Posted on 12/14/2001 9:45:00 PM PST by mtngrl@vrwc
It was a very chilly and windy 43 degrees as we gathered for tonight's "Support Our Troops" rally. There were approximately ten Peaceniks proclaiming that they were "United Against War" across the street from the eight of us FReepers who were able to make it tonight. The overwhelming majority of those driving by honked and gave us the thumbs up as they passed us.
At one point this evening, a man drove up, hopped out of his car, and came over to us with a handout which he insisted that we take. He proceeded to tell us how our government had advance warning about the World Trade Center attacks and stated that the attacks could have been prevented. I asked him that if this were true, did this mean that we shouldn't now be supporting our troops? Did this also mean that the attacks were our government's fault and not the fault of Osama bin Laden and his fanatic followers? He didn't have an answer for those questions, but he told us that if we "were patriotic Americans" we would read his handout and find out the "truth". I asked him if he were with the group of peaceniks across the street and he said that he wasn't actually with them tonight but admitted that he agreed with their politics and what they were trying to do. When he realized that we weren't interested in his propoganda, he left and we went back to FReeping.
Another interesting thing that happened tonight was that while GoodieD was holding her sign for drivers-by to read, a bicyclist rode close by her and purposely bumped her as he passed by.
The peaceniks must have forgotten to wear their gloves and warm clothing tonight because they seem to be quitting earlier and earlier. After the last of them left, we all went out for a bite to eat, vowing to return again next Friday night.
FREepers who were able to attend tonight's FReep were:
I posted some pix showing you Patriots in Action from past FReeps on my website www.patriotzone.net on the Features page. I'll add some of the new pix when I update my site!
Now it's time for me to get ready for Phase II of the Central Valley Chapter's Weekend FReeps.
Here is what the handout that I took from that pro-terrorist guy last night had to say:
September 11 was a horrific tragedy. As Americans, and more importantly as citizens of the world, we join the rest of humanity in extending our heartfelt empathy to the families of the victims in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. We know their loss and grief will last a lifetime.
Yet to speak only of this tragedy, to paraphrase the great poet Beertholt Brecht, would be a crime because of the crimes it leaves unsaid. For our hearts also break as we mourn for the hundreds of thousands, indeed millions, throughout the Third World who have suffered death, imprisonment or torture at the hands of the U.S. government's foreign policies.
"Why do they hate America?" asks President Bush and the cover story of Newsweek. Bush opines that it is because America believes in freedom and decmocracy, and values human life. But in reality the worldwide enmity toward America emanates not from opposition to freedom and democracy, but from America's role in obstructing freedom and democracy for many peoples throughout the world. In Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world, the rives around Jakarta literally ran red with blood when the CIA directed a military coup that overthrew the progressive, democratically elected Sukarno and installed the fascist dictatorship of Suharto. Over 500,000 Indonesians were massacred during the yearlong counterrevolutionary terror, and the Indonesian people continued to suffer under the Suharto regime until 1998, and are struggling against its aftermath to this day.
Indonesia's tragedy, in all its horror, is more the rule than the exception in regard to America's role in the world. The U.S. government and CIA did the same to the progressive, democratically elected Mossedgh in Iran, installing the brutally oppressive Shah to rule for decades. And on another infamous September 11, in Chile, the U.S. government and CIA again directed a coup to overthrow the progressive, democratically elected Allende and install the murderous Pinochet regime in power. Fifty thousand Chilean citizens were killed during the coup and its aftermath. Beyond Indonesia, Iran, and Chile our hearts ache as we remember and mourn for the 150,000 dead in Guatemala, the 50,000 dead in Nicarague, the 75,000 dead in El Salvador, the 17,500 killed during the U.S.-backed Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the 3,000,000 killed by the U.S. in Vietnam, and so many others over the decades throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
And yet in spite of this history, many Americans are sincerely shocked at the visceral anger toward America. A deadly mixture of complacency, ignorance and racism allows too many Americans to ignore what happens in the world beyond America's shores, and the atrocities and suffering caused by American policies.
and the tripe continues.....
As the White House revs up the American war machine, with the ready complicity of the Democrats, the president appears to be borrowing a line from Reagan's second inaugural address ("You ain't seen nothin' yet") when he proclaims, "Afghanistan is just the beginning." He is now openly threatening Iraq, declaring they must yield to American dictates or else. In one of the great human tragedies of the '90s, 1.2 million Iraqi citizens have died as a result of the U.S. bombing and sanctions. Over 500,000 of the Iraqis who have perished are children under the age of five, as sanctions have caused mass starvation and widespread disease, and also caused the infant mortality rate to increase by 1100%.
As the Bush administration wages war abroad, on the home front it is launching an ominous assault on fundamental constitutional rights and civil liberties, accompanied by a new intensified wave of racism across America. The most frightening developments here at home include racial profiling and hate crimes, detention without charges and the right to counsel, secret military tribunals and executions, discussion in the mainstream media about the legitimacy of torture, and a directive by Attorney General Ashcroft calling for an additional 5,000 people of color, mostly of Middle Eastern origin, to be detained and interrogated.
(leaving out some because it's just plain boring...)
In the post-September 11 political environment, the need for alternative institutions like Vanguard and all the community activist groups that Vanguard supports becomes even more crucial. While the polls may be right that a sizable majority of Americans support the Bush administration, it is equally true that there has always been another America that stands in opposition to war and all forms of racism. This is the America that fought for civil rights, that marched against the Vietnam war, that fought for the rights of women and gay men and lesbians, and that speaks out today against the new drive toward war and heightened racism. The Honorable Barbara Lee may have been the lone courageous voice for this America in the halls of Congress, but she is hardly the lone voice in the streets of our communities. This America, our America, stands for peace and justice at home and abroad, and we must make our voices heard.
Since September 11, Vanguard has joined with others to take a stand against the threatening right-wing trend. Vanguard took a decision some time back to weave our grand making, political organizing, and technical assistance support into one unified effort in which the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. This has proven to be timely and invaluable. As the drumbeat of war and intensified racism emanating from the White House developed, we moved quickly to help organize, and support financially, a broad spectrum of efforts in opposition to the Bush Administration's policies.
In the face of the drive to war abroad and reactionary policies here at home, we believe that alternative political centers are more vital than ever. Vanguard, and the community-based organizations we collaborate with politically and support financially, are an essential component of the alternative political center for peace, justice, and progressive activism here in Northern California.
and I will spare you the end where they ask for support, etc.
Absolutely. But I think it's important for us to know what it is that drives them, to get into the enemy's head so to speak. It's just so amazingly right in your face anti-American. I can hardly believe it!
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