>
> joanna wrote:
>
> > Absolutely! The only reason to organize now is to
> > help the people of Gulf. "I told you so's:"
> > demonstrations make me sick to my stomach.
>
> Oh Shit!...
I see your point, but if a crass "Tolja so!" demo would make joanna sick, and she's _one of us_, what'll it do to bystanders who are sitting on the fence? I've sometimes thought that, while I myself found Abbie Hoffman one heck of an entertainer, the ultimate effect of all his anti-war showmanship was to _prolong_ the Vietnam war. There are two kinds of propaganda: one is cheerleading, where you rally and encourage people who are already on your side idea-wise, the other trrickier one is persuasion, where you sell your weird new idea to the uncommitted. Rhetoric and tactics which work great in cheerleading mode (e.g. the song "Idiot Son of an Asshole," http://www.symbolman.com/bvwave.html ) often backfire when applied to the "swing voter."
Though geez, "swing voters," what can you say? Imagine, for example, being unable to make up your mind in the last two Presidential elections! I've heard people say things like "Well, I voted for Bush but now I'm not satisfied about..." and while it's encouraging whenever you see support for right-wing political policies waning, it's hard to hold back from blurting out, "You _did_?! You _idiot!_"
Yours WDK - WKiernan at ij.net