David Corn: troubling origins of the anti-war

[Chuck0]

mike larkin wrote:
> i went to the boston rally yesterday
> (http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/308/metro/15_000_protest_attack_on_Iraq+.shtml)
> 
> I didn't see too many Stalinists and ultras.  Yes,
> they were there.  But they were far, far outnumbered
> by the peacenik crowd.  It was, on balance, a gentle
> and upbeat march.
> 
> The American Friends Service Committee's table was
> jammed with vistors, ANSWER's abundately less so.
> TIKKUN had a nice little prescence.
> 
> I only heard one or two speakers, and they were
> strident, I admit.  But no one paid them any
> attention; and I didn't notice anyone leaving as a
> result.
> 
> The U.S. is about to launch a brutal war and the
> mostly gentle, earnest people who show up at these
> rallies are the only force that stands in the way. I
> don't like the ultras either, but hand-wringing about
> "Stalinism," in this context, is diversionary
> bullshit.

So, do you think "hand-wringing" about racism and sexism in activism are 
diversionary bullshit? I get the impression that activists are free to talk 
about these issues, which some see as divisive, but yet when anybody engages 
in a discussion about groups that pretend to lead a movement, people are 
asked to shut up because of "the bigger crisis"?

You see, if we don't talk about this shit, then we are engaging in our 
activism with one hand tied behind our back and with blinders on. Read up on 
the role of the "ultras" during the 1960s and 70s peace movement, or the 
protests against Gulf War 1, and you'll understand how important this 
discussion is.

Chuck0

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"...ironically, perhaps, the best organised dissenters in
the world today are anarchists, who are busily
undermining capitalism while the rest of the left is
still trying to form committees."

                -- Jeremy Hardy, The Guardian (UK)