These peace people aren't very peaceful

First of all I’d just like to say I’m a 14 year old girl in the 9th grade, just starting high school. I wrote this myself.

I was right. These peace-people aren’t very peaceful. Today (Sunday, March 23, 2003,) I was out protesting with a sign that said, “Thank you American troops” and on the other side it side “Keep America free for me”. I also had an American flag and an American shirt. I was with my mother who also had a sign, American flag, and an American shirt. Most people were honking in support, but some were saying horrible things. One man called us Nazis! What ignorance! And one woman said, while looking at my mother, “This war is wrong!” I said, “It would be wrong if we didn’t.” She walked away with angry mutters I could not hear. She was obviously not expecting a rebuttal from me. She thought I was going to be like the other kids that protest what their parents tell them to and don’t know what their protesting. Well, let me tell you I know what I’m protesting. Well let me get back to the point. My mother and I were crossing the street, and happened to be in the middle of the street, waiting for the light to change. I was holding my poster towards the street with the side that said, “Thank you American troops”. A man drove by in a grey hatch-back with his widow rolled down and said something bad to me. I said, “U.S.A!” And he drove by and through water from a water bottle on me, my sigh (that said “Thank you American troops”,) and my flag. I flipped him the bird (sorry I was really angry,) and saw peace bumper stickers all over his car. Ok, let me tell you all the things that are wrong with that. First of all, there were three guys on the other side of the street that he drove by that had a giant bed sheet that said we support Bush and the war and things like that. He was so much of a coward that he didn’t say or throw anything at them (they were strong guys) but threw water at the little girl on the other side of the street when the guys weren’t looking (they had a video camera.) Second, I never said I was anti-war or pro-war. My sign just said, “Thank you American troops”. This guy is a coward, anti-American, ignorant, fool. If this guy would have just thought about what he was doing or have even read my sign, he wouldn’t have done what he did. And anyways, did he really think that a little bit of water was going to stop me? He might as well have thrown flint and tinder at me, because all he did was get me angry and invoke my flames of patriotism. I WILL go back on the streets and exercise my freedom of expression and speech. It wouldn’t have mattered if he had shot me, because if he had shot at me, he would have wounded my body, not my spirit or what I believe in. I believe in freedom, my president, and my country.

P.S.- Can some one please tell me why these anti-war people are so mad? And if they hate America so much, why don’t they move to Canada or something?

Geckogirl, like everyone else I enjoyed your essay. Good for you!

I thought you might like a stab at an answer to your question, since th level of left hatred bothers me as well.

I talked to an unusually intelligent member of the left yesterday afternoon (he could actually marshal some decent arguments, which is rare), and it hit me that the main difference between the conservative and liberal position is a deep hatred for President Bush in the latter, and a overwhelming respect for him in the former.

It was very clear that there was intense bitterness on the left about the conclusion of the last Presidential election. This atttiude is wrong, since every attempt at re-counting the ballots has wound up with Bush winning Florida. Thanks to the Supreme Court sustaining the election result, they think of Bush as being appointed instead of elected. This would appear to be the basic origin of the "Bush is appointed, not elected" slogan. But this is wrong; the Florida election results were, in fact, valid.

Another slur on Bush is the idea that he is of limited intelligence. Leftists tend to like detail-oriented people like Clinton who plunge into the specifics of every issue. Conservatives tend to like principle oriented people like Reagan and George W Bush, who take a basic direction, delegate the details to others, and keep on top of things without worrying about dotting Is or crossing Ts.

Principle oriented people tend to minimize the work they do in office. They leave promptly at 5:00pm. They take naps. Detail oriented people do their best to work 23 hours a day. This makes the principle oriented look dumb and lazy.

So leftists hate Reagan and George W Bush because they are both principle oriented. The left doesn't think that way and distrusts people who do.

So what use are principle-oriented people if they don't work hard and can't master detail? They make the best Presidents exactly because they never lose sight of the big picture - something folks like Clinton can do easily. Reagan came up with four ideas he thought would define his presidency; he accomplished most of them. Clinton had a huge laundry list; he accomplished next to nothing. This is the virtue of the principle oriented.

So Bush looks dumb, lazy and like he wasn't elected. Add a war to this and you have someone who has absolutely nothing in common with the left.

Those are the basic elements. Why they add up to such extreme feelings I'm not sure. I really don't think the left would have done much better under Gore. They didn't do at all well under Clinton, who has participated in several wars, many of which were fuzzily-defined casualty generators.

Hope that helps.

Mike:

The more extreme elements want to be arrested - it's a seal of commitment to them.

They can do so easily by refusing to get back on the sidewalk when instructed by a police officer, usually when said officer wants to re-open the street. (It is for this reason that I think streets should never be closed for rallies. They should be done in parks instead).

Arrests tend to make people sympathise with the protesters even if the protesters did everything to provoke them and the cops are just doing their job.

Our protest group is scrupulous in obeying all laws and clearing things with the authorities. This is because we consider being arrested to be a mark of shame, not pride.

That's the real difference between the two groups.

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