Photos Like This Hurt the Credibility of Serious Anti-War Folks

By: Lowell
Published On: 3/18/2007 9:01:48 AM

Photos like this are deeply unfortunate, as they tarnish the legitimate opposition to Bush's Iraq War as a 9/11 conspiracy theory nuts.  Then we've got photos that seem to show a bunch of way-out-of-the-mainstream Israel bashers.  As if all that's not bad enough, this rally was organized by the Marxist-Leninist "International ANSWER" coalition (also virulently anti-Israel and likely anti-Semitic).  All of which raises the question: where are the MAINSTREAM Americans, the normal Democrats, normal Independents, and normal Republicans protesting this war?  Frankly, until that happens, this anti-war movement is not going to get anywhere.  In fact, it's going to backfire and even provoke large counter-demonstrations in SUPPORT of the war, as we saw yesterday.  Very unfortunate, and not helpful at all.

P.S.  To illustrate what we're dealing with when we're talking about the International A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition, here's the coalition's founder, Ramsey Clark, on Slobodan Milosevic and Saddam Hussein:

On 18 March 2006, Clark attended the funeral of Slobodan Milo?evi?. He declared: "History will prove Milo?evi? was right. Charges are just that, charges. The trial did not have facts." He compared the trials of Slobodan Milo?evi? and Saddam Hussein, stating: "both trials are marred with injustice, both are flawed." He also described Slobodan Milo?evi? and Saddam Hussein as "[b]oth commanders" who "were courageous enough to fight more powerful countries."


Comments



Diversity (mosquitopest - 3/18/2007 11:07:15 AM)
The greatest strength (and the greatest weakness) of the progressive part of the spectrum is that we are DIVERSE and we don't march in lockstep like the neocons, everyone "unthinkingly" sswallowing the latest soundbite message to parrot down the line.

It's precisely that diversity, etc. that "I" value.  I also value the fact that everyone at that march showed up in very cold, uncomfortable weather and took a stand.  (This goes for "everyone" and their viewpoint.)

I don't agree with what the right wing did to get folks to "show up" to counterdemonstrate" however.  They knew they wouldn't get a crowd of folks supporting Bush's war, or his surge....So they had to lie and state that the anti war folks were meeting at the Vietnam Memorial and would deface it.....That was not in the plans, never was, and wasn't going to happen...so it's sad that the counter demonstrators were lied to in order to get them to show up....but I guess they must be used to that...many were veterans and they were lied to to get them fighting in Iraq....

Hopefully they will wise up and join the many veterans who were marching in the anti-war march....and came to march b/c of their own truth not some lied they were told.

buzz...buzz...



Crazy 9/11 conspiracy theories not "diversity" (Lowell - 3/18/2007 11:48:07 AM)
They're insane and they're offensive to all of us who lived through that day.  And the Marxist-Leninist, rabidly pro-Left Wing dictator, anti-Israel, International A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition is the exact OPPOSITE of tolerance and diversity.  F*** that is all I have to say.


While I agree, Lowell (phriendlyjaime - 3/18/2007 12:39:02 PM)
I read the article, and it sounds like there were just as many screaming crazies on the pro-war side.  Also, I am sure you read the diary on Kos from a while back about the very prominent young man who shows up to all anti-war protests and burns Jane Fonda dolls, donkey flags, etc.

I'm not arguing that ANSWER isn't full of crazies and an intense leftist agenda, but I am in no way condoning the equally offensive antics of the extreme pro Bush folks either.



You're changing the subject. (Lowell - 3/18/2007 1:12:53 PM)
Of course, the right-wingers are bonkers.  Big surprise.  But when I see the "left" with people basically claiming that the US government caused 9/11, the ultimate example of "blame the victim" and "excuse the criminals," it just makes my blood boil.  To a lesser extent, the anti-Israel vitriol of these people really pisses me off.  As far as I'm concerned, the ANSWER people and the right-wingers who say things like "if you don't like America, leave it," both suck.  I'm just trying to decide which one sucks worse.


