Susan Lenfestey: What if they had a peace rally and (almost) no one came?

Susan Lenfestey: What if they had a peace rally and (almost) no one came?
Susan Lenfestey
Published: October 11, 2007


A few weeks back I rode my bike to the State Capitol for a peace rally. It had everything a rally should have -- labor, veterans and Gold Star mothers, respected speakers, a sunny day -- except people.

It was subdued and surreal, like the final scene from "On the Beach," the 1959 movie about nuclear annihilation, in which banners flutter over an outdoor stage and flyers scuttle across the flattened grass and no one is there.

OK, I exaggerate. Our rally had maybe 300 to 400 people, still pretty much alive, but it seemed we all had an ashy coat of hopelessness.

In Ken Burns' recent series, "The War," a veteran says the military knew that the longest a person could endure combat before going totally nuts was 240 days. We've been in Iraq roughly 1,650 days now, and though God knows most of us haven't been asked to do much more than sell off our children's future, I think we're all going a little nuts.

We sit glassy-eyed through committee hearings on such fantastical characters as Blackwater USA's Erik Prince -- a secretive megabuck donor to President Bush whose "troops," paid to escort diplomats, will now have members of the State Department paid to escort them.

We watch slack-jawed as Republicans vie for the affections of their crumbling evangelical base by proclaiming love for their (third) wife or the unborn -- unless the unborn becomes born and requires health care and education.


REst of article at: http://www.startribune.com/562/story/1476847.html

What's a huge peace rally worth if the press barely covers it? If a tree falls in the forest...
I remember the huge peace marches and rallies is the 60's. The media was there every step of the way. Pro-war Republicans and Democrats used to say; "If the press didn't give them so much attention, they'd stop". They were right. I don't think it's the fault of the people not doing their job; I think it's the media not doing its' job. Why isn't the media doing it's job? Opinions vary, but with this administration, tinfoil hats are usually the most effective way of getting to the truth.

happened.. that psychological warfare against the people and the constitution has worked quite well for the Fascists for decades

I will be going to Chicago along with at least a couple of van-loads of people from here in Ft. Wayne, and there are busses going there from Bloomington and Lafayette here in Indiana - one of the "reddest" (read Bush's war supporting) states.

These rallies are being promoted by both United for Peace and Justice and International ANSWER, Military Families Speak Out, Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against War, and many other organizations.

I know people are tired of marching and going to rallies, but it is still very important to turn out sheer numbers of people in the streets to show that the people want this war stopped - and don't want it to "spill over" into Iran.