Saturday Afternoon Stroll
MC and I were at a rally in Syracuse yesterday to protest the war in Iraq and demand that our troops be brought home immediately. About 3,000 people turned up for the rally. About 1,000 more than the optimistic end of the event organizers' predictions. About 2,500 more than my most optimistic prediction. It was pretty encouraging to see that many people turn up. Good to see that more and more people are getting behind the position that our soldiers are over there bleeding and dying for no reason. Beyond being of similar opinion, caring enough to get out there and say something. These events are likely to continually be growing as long as our soldiers keep coming home in boxes. Turn outs like this, and the growing trend are seen by many as encouraging. In truth, to some extent they are. Unfortunately I can't hold out the same kind of optimistic hope that some of the other folks there were conveying.
You see, there are certain points when the democratic process fails. One of those points is the one that we find ourselves circling now. That being the fact that the theory that our politicians, including the President of the United States, are bound to follow the will of the people. Of course, a president who wants to get re-elected doesn't want to piss off the majority of the people. However, the two term limit actually gives a president an incredible amount of power. He can't be re-elected, and he is in power. That means he doesn't actually have to care what we think on this issue.
The only ones who do have to care are those representatives of ours that don't have term limits. The ones that have to continue to appease their constituents. They have to continue to care, or pretend they do. It is a nice little checks and balances theory, but in order to override the president's actions that are against the will of the people, they have to know that this is the overwhelming will of the people. Then they need to be willing to put aside differences of opinion or agenda to get that will done. In short, it is an uphill battle that requires us to not only stand as we did yesterday, but to battle the apathy of others.
You see, it is easy for the I.V.A.W. to stand up there. They've been there. They know exactly what we are talking about. It is easy for the other veterans to get up there, because combat veterans or not, we understand the difference between being willing to fight and even die for your country, and willing to be thrown away by that country. Soldiers are not expendable, and in the case of a conflict you cannot win, they can't even be considered acceptable losses. It is easy for the family members to get up there, because they know the agony of waiting for that phone call that will tell them that their loved one will be returning draped with a flag. Even easier for those who have already gotten the call to have a reason why they don't want anyone else to go through the same.
The battle is with the apathetic. The people who don't think the issue touches them. Who can't be swayed with simple facts like the huge war debt that will come out of their pockets. Can't be swayed by the huge death toll. They simply can't be lifted off of their couches to help. This is the hardest battle. The battle against people who don't care. Who won't care until this thing gets large enough that the destruction does actually touch them directly. After all, this is sadly how this rally got to be so large. Because each passing day leads to this war effecting more and more people directly.
So the two of us went out. We went out expecting the event to be much smaller than it was. Expecting that in the grand scheme of things, this event wouldn't be noticed. Why was it so much larger? Because in ones and twos so many other people did the same thing. They risked taking a course of action that would be insignificant and unnoticed because it couldn't accomplish any less than doing nothing would. They did something because they felt they have to.
I would propose that you folks should consider that for yourselves. This isn't even one of those issue where we will find ourselves divided by ideology or religion. Our soldiers are being discarded in an unwinnable action. Our tax dollars are paying for that sacrifice.
I'm not going to ask you to act. Just to think about the question. To ask yourself how high you rate this issue. Then act according to your answer.
As for me I agree with many of the signs I saw yesterday. One of the more poignant simply said: Not one more dollar, Not one more death, Not one more day.
That's just my thought on helping to preserve life, or something close to it.
You see, there are certain points when the democratic process fails. One of those points is the one that we find ourselves circling now. That being the fact that the theory that our politicians, including the President of the United States, are bound to follow the will of the people. Of course, a president who wants to get re-elected doesn't want to piss off the majority of the people. However, the two term limit actually gives a president an incredible amount of power. He can't be re-elected, and he is in power. That means he doesn't actually have to care what we think on this issue.
The only ones who do have to care are those representatives of ours that don't have term limits. The ones that have to continue to appease their constituents. They have to continue to care, or pretend they do. It is a nice little checks and balances theory, but in order to override the president's actions that are against the will of the people, they have to know that this is the overwhelming will of the people. Then they need to be willing to put aside differences of opinion or agenda to get that will done. In short, it is an uphill battle that requires us to not only stand as we did yesterday, but to battle the apathy of others.
You see, it is easy for the I.V.A.W. to stand up there. They've been there. They know exactly what we are talking about. It is easy for the other veterans to get up there, because combat veterans or not, we understand the difference between being willing to fight and even die for your country, and willing to be thrown away by that country. Soldiers are not expendable, and in the case of a conflict you cannot win, they can't even be considered acceptable losses. It is easy for the family members to get up there, because they know the agony of waiting for that phone call that will tell them that their loved one will be returning draped with a flag. Even easier for those who have already gotten the call to have a reason why they don't want anyone else to go through the same.
The battle is with the apathetic. The people who don't think the issue touches them. Who can't be swayed with simple facts like the huge war debt that will come out of their pockets. Can't be swayed by the huge death toll. They simply can't be lifted off of their couches to help. This is the hardest battle. The battle against people who don't care. Who won't care until this thing gets large enough that the destruction does actually touch them directly. After all, this is sadly how this rally got to be so large. Because each passing day leads to this war effecting more and more people directly.
So the two of us went out. We went out expecting the event to be much smaller than it was. Expecting that in the grand scheme of things, this event wouldn't be noticed. Why was it so much larger? Because in ones and twos so many other people did the same thing. They risked taking a course of action that would be insignificant and unnoticed because it couldn't accomplish any less than doing nothing would. They did something because they felt they have to.
I would propose that you folks should consider that for yourselves. This isn't even one of those issue where we will find ourselves divided by ideology or religion. Our soldiers are being discarded in an unwinnable action. Our tax dollars are paying for that sacrifice.
I'm not going to ask you to act. Just to think about the question. To ask yourself how high you rate this issue. Then act according to your answer.
As for me I agree with many of the signs I saw yesterday. One of the more poignant simply said: Not one more dollar, Not one more death, Not one more day.
That's just my thought on helping to preserve life, or something close to it.
posted by Wanderer at 3:42 PM
1 Comments:
hey steve. good to hear from you!
i do think about your questions every day. i don't see easy answers, but as one young man we know just got back from Iraq (i cried when I saw him yesterday), the father of one of Ruby's friends just went, and one of our close friends is due to leave for Iraq just when the bulk of troops are being brought home... I sure think a lot about it.
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