[Peace-discuss] ron paul on obama and the antiwar movement

[Ricky Baldwin]

And where is the anti-war *right*?  Busy protesting health care reform or immigrant reform, taxes, or something, I suppose.  
 
We might also say the left, and millions of people of various stripes, are caught up in issues related to recession or depression, possibly losing their own jobs or homes, or with health care, etc.
 
It's good that Paul is still speaking up against US wars, wherever they are and whoever is ordering them, despite his questionable politics in other areas.  And it is true that Obama's presidency took a big bite out of the anti-war movement.  It's not the only thing.  It also depends on how you measure opposition.
 
As I've said before, the (recent) anti-war movement was probably at its biggest, measured by turnout, in the weeks before and immediately after the (most recent) invasion of Iraq.  That summer we lost most of our activists and they never came back.
 
Much of that opposition was closely related to opposition to Bush himself, in a similar way that much of the current noise over Obama's various plans is closely related to a dislike of the man himself.  There was also a naive belief among many at the time that the invasion might not happen if we just protested enough.  Most were never in for the long haul.
 
A second wave of resolutions passed by cities, churches, labor unions and other groups, and the referendum votes in various communities like ours rejecting the war all came after that.
 
Public opinion since then has only tipped further against the war in Iraq, and now has tipped more against the war in Afghanistan.  And anti-war efforts continue and not only among the hardcore faithful few anti-war purists (as they themselves might have us believe), e.g. the AFL-CIO this past weekend passed resolutions calling (again) for withdrawal of all troops and contractors from Iraq.
 
But there's quite a bit more going on, of course: this past March several cities around the country held protests against the continued occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine; on May 1 of this year 25,000 unionized longshoremen executed a one-day work stoppage in protest of US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; US Labor Against the War has been building ties with Iraqi unions, pointing out that US presence in Iraq is actually growing, organizing anti-war unionists; even the New York Times, a leading proponent of the "Obama Effect," is reporting on the "American anti-war movement" to gear up this fall; and communities here in Illinois - Evanston, Oak Park, CHAMPAIGN-URBANA - continue demonstrating against war, holding peace vigils, etc.
 
In fact there are two here next Monday, I believe, Sept. 21: a daytime protest on the Quad at noon, and an evening vigil at the Alma Mater at 8pm.  

And of course we have our monthly protests and presence at other events.  I believe anti-war groups including AWARE sorely need new activities too focus on, rather than just telling each other how their movement is flopping, is being fooled or coopted, or is otherwise unworthy.  And my opinion is that it ought to be calculated to draw in new blood and expand into new venues, preferably focused on some specific goal - like the campaign we built around the referendum votes, for example, but something that hasn't already be done.
 
My 2c.
Ricky

"Speak your mind even if your voice shakes." - Maggie Kuhn

--- On Fri, 9/18/09, E. Wayne Johnson <ewj at pigs.ag> wrote:


From: E. Wayne Johnson <ewj at pigs.ag>
Subject: [Peace-discuss] ron paul on obama and the antiwar movement
To: "'Peace-discuss'" <peace-discuss at anti-war.net>, ronpaul-305 at meetup.com, ronpaul-1884 at meetup.com, republican-637 at meetup.com
Date: Friday, September 18, 2009, 5:44 AM


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYNvjFYTmMM
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