Re: Thinking Big (was re: Michael Lerner tattles: the state of the antiwar movement)
On Sep 13, 2007, at 12:07 PM, Mr. WD wrote:
Agreed. But my point is that it’s important to think big. The question is, ‘is the movement at a place where it’s time to start thinking about coordinating major acts of civil disobedience?’ As I said, the Independence, Mo. idea isn’t feasible right now, but something less ambitious might be.
Yes. Recruiting offices would be a great target. Or maybe some phony
recruiters, a la Billionaires for Bush, who tell the truth about life
in the military going to high schools and shopping malls to short
some circuits. And what about the old GI coffeehouses from the
Vietnam days? Was there just more discontent to work with within the
military then? Are they all just good soldiers now.
First, this war is hugely unpopular,
That’s an exaggeration. It’s unpopular, but most Americans want to withdraw slowly. The surge is unpopular, but so is a quick exit. Split the difference, as always.
According to the poll in the WSJ today, 26% of Americans want us to leave Iraq immediately. 37% have a more wishy-washy stance, but still basically want to bring this war to an end. That is a lot of fucking people! Are we really going to wait until some poll spits out a magic number and then start sitting down and taking shit over? How do numbers like these compare to the kinds of numbers we saw during Vietnam? (not a rhetorical question, I’m curious)
I think we’re at now where we were 8 years into Vietnam, or something
like that.
You’re right, 26% is a lot to work with. It’s a big base, and the
wishy-washy can be moved, at least some of them, by outside
agitators. But you got to start with a clear evaluation of the
situation, no?
Doug