"I'm just trying to decide which one sucks worse" (phriendlyjaime - 3/18/2007 2:17:02 PM)
Ha!  Good luck with that!  ;)


The Wrong Place To Protest (JohnBruhns - 3/18/2007 1:06:43 PM)
My experiences in Iraq as a combat infantryman have made me strong critic of the Bush Administration's handling of the war and advocate for the redeployment of our troops.  However, I did not support the protest that took place this weekend at the Pentagon by the anti-war movement.  The purpose of the demonstration was to demand the impeachment of President Bush and an immediate withdrawal of our troops from Iraq.  The Pentagon has no constitutional authority regarding an impeachment process or drafting legislation that would require the President to bring our troops home.  That is a matter for Congress to handle through the political process - and that would be a better place for the demonstrators to send their message.  I strongly believe that it is time for our troops to come home, but as a proud veteran of our armed forces I feel it is morally wrong and hurtful to our troops to protest the headquarters our military.  Especially when it is a matter that our troops have no say or control over. 


Thanks John. (Lowell - 3/18/2007 1:15:44 PM)
As someone who I GREATLY respect on the issue of Iraq, I very much appreciate your comments.  As a proud and courageous American, I think you'd also agree with me that mixing up insane and disgraceful 9/11 conspiracy theories, plus a healthy dose of Israel bashing, into the effort at ending the Iraq War is wrong, misguided, and counterproductive. 


I echo your statement (JohnBruhns - 3/18/2007 1:28:14 PM)
Lowell,

Thanks for the kind words.  I strongly agree with you on this matter.

John



Neighborhood (Breezy - 3/20/2007 5:41:07 PM)
The Pentagon was chosen because it was the 40th anniversary of the important protest at the Pentagon during the Viet Nam war.  So the weekend was a weekend of anniversaries, 40th and 4th. 

Any action against the war could have been taken whether at the Pentagon or not.  Anyone could have stood out on a corner anywhere or a mall with a sign or something creative to ask for support to end the war and Expose this Regime.

Something creative like this http://www.truthacti...



I share your irritation, Lowell (Catzmaw - 3/18/2007 2:08:22 PM)
That woman in the picture is wearing a shirt saying "Show Me the Plane Hitting the Pentagon".  As one who was in Arlington that day and HEARD the plane hit the Pentagon, who watched it burn from the 10th floor of the Arlington Courthouse, who spoke to numerous people who were either at the Pentagon or were on the roads surrounding it and SAW the plane hitting, who attended the funeral of the co-pilot who was the son of one of Arlington's retired clerk courts, and whose police and firefighter neighbors disappeared for weeks to work the scene and then came back and told heartrending stories of what they were discovering in the wreckage I am offended - really, really offended - that anyone who would question the incident.

I am sick to death of the 9-11 Conspiracy nutjobs who are tainting the mainstream Americans who have legitimate reasons, grounded in reality, to oppose this war.  And though I have plenty of criticism for Israel and its clumsy and heavy-handed approach to the Palestinian issue it too has a right to exist and has legitimate security concerns.

I find Ramsey Clark an embarrassment with his shameless support of brutal dictators and his cozying up to ideologues whose philosophies are the antithesis of what makes this country great.  His father, the great Supreme Court Justice Tom Clark, was well known to carry a pocket edition of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights with him wherever he went, and knew their provisions by heart.  If Clark's criticisms of the way the prosecutions of Milosevich and Hussein were conducted stopped there, I could respect his position, but it's always about promoting these thugs and ignoring their viciousness while relentlessly criticizing this country for not upholding the same freedoms the thugs always denied to their people.

There, vent over. 



It's also about (Susan P. - 3/18/2007 2:34:37 PM)
promoting Ramsey Clark.
He is one of a handful of loonies who always seems to show up in a weird variety of situations, as long as there are television cameras.  I don't think he's representative of those against the Iraq war at all.  It's up to the rest of us, however, to make sure that the majority of Americans are represented at these events.  Groups like this make that harder, because most people don't want to be associated with their ilk.  The leadership has to come from the mainstream, not the fringe.


Agree with Lowell and Catzmaw (KathyinBlacksburg - 3/18/2007 2:44:30 PM)
It is so frustrating that 1) mainstream Dems don't protest in significant numbers, even when the situation is so dire; and 2) that filling the gap is a group such as ANSWER.  I personally don't want to associate myself with that group.  And so, since it was the only "show" in town, I did not make the drive to DC. 

As I write this, I therefore admit that I am part of the problem in some sense.  At the same time, I worked for a couple years to prevent the senseless Iraq war -- to no avail.  At least I tried.

