> Just so to be sure, Chuck, you really do see these demos as antagonistic
> rather than complementary to your kind of activism, don't you? Until now, I
> just couldn't imagine anyone opposed to the war in Iraq and in favour of
> mass political engagement would have hoped the demo fizzled, or would have
> wanted to create that public impression. Who could possibly benefit apart
> from the administration and its supporters?
Yes, I am opposed to the ones that are done in Washington by groups like ANSWER/UFPJ. I am NOT aopposed to mass national demonstrations per se, as long as they are organized by grassroots activists as part of a bigger strategy.
> Perhaps you should review your history. The anarcho-syndicalists like the
> IWW, the defenders of Sacco and Vanzetti, and the Spanish anarchists all
> understood the power of mass demonstrations - what you call "these stupid
> protests" - on participants and onlookers alike as well on sections of the
> ruling class. Of course, who wouldn't want recreate this kind of motion "at
> the local level", but this is not objectively possible at this stage, and
> highly visible venues like Washington, where it is possible to assemble
> masses, is the next best thing - and certainly better than doing nothing.
You totally don't understand why I am opposed to these protests. I've explained why these protests suck and actually set back the anti-war movements. They accomplish nothing to stop the war, but they do help groups establish their leaders as leaders of the "movement." I've been an activist organizer for 20 years. One thing I've learned is that "doing anything" is worse than "doing nothing". When you use your scarce resources on symbolic feel good spectacles, you don't have money and resources to do serious organizing and activism. See the previous comment today about the money spent on getting people to these protests. If that money had been spent on airing the Cindy Sheehan ad on more TV channels, that would have been far more EFFECTIVE than yesterday's march around the White House. I suspect that the White House and the right wing are scared more of those ads than they are of a bunch of "hippies" protesting in Washington. The Cindy Sheehan ads reach ordinary people and speak to them in an emotional way that mass demos on TV do not.
Chuck0