[Peace-discuss] Counterpunch: How to Stop the War
Phil Stinard
pstinard at hotmail.com
Tue May 4 12:27:12 CDT 2004
May 4, 2004
How to Stop the War
Demostrate Against John Kerry
By SONALI KOLHATKAR
With the launching of the new fiercely partisan and influential liberal
radio network nationwide, Air America, John Kerry seems poised to whisk the
presidential nomination for the Democratic Party and could even win simply
because he is not Bush.
According to an unnamed former Bush official, "Kerry might wage a more
effective war on terror than Bush because he was likely to take a more
complex approach, looking at broader threats while coupling military force
with "soft power" such as alliance building and a battle for hearts and
minds" (Reuters, 05/03/04 "Bush or Kerry, 'War on Terror' Unlikely to
Change").
What is the massive anti-war movement in the United States to do when the
difference between the two major candidates extends to the use of "soft
power"?
While there are certainly some differences between the two candidates and
Kerry is likely a shade better than Bush, should we settle for his Bush-like
stand on the war? The common Democratic refrain goes like this: "I trust
John Kerry to do what's right for America. After all, his record in Vietnam
and the amazing antiwar speech he gave after returning from Vietnam spoke to
all the things that need to be done to bring this country back on track. And
anyway, I'll vote for Anybody But Bush".
But why should we trust our leaders? What role does trust play in a
democracy? I trust my family and my friends and even they screw up sometimes
and break my trust.
Perhaps we ought to judge Kerry by his more recent speeches rather than what
he said 30 years ago when he was an anti-war activist, war veteran, and
someone less invested in the current establishment. Kerry whole-heartedly
embraces Bush's "war on terror" as a legitimate concept. We laugh at the
simplistic rhetoric of Bush's "good vs. evil". But John Kerry calls it "a
clash of civilization against chaos". Bush's rhetoric may be more religious
and emotional, but Kerry's is just as judgmental and generalized.
Certainly the "war on terror" is not all we should judge candidates by.
George Bush's domestic economic policies have ravaged the poor and middle
class. But lest you thought that Kerry's economics would be kinder and
gentler than Bush's, Warren Buffet, Kerry's economic advisor downplays any
difference between the two saying the election will simply be a "referendum
on George Bush". He even said, "The Kerry campaign is quite unimportant
compared to how people feel about Bush when they go into the voting booth".
Consider the presidential poll results which consistently hover around
43-46% for either candidate. Any lead falls within the statistical noise.
If John Kerry wants our votes, John Kerry ought to earn them. By this I mean
it is up to us in the anti-war, or pro-justice movements to demonstrate that
we weren't kidding when we marched in the millions against the war in Iraq.
It is up to us to send a warning sign to John Kerry or whoever turns up as
the alternative to Bush that he has to work to earn our votes. Simply being
ABB (Anybody But Bush) does not qualify him.
When ten million people marched against Bush's war in Iraq last year, he
glibly dismissed us as a "focus group" simply because he could: Bush does
not need us to get re-elected he already has support of about 40% of the
voters. But why should the other 40% hand over our votes to Mr. "Bush-lite"
Kerry without a fight? Imagine a march of over a million voters all across
the United States, not against the idiot Bush who has not earned the right
to be a public servant anyway, but against John Kerry. Imagine hundreds of
thousands of voters demanding that Kerry adopt an anti-war and
anti-occupation position publicly and fast if he wants any assurance of
beating Bush at the polls. Imagine these voters insisting Kerry adopt a
progressive agenda on Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, the USA PATRIOT Act,
welfare reform, and other life-and-death issues.
This will accomplish two things: it will remind public officials everywhere
that voters will not succumb to a "lesser of two evils" approach which often
means that candidates need only be a shade better than their incumbent
opposition. And, it will remind public officials that once in power, that
same constituency will not hesitate to take to the streets again to hold
them accountable to their promises.
One only has to look at the recent election in Spain to see this in action.
When the Spanish incumbent prime minister, Jose Maria Asnar stood for
re-election after defying his people's wishes, he was promptly ousted and
replaced with the socialist Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero whose campaign
platform was based on a pullout of troops from Iraq. What's more, once
elected, even more Spaniards than expected turned out for the
anti-occupation demonstrations of March 20th, reminding Zapatero that his
election was not based on an act of faith he would be held to his
promises. As a result, Spain has taught us a lesson in democracy: the
electorate determines the actions of its elected representative. The
electorate's relationship to the elected after all, is supposed to be a
master-servant relationship. Hence the term "public servant".
We have to hold Kerry accountable before he gets elected while he is still
in the position of having to court voters. Rather than "backing Kerry", we
need to stand in front of him, to remind him who's boss: the people of the
United States of America, not a Democratic presidential candidate who thinks
he can mimic an idiot (Bush) and laugh his way into the White House.
Sonali Kolhatkar is the host and co-producer of Uprising, on KPFK 90.7 fm,
Pacifica Radio. She is also the co-Director of the Afghan Women's Mission, a
US-based non-profit working in solidarity with Afghan women.
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