I wonder, though, what will be the response when a more mainstream group finally organizes a rally.  Will we have a big enough tent?  Will we overlook our differences even then? I have my doubts.  What will it take for all of those (and I include myself here) who disagree with the war to pull together to really end it?

I also agree with the commenter who said rallying at the Pentagon makes little sense.  It is our representatives in Congress who need to be the focus of any rallying. They can't even get a non-binding resolution through Congress.  And they need to hear loud and clear that leadership and focus are needed now, not later.  2008 is too far off.



Actually, something tells me (Lowell - 3/18/2007 2:57:13 PM)
that the only real change in this situation will take place after 2008, and ONLY if we win back the White House and increase our numbers in Congress.  If not, all the protests by ANSWER, or even by mainstream people, will probably not accomplish much.  The fact is, Democrats are only nominally in charge of the US Senate, given that it takes 60 Senators to get anything done.  And, the fact is, the President has far more power than Congress with regard to foreign policy, as we saw during World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and pretty much every other war we've ever fought. Including this one.


Some friends of mine protested... (presidentialman - 3/18/2007 3:37:22 PM)
And I don't consider them in this crowd with the exception that they want to Impeach Bush. Otherwise they were protesting because its year 5 of a war that should've been over in "six weeks" and perhaps should've never commenced at all, or because they knew the history of this protest which is the 40th anniversary of the origanal march on the Pentagon during the Vietnam War.

I'd also like to point out that millions of people canceled at the last minute because of the weather.

This brings to mind the Million Man March.  That march was for Black Men only. It was spearheaded by Louis Farrakan. Farrakan was a bigot and a racist of the first order.  Yet you had Rosa Parks and Jesse Jackson attend, and millions of Blacks who I gather were there to support their brothers, not because they agreed with Farrakan.



Oh God We Are Heretics! (MacWrite - 3/18/2007 3:58:05 PM)
Pope Lowell, his Holy Highness of the Politically Correct in Democratic Virginia, has issued this BULL of CONDEMNATION against the photos posted on MOSQUITO BLOG regarding the MARCH ON THE PENTAGON, as well as the "Marxist-Leninist" Saturday Pentagon MARCH ITSELF, it being against God's ordained CAPITALIST ORDER, which has brought us all the benefits of ABUNDANT CONSUMPTION (for us, that is). They are hereby declared ANATHEMA because they erred by inferring that HOLY ISRAEL can be CRITICIZED, PERIOD (.), as well as suggesting that 19 EVIL TERRORISTS, some half of whose alleged names belong to still alive people, and their EVIL LEADER, OSAMA BIN LADEN, who hasn't even been charged by the FBI for 9/11 (lack of evidence) had a little help from the NEOCONS, WHO WOULD NEVER DO SUCH A DASTARDLY THING (although they, admittedly, wished it would happen). His Holiness thereby declares that Mosquito Blog and all recalcitrant, benighted fellow travelers be purged from the roles of respectability until they offer contrition and recant their foolish ways. SO BE IT this Sunday, March 18, 2007 in the Comonwealth of Virginia.


Be Gone, Thou Troll (Catzmaw - 3/18/2007 5:19:52 PM)
and takest with thee thy nutjob conspiracy theories in which thou, in true confoundery, assert that this, the most incompetent of all incompetent administrations incapable even of holding sacrosanct the names of its covert operatives or of  effecting the removal of its own attorneys general, hast somehow through vile devices of demonic power managed to fell large buildings AND hide the origins of said conspiracy with the connivance of thousands.


Competence is a Relative Term (MacWrite - 3/18/2007 7:36:42 PM)
Which conspiracy theory are you referring to? The one, perhaps, that 19 brilliant terrorists single-handedly overcame our multi-trillion dollar defense system and eviscerated three buildings, disentegrated four planes (where DID those pesky engines go?) and conveniently left a VERY GRAINY videotape in which a suddenly fattened bin Laden, with a newly squat nose and writing right-handed (he used to be left-handed)chortles over his masterpiece of infamy. No, nothing wrong with that conspiracy theory. That's the approved one.

