Wow

I did something yesterday that I have never done before. I attended an anti-war rally.

I grew up in the 1960s. I came of age during the Vietnam war. I applied for a draft card and received it the year before the draft was abolished.

I watched Walter Cronkite on the CBS Evening News every night reporting the body counts from our country's misadventure in Southeast Asia. I knew it was wrong, and that we were involved in a war we could never win.

I was also enamored of the growing anti-war movement in this country. But having a fairly reactionary father, I could never express my opinion about the whole thing. Even when my brother Mike found himself facing the possibility of being drafted and going to fight in Vietnam, I never said anything.

Luckily, things worked out okay for Mike, and our military participation in that country eventually came to an end.

I will admit that four years ago I bought into the lies our government used to justify invading Iraq. But after our President's proclamation of victory, it became apparent that this war was not close to being over.

Then the government's lies were uncovered: false justifications for military adventurism.

I'm tired of my tax dollars being spent to continue this futile mission. I'm tired of reading about more and more of America's youth dying for no reason. Here in Kentucky, American flags fly at half-mast almost all the time to mourn the loss of another young man or woman's life.

Alison and I were informed of this rally on Tuesday. Rallies were held all across the country to protest the President's veto of a Congressional spending bill that would have forced the administration to withdraw our troops from Iraq by October 1. And we decided we could no longer sit idle.

We attended the rally held at a busy intersection near downtown during rush hour. And we were heartened to meet a group of wonderful, passionate people who shared our beliefs. There were perhaps 50 people in attendance, people from all walks of life and of all ages. Many of them have family members in Iraq right now. Some have sons who have served more than one tour in Iraq, and who have now chosen to go AWOL in protest of this futile war.

Everyone carried signs bearing messages of protest. Some blew whistles, or banged on pots and pans. One woman carried a sign which read 'Honk for Peace', and many of the commuters on their way through the intersection did. Many also flashed peace signs as they passed. Many more than I ever hoped would.

The only sign of dissent for our message came from the driver of a Hummer H2, who rolled down his window and gave a thumbs down as he passed.

At least he didn't flip us the bird.

You can see more photos from the rally here and here.

Comments

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I agree with you about the war. I was duped, too. I disagree with you about Bush's veto. I'm a strict constructionist and the Constitution is clear about who gets to do what. It's up to the President to decide when to bring the troops home. If Congress wants to reduce or cut off funding for the war, great. The Constitution says they can do that. The Democrats in the House and Senate don't have the balls to cut off funding before the 2008 election so that's why they tried to do an end run around the Constitution. By vetoing the spending bill Bush told Congress to put up or shut up.

I can't wait to see what happens next. :-)

Posted by: Mike | May 04, 2007 at 03:24