[Peace] views from the other side

[Zachary C. Miller]

Just a little snippet of one persons views from the other side of
North Prospect, submitted for the purposes of mutual understanding
(you won't agree with this person but it is good to know how our
actions are perceived by regular people on the other side).

A friend of mine (anti-war) who works in Madison for a company that
has an office in Champaign posted this note to a message board. I got
her permission to forward it on to you all. This is a dialog between
my anti-war friend and her "pro-america" coworker who was at the
counter-demonstration.

Begin quote:

Okay, so a former coworker of mine was one of the pro-war people at the
demonstration this weekend (not sure which day).  He and I had this 
conversation via email.  Just thought I'd post the view from the other side,
in case any of you happened to be involved in this exchange:

---
Pro-War Dude:

Hey - I want your opinion....[MY WIFE] & I attended a Pro-America 
rally in Champaign this weekend - yeah, I know you would have probably been 
on the other side, but that's why I want your opinion....there were 2 things 
about "the other side" that bothered me. #1 - They SAY they support our 
troops, yet every person who was at the rally in uniform was harassed, called 
names, etc. - WTF? If you support the troops then why do that?  #2 - Some 
B#TCH crossed a major line! We took [OUR DAUGHTERS] with us because we 
obviously feel the need to instill in them a sense of patriotism as we have, 
anyway, some lady from "the other side" was harassing [DAUGHTER #1] because 
(and this is a quote) "I feel like I can have to reach their children to 
spread the truth" - Ummm, EXCUSE ME, but those are MY children and 
"spreading the truth" to them is MY job. She's damn lucky she didn't get 
punched in the nose. She's also damn lucky I wasn't there at that moment. 
I took [DAUGHTER #2] and another child to the restroom - all this happened 
while I was away. [MY WIFE] handled it very well - she simply told the #$%@ 
that is she persisted in talking to [DAUGHTER #1], [MY WIFE] would summon 
the police (who were 50' away.) Now I ask you, in your opinion, was this lady 
out of line? 

Me:

#1 - Not everyone supports the troops.  I don't.  You and I talked before 
about that, and I think we had to agree to disagree.  I think that "just 
following orders" is no excuse.  If you think the war is wrong, you shouldn't 
go fight it even if you ARE a soldier. If you think the war is right, then 
you're one of the people that gets called names by the anti-war protesters.  
Which is not to say that I don't hope our troops come home safely.  I don't 
think anyone ought to be dying over there--us or them.  I'm just simply 
against ALL war.

#2 - I guess I would never have taken kids to a protest in the first place.  
They're too little to understand, and you never know what might happen.  As 
it is, that lady was obviously trying to piss you off.  But that's part of 
free speech--anyone can say whatever they want, to adults or to kids, makes 
no difference.


PWD:

Against ALL war? Isn't that a little nave? I'm not trying to be offensive, 
but seriously, do you really think that Hitler would have stopped at Poland? 
Or Russia? Or England?  I certainly don't. 
 
Re: taking the kids, well for one, we weren't attending a "protest", we were 
at a "rally" - very different purpose. The protestors were SUPPOSED to be on 
the opposite side of the street, but a handful crossed over to our side - 
IMHO to make mischief. Secondly, I think you should re-examine your belief 
of FREE SPEECH. Your "free speech" can not infringe my rights....or my 
child's rights. I'm pretty sure any lawyer will tell you the same. However, 
if it happens again, I'll exercise my free speech upside her head & yes, I'm 
prepared to pay the $100 for bail money. You just don't cross lines like that 
with people's children. Hell, I saw several kids on the other side - I simply 
felt pity for them.

-- 
Zachary C. Miller - @= - http://wolfgang.groogroo.com/
IMSA 1995 - UIUC 2000 - Just Another Leftist Muppet - Ya Basta!
 Social Justice, Community, Nonviolence, Decentralization, Feminism,
 Sustainability, Responsibility, Diversity, Democracy, Ecology