Let's see, the highly incompetent Bush Administration, the epitome of incompetence, somehow bumbles through suckering the entire Congress (well, almost all) and most of the American people into swallowing the Patriot Act, invading two countires (more to come!) accepting a PERMANENT WAR ON TERROR out of a comic book, privatizing half of the government and military and compromising habeus corpus. Hmmm, not very incompetent incompetence there, or is it just that everyone else is even more incompetent? Something like the blind leading the blind.

And please, Catzmaw, I am not a troll! I am too tall to fit under a troll bridge. If I could, I would have stolen all that troll gold and would probably have become corrupted enough to buy controlling interest in Halliburton by now. That is where the rest of the stolen gold has been hidden by Troll Chief Cheney. It is currently being rehidden in Dubai, but that's our little secret.



All the 19 hijackers had to do was get on board (Catzmaw - 3/18/2007 11:21:16 PM)
four planes and take advantage of the SOP response to hijackings at that time, which was cooperation in the expectation that negotiations would open up.  Flying was easy after a few lessons, and it's not like they cared about landing safely.  All they needed was the willingness to do the unthinkable - to commit suicide and bring thousands of innocents with them - and one intelligent, ruthless leader who could develop a workable plan which could be memorized and rehearsed until it was ingrained.  Like undercover or behind the lines operatives the world over they found a weakness and exploited it.

I don't even know what you're talking about with this video you're referencing.  Are you talking about the one with the blind guy?  What about all the other times he or one of his supporters has referred to their intention to create another 9/11?  What's your point, that the video's proof positive that all else about 9/11 was somehow manufactured?  You're arguing from the specific to the general here - the video might be manufactured, meaning Osama is not really Osama, meaning that someone falsified his claim of responsibility, meaning the Bush Administration must have knocked down the Towers.  Huh?? 

You think it's so hard to bring a country to war?  All it takes is a few lies, playing on emotions, and exploiting the fear and horror caused by terrorism.  It's cake. 



You all people need "take a breath and relax", (ChrisJVA2000 - 3/18/2007 6:01:19 PM)
the Photo is taken out of context, as a veteran and  9-11 truth investigator myself, and no matter what side  you are on, we all agree, that all we have received from this Administration has been "Answers that don't answer, Explanations that don't explain, Conclusions that don't conclude, of course this has created more controversy, what do you expected?
as far as "9-11 was an in side job?" were those attacks on September 11 used against the American people to legitimize the invasion and occupation of Iraq, by persuading enough of us long enough that Saddam Hussein attacked us on September 11, 2001? just watch the 2004 RNC, they started every talking point with "Saddam" and ended it with "9-11". Not once in that week of the republican convention did they mention Osama bin Laden!
Surely even the most cynical among us believes that a betrayal of such magnitude must carry consequences. Without consequences, there is no justice for the dead and no safety for the living.


You want consequences? So do I (Catzmaw - 3/18/2007 7:22:39 PM)
But I want them for the ones who DID it, not for people who didn't do it.  All the 9/11 conspiracies have been solidly debunked, and yet they persist.

You think they should continue to persist?  Well, if you do, then what you're really saying is that the dozen or so people I know and have talked to in Arlington about the day they SAW the plane hit the Pentagon are LIARS.  And the funeral I attended was for a co-pilot who DIDN'T DIE.  And all the police officers and firefighters and rescue personnel who went to the scene are IN ON THE CONSPIRACY to make the attack on the Pentagon be something it was not.  And my police officer neighbor who came home one day after days of being gone digging through the wreckage was LYING when she described finding the remains of one of the stewardesses, hands still bound behind her back, in the debris.  And she was putting me on when she came home another time and told me of pulling a burned teddy bear out of the debris.  It pisses me off.  Really pisses me off. 

I can't stand the conspiracy theorists.  You know why?  Because in their eagerness to make the Bush Administration responsible they're relieving of responsibility the bastards who actually did do it.  They're so busy claiming that the buffoonish Bush Administration, which has never been able to get anything quite right, achieved this monstrous conspiracy and collapse of the WTC and the "missile" attack on the Pentagon for its own craven purposes and that those 19 hijackers were somehow not responsible.  And I can't accept that.  I can't accept that those evil fanatics weren't responsible so we can all hate Dubya just a little bit more.  I can't accept that the Bush Administration somehow got all the thousands of people involved in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 to go along with them.  Because that's what would have had to happen.  All those people who say they saw what they saw would have to be lying. 

