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

[C. G. Estabrook]

"And where is the anti-war *right*?  Busy protesting health care reform or 
immigrant reform, taxes, or something, I suppose."

No, it's taking a principled (as opposed to just pragmatic) stand against US 
crimes in the Middle East.

See, e.g., the website <antiwar.com>, the journals American Conservative and 
Chronicles, and the recent book by Bill Kauffman, "Ain't My America: The Long, 
Noble History of Antiwar Conservatism and Middle-American Anti-Imperialism."

--CGE


Ricky Baldwin wrote:
> 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
>     _______________________________________________
>     Peace-discuss mailing list
>     Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>     <http://us.mc1126.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net>
>     http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss