(Cross-posted from ePluribus Media)
Living in Washington D.C. does have its benefits, especially when I can decide to join an anti-war parade outside the White House a day (or hour) before it happens. Very convinient. And so it will be this weekend, when the ANSWER coalition and United For Peace and Justice put on a massive march this Saturday. However, just a few lines signal to me that this march will be a sadly futile gesture for two reasons: first, no politican yet has the guts to show up at an anti-war rally (someone get on the phone to Feingold). Second, and more importantly, the brilliant planners of this parade decided to squeeze in a few of their own pet causes under the thin protection of an anti-war rally. It exploits the participants, forces unneeded viewpoints, and undermines rallies like this by sending them far out to the left.
More in extended
Do not mistake me: I support many of the causes and position of both those groups. Let us take the poster that you can print out for this march. The poster says: "end colonial occupation: iraq, palestine, haiti." I think most people who read this know where I am going.
You'd think that it would occur to them to stick with one issue. The Iraq War is certainlya real debate in this country. However, I am pro-Palestinian, but is Palestine really a center of colonial occupation? Uh, no. Is Haiti? Not really. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't it the UN that is in Haiti? Oh, that's sure to have a lot of support from our isolationist Democratic Party...
More importantly, I do not think nearly as many people want to come out on a Saturday to attack Israel, as a sizeable chunk of moderates are pro-Israel. Nor do I believe that most people know what is going on Haiti that makes these two organizations mad. I really do not.
It is simply a dishonest use of the time and energy that could be put to better use simply focusing on the Iraq War. In this way, we lose support and an opportunity to further the anti-war movement. After all, as I mentioned before, no politician yet has the guts to show up at an anti-war rally, because they are too afraid to be associated with such leftist causes that honestly are somewhat minority views. As long as the same people continue to run the same rallies, it will stay that way.