I may very strongly dislike George W. Bush and fervently believe he's the worst President ever, but I'm not going to relieve Osama and his merry band of maniacs of responsibility for what they did for one minute.  I'm angry at Dubya and company for NOT making Osama pay and wasting our time in Iraq, instead.  That's criminal and that deserves consequences.  But all those know-it-all conspiracy theorists who truck themselves in from East Bum-wad somewhere and tell me that they just know 9/11 didn't happen the way I and my neighbors and colleagues and friends all remember it happening can just go to hell. 



Debunking Debunking (MacWrite - 3/18/2007 11:18:07 PM)
Sorry Catzmaw, no one has debunked "all" of the conspiracy theories, although I am the first to agree that some are off the deep end, and some contradict each other. That there were actual terrorists on the planes I have little doubt. Just who they were and how many is debatable. Whether bin Laden masterminded it is, moreover, not proven. Ask the FBI. I have little doubt the infamous video "confession" is a fake. That was not bin Laden in the video, unless we are led to believe he was made up not to look like himself and coached not to act like he would. One bin Laden expert has now said that the video is a fake and everyone in intelligence knows it. Bin laden, in a Pakistani Newspaper interview in late Sept, 2001 stated that he did not attack the towers. So take your pick, a rather suspicious video or a now buried interview. Of course, if the video then was a fake, what else is fake or doctored?

But there are hundreds of millions of people in this country. You are definitely going to get a wide range of theories, some more feasible than others. No one has debunked the theory that controlled demolitions brought down the WTC buildings, and I am not talking about the various disingenous straw dogs set up to be knocked down. No one has successfully explained away, for example, the classic demolition-evident horizontal squibs blasting out of the twin towers, sometimes several hundred feet below the pulverizing cascade. The compressed air explanation is about as viable as the postulate that the moon is made of green cheese. Moreover, you certainly can't claim that controlled demolitions will not bring down a building, so the argument is over logistics, what witnesses saw and heard, and the feasibilty of wiring the buildings. Many, many 9/11 First Responders and survivors of the towers have little or no doubt that demolitions were involved. And there is no doubt that the 9/11 Commission hearings were deeply flawed. This is where America stands now and that is why many of us want a new and honest investigation.



You must be the only guy on the planet (Catzmaw - 3/18/2007 11:29:48 PM)
who hasn't seen the Popular Mechanics cover story from March 2005, or its followup book, which systematically tears apart each and every one of your pathetic little points.  And it does not matter how many people have been bamboozled into believing the little fantasy conspiracy theories - many of which contradict each other - all that matters is the science.

Debunking the 9/11 Myths



Sorry, Wrong Again (MacWrite - 3/19/2007 12:51:44 AM)
Well, well. Popular Mechanics, the Debunker's Holy Grail. I listened to them argue with the creators of Loose Change on Democracy Now for an hour last year, and although they had a few good points and were assiduously polite, most of them did not hold water. Loose Change was leaving rather large wounds in their hides. They even backtracked some. The bottom line is that there are huge holes in the official 9/11 Commission theory and Popular Mechanics has not come close to filling them. Science is certainly what I base my own ideas on. But the problem is getting the facts right. That is the biggest problem.


So if there's room for debate on the science (Catzmaw - 3/19/2007 7:50:24 AM)
the argument flows inexorably toward the Administration having set up 9/11?  You're already a partisan so of course you're going to think PM is wrong, but you are still committing the logical fallacy of drawing conclusions which are not warranted by the premises.  This is typical of you conspiracy types - you pick at a few inconsistencies or perceived falsities and draw sweeping conclusions and dismiss anyone who points out your lack of logical coherence.  Even accepting the so-called inconsistencies you cannot infer a global conclusion from them.  You are saying that in the end Osama not being Osama means the Administration engaged in a vast conspiracy leading to the death of thousands, and like all the conspiracy nuts you pick, pick, pick at small points while ignoring reams of evidence that contradicts your position and while flatly asserting that the eyewitness testimony of hundreds or even thousands is either falsified or flatly wrong.  You'll cite someone like a so-called "expert on Bin Laden" but call someone who says "I saw a plane hit the Pentagon" a liar. 


Rule #7 on MyDD (Lowell - 3/19/2007 8:31:03 AM)
I tend to agree with this:

MyDD is not a place that tolerates 9/11 conspiracy theories. Posting such theories in the diaries of comments will result in immediate banning (when I notice them). Period.

