Setting aside the virtues of peace and any respect for humanity, these wars two oceans away in no way gain us (i.e. the real people of America and the world) any practical advantage. If for no other higher purpose, they should be ended now as a practical matter, in the manner, if you will, of a sound business decision.
But these wars do apparently have their advantages, which could accrue only to the extra-national cabal that profits from them in treasure or in power, or perhaps in nourishing their madness. Recognizing no national loyalties, these masters smile at American political partisanship, which constitute mere mouse farts against their hurricanes.
"So, Rafe, what do you now suggest we do?" I suggest we stop denigrating anger and employ it productively in ways that will finally MAKE AN ACTUAL DIFFERENCE. I suggest that we suffer the inconvenience and discomforts and accept the risks inherent in any action across history by a people determined to stop abusive government under whatever costuming, its vicious lies, its use of control and slaughter in pursuit of its treacherous ends.
"What do we need to do this?" First of all we need to wake up to reality, starting with the realization that this struggle will not -- however well intentioned -- be won by signs on the sidewalk or token marches on holidays, or by good people mutually nodding over the same old complaints year after bloody year.
We are already RIGHT. No further message required here. The problem is that we lack the POWER, and that is the only thing that our masters comprehend, smirking away all other means we may attempt to influence their domination.
The key to the required power is numbers, NUMBERS OF PEOPLE. After we ourselves wake up to the reality that noble intentions are insufficient, we must somehow awaken the somnolent slug of the electorate and gain us the loving pit bull of the people, fierce in the protection of his "family."
Cheering the exit of Bushco, giving Obama "a chance," expressing gratitude (and this is the latest of our tiresome cheeriness) that we should be thankful to be spared a President McCain -- all will not cut it. None of this is progress -- just more whistling in the dark.
The recent endeavor to picket the National Archives was more in the needed direction. It had dramatic impact and some endurance -- not enough -- and it lacked support of numbers, numbers of supporting people who would not be moved. It notably lacked any active support of the large peace organizations.
It would help greatly to get the established national peace orgs to help out, but it looks like most of them are incapable of subordinating their individual identities and precious nuance of message to the common cause. (One of the oldest and largest recently held a national convention in Chicago keyed to "refining our organization," after six years of war!)
So, what now to do, beyond getting angry and stopping to fool ourselves? Peace needs to know who its friends are, whom it can trust beyond personal motives, and whom to discard as useless impediments, e.g. the activist-junkies.
The veterans' groups appear to have more genuine motivation and less selfish interests, so that would be a good start. Then, rather than to attempt penetrating the zealously defended bastions of the larger established orgs, we'll need to do something to get sufficient attention from the general public to finally awaken them to enlist the critical mass needed to catalyze actual real change. And we cannot afford for this take another six or seven years of peace org "progress." i.e. of war, lies and rotten government.
Summing up: What are needed is a fresh undragging, spirited and dramatic effort to capture the attention and imagination of the electorate, to enlist sufficient of it in an actual crusade for peace and representational government, to move a critical mass (one million or more) to the seat of power in Washington, and not be moved until we succeed.
No more nonsense. No more mutually congratulatory indulgence. No more nifty slogans. No more "refining our organization." No more bullshit. Only: Sufficient good plain citizens enduring the inconvenience, suffering the discomforts, accepting the risks, and remaining in place until we earn and get peace and decent government.
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