Anti War Protest

There was a fairly big anti-war protest in Washington today, and among the plethora of speakers banging the drum, rather than passing the peace pipe, were folks all along the political spectrum that you might likely find at a rally like this. Everything from Palestinian liberationists to Haitian exiles, all getting in licks for their own causes while denouncing the war, made the "right wingers", Ralph Nader, Ramsey Clark and Jessica Lange (in her Francis Farmer outfit) appear almost avuncular.

Most everyone got the anti-war rhetoric right and steamed up the place right nicely. But since we libertarians are really good talkers and very poor doers, the peace movement gets hijacked by the far left, and it is left to them to carry the flag of anti-imperialism. They even dug up a communist, and he was pretty good, considering we don't see them much anymore.

But those who are ardently against the war in Iraq and put their theory into action, do themselves a great disservice when the movement is diverted by cranks and kooks. The John Birch Society did Barry Goldwater no good in 1964. Commies and Filipino anarchists attract only the dregs of political society, when what is needed are the millions of moderate, non-political Americans watching C-Span in search of a place to put their own political action. I simultaneously retched and turned off the tv when those two Filipino gals started singing "Another Brick In The Wall".

We don't need no education, perhaps. But we need an anti-war movement for Ma and Pa Kettle, who may yet soon have to sacrifice one of their own to Bush's Folly. We desperately need a movement in this country that will appeal to that great middle, but who might agree on very little else.

We don't need no stinking Communists.

Joe Postove