> One's political philosophy and the means to implement it are two radically
> different things. Despite the horrors of the moment, there are openings that
> didn't exist during the Gulf War, and this, I feel, is because those
> progressives who understand the difference between theory and reality have
> helped to nudge the mainstream a bit on Middle East issues. The widespread
> support for Palestinian independence is but one example of this. The
> pressure didn't come from the right.
Yes, I agree with you about this, but this doesn't mean we have to pick up the flag and make patriotic appeals to Americans. I've been involved in this effort the nudge the mainstream on these issues and I think the Left has done an excellent job on this in the past month. The Left didn't go run and hide, despite ongoing flack from the right and the neoliberals, and our rhetoric and arguments are actually being aired in the corporate media.
Yes, there are many new openings since the Gulf War--I actually find myself more optimistic about the prospects for Left now than I did before 9/11.
> And please stop with this "no brainer" high school nonsense. How old are
> you -- 16? 17? I hope so, because if you're an adult spewing this dogmatic
> garbage then there's really nothing to discuss. What, did you just discover
> Rage Against The Machine and are feeling rilly rad, dude?
I'm 36.
This *is* a no brainer: patriotism and anarchism simply don't mix. Anarchism is against the nation-state. We're not going to fool anybody about our anti-statist politics by waving some symbol.
Go and wave a flag if that is important to you personally, but please don't call this anarchism, because it simply isn't.
Chuck0