Should we ban 9/11 conspiracy theories and their authors on Raising Kaine?  To me, these theories are extremely offensive, and I know they are to many other people I've talked to about this.  Frankly, they demean the memory of the 9/11 victims, they blame the victim (America) and absolve the perpetrators (Al Qaeda) by strongly implying or even outright claiming that the US government was "behind 9/11."  Is there any reason we should allow this garbage, any more than Holocaust deniers or people who deny that the Japanese used women as sex slaves ("comfort women") in World War II?  I don't see any difference, frankly.



TO BAN OR NOT TO BAN? (Marsha - 3/19/2007 2:35:38 PM)
That's not fair to try and ban those trying to tell you what they believe as truth...If it's really lies and not truth, I challenge you to allow healthy and honest debate and allow others to decide for themselves...

That is unless you have reason to hide what might be said?...Do you have personal stake in this mess and want to stifle truth from coming forward?

Otherwise you shouldn't have a problem with allowing both sides

The right thing to do is "NOT" to censor

This is supposed to be America and free speech still reigns for now, you know?



Debunking the Debunkers, listen for yourself (ChrisJVA2000 - 3/19/2007 9:21:56 AM)
"The Charles Goyette Show" KNFX 1100 AM PHX AZ

Have you heard Charles Goyette's Interview with the Popular Mechanics magazine editor Daven Kolburn?
The Buzz Around Debunking 9/11 Myths...

Charles Goyette's Popular Mechanics 9/11 Interview
Here is the interview:
http://www.apfn.net/...

Popular Mechanics in full retreat on Charles Goyette Show

Is this why Popular Mechanics canceled some appearances?Listen to this MP3 file of Popular Mechanics on the Charles Goyette show in Phoenix. Charles has him backpedaling big time. Pass this MP3 file to any one who is leaning on Popular Mechanics to support their continued belief in the official story.



All the 9/11 conspiracies have been solidly debunked? (ChrisJVA2000 - 3/18/2007 7:43:44 PM)
"All"?
you need to "show me some examples" honey,  I don't believe in them "all", and I'll be the first to say that. And the 9-11 Commission: Family Steering Committee would be the first to tell you this!

http://www.911indepe...

http://www.911indepe...



Don't "honey" me. You don't know me, (Catzmaw - 3/18/2007 10:56:20 PM)
it sounds condescending, and I'm not in the mood when it comes to this subject.

I've looked at all your sites.  They have to do with the usual Bush ideological crap - let's take over the world and turn it all into Texas - and questions about how the administration could be so freaking incompetent.  Not even on the same level as claiming that Bush or Cheney were behind 9/11.  Or are you saying that's the 9/11 Commission's position?  I read the sites to the Steering Committee.  Lots of questions, most of them legitimate, and none of them "killer" questions demonstrating Bush Administration complicity in 9/11.  Most of them demonstrate that there are some real idiots running some of our government.

I would not put either PNAC or Family Steering Committee questions or the 9/11 Commission findings in the category of 9/11 conspiracy theories so I stand by my original comment.  The 9/11 conspiracy theories - meaning theories claiming that the Bush Administration was somehow complicit in 9/11 or that some or all of the attacks were falsified in some way - have been debunked. 



For the record, (ChrisJVA2000 - 3/18/2007 10:31:23 PM)
Catzmaw,
For the record, the events you mentioned you don't believe in? Nether do I!
They do divert attention from the ones we all know to be true and have been covered up, please reference Chapter 8 of the 9-11 commission and the PNAC 2000  document "rebuilding America's defenses"

http://www.newameric...

http://www.9-11commi...

http://www.newameric...

http://www.cooperati...



Right on, Lowell (DanG - 3/18/2007 11:06:42 PM)
No need to link up with those crazies.


Sad (connie - 3/18/2007 11:24:30 PM)
Not all the folks there on Saturday were wacko.  I know a woman from the Northern Neck who took her two teenaged daughters.  I feel very certain she has no idea who any of the "out there" groups were.  So I imagine there were quite a few ordinary people there.  I don't remember reading anything in the paper about the socialists and the other groups there, but not everyone should be tarnished with the brush of association with 9/ll conspiracy groups.


