The Stars and Stripes got some good quotes from D.C. this weekend:
Jamie Santoro, a 40-year-old editor with a book company in Chicago, rode 18 hours with 40 friends to participate.
“I came because I think war is wrong in every circumstance,” she said. What about in fighting someone such as Hitler? “War is always wrong.”
Arianette Gosnell, 18, a student at Lorain County Community College in Ohio, drove out with her friends.
She was handing out flyers that read “RESIST OR DIE! NO SCHOOL ON NOV. 2!”
Asked what the group hoped to accomplish by not going to class for a day, she said, “Actually, I just got involved today, so I don’t know.”
Heh.
Posted by Sarah at September 26, 2005 09:47 AM | TrackBackMost anti-war protestors could say something about why they were at the protest. So wasn't it journalistically dishonest of S&S to find and quote one who couldn't?
Posted by: Pericles at September 26, 2005 12:20 PMThe very concept of an anti-war protest is intellectually dishonest, since almost everyone is against war except in the extreme. I know of no pro-war soldiers. The anti-warist is saying nothing is worth fighting for or that the insult was not personal enough for him to be included.
Posted by: Walter E. Wallis at September 26, 2005 06:27 PMWhat is dishonest about saying that one particulcar war is not worth fighting? I'm not someone who would be protesting the war NOW, because I don't think we should pull out at this point. I probably should have protested during the march up to the war, because I was (and still am) convinced this this particular war was a mistake---just as I'm convinced that other wars, including the one on Afghanistan, were the right thing to do.
Posted by: Pericles at September 26, 2005 08:51 PMWhile it would take a lot of demographic work to substantiate with any data, one has to wonder if say those particluar nitwits were like black specks of sand carefully picked out of a large beach of mostly white sand to prove that the beach was really black...
Walter, I don't get your point. Where do you come up with the idea that 'almost everyone is against war except in the extreme?' What percentage is 'almost everyone? What data would ytou use to substantiate that? And why is it dishonest to march in a protest against the goverment doing something that 'amost everyone' doesn't approve of? It seems to me that if almost everyone disapproves of a government action that doesn't represent we the people, a protest is vey much in order in a democratic country.
Posted by: VOT at September 27, 2005 04:48 AMI think Walter has a point...when you boil everything down, if the country could be back in a relatively peaceful state...even a Cold War would be welcome, people would generally be happier. War is indeed a very ugly thing, but there are times when it becomes necessary.
We live on this planet together with over 6 billion people. When it looks like one group or organization might be fiddling around with stuff that might kill the rest of us, I think something has to be done.
Technology and freedom of travel between countries brought us the events of 9/11/2001. Operation Enduring Freedom set out to expel Al Qaeda from their hideouts in Afghanistan and return the country back to the people. Operation Iraqi Freedom was kicked off to release Iraq from the stranglehold of a nutjob evil dictator, look for WMDs that damned near everyone said would be found, and to finally try to spark a democratic society within the Middle East. I'm sorry, sounds like there are some pretty good reasons to go to war at this point.
As to what not going to school on 2 November will prove...that people being handed an education on a silver platter will still spit on it and disrespect it by willingly not attending!
In my Draconian world...any child that missed school without a helluva a good reason would be suspended or expelled. I don't invest in failure. Anyone that would turn their nose up at education deserves to suffer the consequences of not having one.
Wow!
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
MajorDad1984
Posted by: MajorDad1984 at October 1, 2005 02:49 PM