – to express support for those members of Congress who are prepared to take immediate action against the war; to pressure those who are hesitant to act; and to speak out against those who remain tied to a failed policy.
The peace and justice movement helped make ending the war in Iraq the primary issue in this last election. The actions we take do make a difference, and now there is a new opportunity for us to move our work forward. On Election Day people took individual action by voting. On January 27 we will take collective action, as we march in Washington, DC, to make sure Congress understands the urgency of this moment.
Hmmmm… Well, i just got back from this protest and all of the soldiers that DO appreciate our concern for their health and well being will definately attempt to stop the mentally sick soldiers who decide that we are a threat to them from killing us.
Oh, and by the way, I do understand the Communist Manifesto.
FUCK DEMONSTRATIONS!!! Demonstrations in themselves are worthless. I don’t want to be told I should be grateful to some self-serving govt for ‘allowing’ me to demonstrate. Screw that. I demand the govt allow ‘the people’ to make the most important decision a country can make – war. The government should be the ones demonstrating on the streets trying to sell their wars, not vice versa.
I also hate the fact that most people leave demonstrations with a feeling of self importance and having done their duty while the powerful laugh at how easy it is to placate the sheep. If we really want our power back, we should down tools at work (or go on a shopping strike) until the govt does what we tell it to do. Fucking up the economy is the only thing that hurts them personally. Sure it will hurt us economically too but we either pay this way or we are forced to pay through blood and war taxes. The powerful lose money when there’s massive strikes or boycotts; when there’s war, they make money.
I think we’ve lost the whole idea of who’s in charge in a democracy, and in truth, we no longer deserve it.
i agree with the statement of not liking demonstrations. they dont work that well. or maybe it didnt quite fullfill me. i prefer the molotov direction.
The demonstration is a public opinion poll vote of “no” to the Iraq war, a “war” which everyone pretty much knows was merely a murderous heist of Iraq’s oil distribution rights to prevent Saddam from diverting our share of essential and irreplacable Iraqi crude away from us, as he promised in the fall of 2002, as soon as the near-to-ending sanctions against him choosing new trading partners finally ended.
Politicians make notes of these demonstrations.
Each demonstrator represents a number of the general voting public.
So these demonstrations are valuable to a number of people who eventually affect our lives democratically.
That’s actually… not a bad idea. You’re right in the fact that hurting the government economically is one of the easiest ways to force them to listen to us. We could unexpectedly usher in a new depression though by trying this tactic. It’s risky… very risky…
I’m an EFFECTIVENESS nut. Good intentions or nice emotions are meaningless to me if, at the end of the day, THEY’RE INEFFECTIVE. I’d be a proud ‘demonstrationist’ IF IT WAS EFFECTIVE. Secondly, there’s absolutely nothing wrong from feeling self-important when you do something THAT HAS AN EFFECT. It’s feeling self important when you’re ineffectual that I have a problem with. (The moronic left wing are particularly good at this… but that’s another thread.)
In every organization there’s two organizational charts; there’s the official organizational chart that lists titles and authority lines and there’s the unofficial real organization (power) chart where the diagram shows who has the real power, that is, who have the important meetings behind the backs of the sexy-titled executives.
Our ‘democracies’ are like the first power chart; for presentational purposes only. We have the title of the most powerful part of a democracy (“the peopleâ€), but the power resides elsewhere and we have to kick and scream for this secret powerbrokers to let us in on what’s happening. War is the most important decision a country can make and therefore imperative that the EVERYONE gets a say. Not just the shareholders of industrial/military stock.
According to historical records, people like the Athenians had the opportunity to vote on war strategies and expenditures but today, we count ourselves luck if we’re told what the power elite (often from outside our countries) are doing in our name.
FTR Even though I don’t’ believe anti-war demonstrations are very effective (i.e. the most efficiency use of resources over the shortest time), I still go because the more people that go, the more effective it becomes. I’d prefer to add to a slow, wasteful strategy to end the war than to none at all.
I don’t think any strategy will be very effective. Bush seems not to much care what anyone thinks, so the war will probably grind on until he leaves office. Then his successor will have to figure out some way out of this mess- Bush doesn’t seem to have any idea how to win it nor how to leave it.
I think that anti-war demonstrations, when suitably large, have the added effect of helping distance the American people from the current administration. It tells the rest of the world that we aren’t some monolithicly Republican country (less of a concern now that it is no longer a Republican majority in the House/Senate as well as the White House).
Due to the Serious and Organised Crime and Police Act (2005), we in Britain can no longer protest anywhere but in an area designated in advance by the Home Secretary, and he cannot designate such an area within one kilometre of Parliament Square.
So count yourselves lucky that you can do this sort of thing…
Isn’t that part and parcel of the Socialist Utopia, much is controlled by the government. Many in the US scream about big government.
Bush is an idiot. Halliburton is his anthem. However, Congress is at a new low, appointing a new Iraq war leader, Petrais (sp), agreeing to what he claims he needs, then talk about limiting funds for the troops.
Blair’s government has nothing to do with socialism, although it has everything to do with big government. Socialism doesn’t inherently involve large scale, high-tax governments. Particularly the anarcho-socialism of Bakunin and the like.
To be fair, wasn’t that so that they could kick Brian Haw out of Parliament Square. Having met the man, I can say that it’s wholly worthwhile.
EDIT: Can we also have some examples of when this police power has been used in a negative fashion? The only one I can think of immediately (because it’s so close to home) is that some animal-rights-wackos were kept out of Oxford. Which, to be blunt, is a good thing.
