This is peace?
Mike Marchand
Undistinguished Alumnus
According to a news story by Amy Webb in yesterday's Indianapolis Star, "about 140 war protestors" gathered in Monument Circle on Saturday afternoon, compared to "nine Bush administration supporters in Army fatigues."
That's funny. I was in Indianapolis on Saturday afternoon (though not for the protests, or the basketball game; I had to be content to listen on the radio as the Irish whipped the Illini in the Battle of the Schools with "Fighting" Mascots). I drove by Monument Circle, and I didn't see 140 protestors. I know — I counted. There were exactly seven. Those who stood on the other side, literally and metaphorically speaking, numbered about 20.
Now, I didn't get to Monument Circle until about 4:30 p.m., so perhaps I arrived too late to pass by the more populated part of the anti-war demonstration. Maybe the other 133 protestors had to go to work, or maybe they hopped over to Starbucks to grab a latte or something.
The more likely explanation is that they got bored, since there was no action. Many of the people who publicly oppose the war call themselves "activists" to deceive themselves and others by pretending that when they do something offensive or outrageous, they're helping to affect action. The problem is, as more and more people support military action to oust Saddam Hussein and disarm Iraq, the "activists" stoop to more and more extreme tactics. Although they congratulate each other on their creativity on Internet sites, and share tales of their arrests like how they earned merit badges, they may unintentionally drive more normal people away from their cause.
I want to make an important distinction here, and an apology. In my last column, I lumped peaceful protestors in with the nutballs for the sake of effect, and I apologize for that, since they're nothing alike. I regret insinuating that similarity, and painting people who are anti-war with so broad a brush. I really do respect people who demonstrate peacefully, for this or any other reason. They're exercising the same First Amendment rights that I have, not offending anyone and just believing in their ideals. I may disagree with the members of the Notre Dame community who held candlelight vigils at the Grotto or the peaceful demonstrators in Indianapolis, but I have absolutely no qualms about their actions.
However, the anti-war movement does have some real whack-jobs. To find them, we have to escape "middle America" and go to places where you have to smack strangers upside the head to get their attention. Many of the demonstrations in major cities are sponsored by organizations with names like Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER), whose Web site advocates halting "business as usual" during the war. A group called "Freeway Peace Virus Human Billboard Campaign" is trying to block highway exits for two hours every week.
Actions like this are labeled "civil disobedience" as if they're walking in Mahatma Gandhi's sandaled footsteps, arm in arm with Martin Luther King and Henry David Thoreau. They're not. The protests are marked by a complete lack of civility. Witness these events:
In San Francisco, those darn crazy "activists" demonstrated how the war made them sick by intentionally vomiting on the plaza of the Federal Building. More than 2,000 people have been arrested for shutting down traffic in the city.
In New York, a group called Lesbians Against Boys Invading Anything (I'll let you do the abbreviation yourself) joined the march down Broadway. While the march started peacefully, thousands of protestors refused to disperse after their permits expired and began throwing rocks and spraying mace at police. According to the NYPD, 17 cops were injured and 91 people were arrested.
Even in Chicago, 10,000 demonstrators shut down Lake Shore Drive and shouted, "Killers! Killers! Killers!" at a group of supporters they walked by. Five hundred arrests were made.
This is peaceful?
Peace advocates have historically been represented by a dove, but there's really nothing dovish about most of these events, unless there's some odd species of dove that shout in megaphones and stage puke-ins on public property. Meanwhile, the so-called "hawks," despised as war-mongers by peace "activists," hold demonstrations of their own that, though they don't have the sheer numbers of the anti-war movement, are far more orderly.
Fifteen thousand people attended the "Rally For America" in Auburn, Ind., 120 miles northeast of Indianapolis. They gathered, prayed, sang songs and chanted and although they didn't realize it, they served as a stark contrast to the outrageous behavior at many "peace" demonstrations.
Meanwhile, at least things were calm in Indianapolis. Except for the RCA Dome — I heard that place was raucous.
Mike Marchand, '01, had Notre Dame in the Sweet 16 in his NCAA Tournament bracket. If he didn't look absolutely ridiculous with no hair, he would have shaved his head to support the Irish ballers. His e-mail address is Marchand.3@alumni.nd.edu.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Viewpoint Stories for Monday, March 24, 2003
