Antiwar movement losing steam?????

Carl Remick carlremick at hotmail.com
Tue Oct 30 14:36:17 PST 2001



>From: "Nathan Newman" <nathan at newman.org>
>
> >Where there are
> >banners and signs and chants of 'Stop the Bombing!', he would want
>something
> >different. Maybe a forest of American Flags. Maybe no march at all, but
> >only vigils and scholarly and 'serious' meetings.
>
>Could be. Nothing wrong with American flags-- they were the flags that
>ended slavery and liberated the concentration camps. No reason to cede
>their meaning to the rightwing. "Wash the flag, don't burn it" as Norman
>Thomas once said. Or as Frederick Douglass argued, never cede the meaning
>of the US Constitution to the reactionaries.

Nathan, you offered an excellent platform for a non-war strategy last night, but the cause of a rational response is not served through a continuing defense of mindless flag-waving. This is a mug's game; the left will never be able to out-flag-wave the right. Also, it's a mistake to conflate the flag and the US Constitution. The flag offers only a primitive inarticulate appeal to the emotions -- reaching out to thoughtless individuals who are stirred by bright colors and vivid designs. The U.S. Constitution contains ideas that can be examined and debated in a reasoned way.

Carl

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