Radical takeover of worthy causes (Hugo Estrada - 3/19/2007 1:08:15 PM)
My mother-in-law asked me if I had gone to the demonstrations on Saturday. I told her that I didn't, especially because it was an ANSWER demonstration.

When I lived in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, I got to see one movement after another being hijacked by a small group of very loud people who would glue themselves to any successful movement. They would then try very hard to get one of their people in a leadership position.

Then, they would derail the movement. It doesn't matter if the original movement was about planting flower beds in parks: they would turn it into a fight against capitalism.

This is a real case. At one point a group of citizens organized to get a ban  on the use of pepper spray use by law enforcement in Berkeley. At least one person died when they used pepper spray on him.  The original group worked for several years to bring the issue to the city council. At that point, of course, the trouble makers had to take over. They would stage noisy demonstration that had nothing to do with the original movement in their behalf. I left before this was solve, but it didn't look good.

This story repeats itself over and over and over again. ANSWER seem to me like the East Coast version of this group.



Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled (ChrisJVA2000 - 3/19/2007 1:26:49 PM)
Diversity of ideas is this country's greatest asset, of all these things, that truth has been most evident.
ANWSER has been a limited measure in this movement.
We need not resort to McCarthyism


Anti-Isreal does not equal anti-jewish (or rather anti-semitic) (thegools - 3/19/2007 1:58:34 PM)
Though I know nothing about the groups you refer to.  There are anti-zionists who are reasonable people, and do not mix ethnic bibotry with their criticism of a heavy handed and problematic government.  Isreal is not Judaism. 

I thought these were quite interesting examples:
http://www.nkusa.org...
http://www.jewsnotzi...
http://www.jewsagain...

Oh yeah and those guys pictured are goofy and you are right they do make easy tools for the other side to paint "the left" as a bunch of goofballs.



First of all, you keep mispelling "Israel" (Lowell - 3/19/2007 2:24:22 PM)
Second of all, the overwhelming majority of Jews are pro-Zionist and pro-Israel.  Only a miniscule percentage of Jews are "anti-Zionist."  As far as Israel's government being "heavy handed and problematic," that may or may not be true (I would argue "not" by regional standards), but regardless, it's a highly biased statement.  Was Israel's government "heavy handed and problematic" when it was run by Yitzhak Rabin, who was as tough towards the Palestinians as anyone?  Has Israel's government, in your view, ever NOT been "heavy handed and problematic?"  How about Arab governments which repress their citizens (see Egypt's recent jailing of a pro-Democracy blogger), level their own cities to crush political rebellion (see Hama, Syria), and use the Palestinians as pawns (see the entire history of the post-1948 Middle East)?  Or do they get a pass and only Israel gets the criticism from the anti-war left.  Why the obsessive focus on Israel, in other words, and not on the other side (e.g., Hezbollah, which started last summer's war and indiscriminately shelled Israeli cities).


It's not just (railfanbob - 3/19/2007 7:47:34 PM)
9/11 conspiracies and Israel-bashing.  ANSWER also likes to line their speakers list with people from the hard left trying to link other causes to the antiwar issue, causes that are fringe or just plain noxious to most people: "Free Mumia" and "Free the Cuban Five" come to mind, and there was one group at the march doing an "Independence for Puerto Rico" rally (wtf?). 

Not sure what any of this has to do with stopping the war.  I'm sorta tempted to show up at the next ANSWER rally with a "End the War, Bring the Troops Home, Repeal Gun Control and Support the Second Amendment, Support Israel's Right to Exist, and Justice for Danny Faulkner Now!" sign, just to see how well it goes over with the ANSWER folks.  Hey if they can glom on other issues so can I ... lol



If you do that, I'll come and take pictures (Lowell - 3/19/2007 7:51:21 PM)
That would be hilarious! :)


Well, we could (railfanbob - 3/19/2007 8:01:49 PM)
get a whole contingent of "regular folks against the war".  Bring your Carhartt jackets and be creative with the signs.


Wrong Outlook from Lowell (BaNoyes - 3/19/2007 8:09:50 PM)
As a Viet Nam Vet and a Veit Nam Vet against War and as a human who Quite well remembers JFK's murder, I most heartily disagree with the idea that "kooks" undermind the anti war movement

The information these people have is chilling.
These are not fantisies, but solid scientific facts.

I also remember being in McNammeras band , you know Robert, Defense Secretary ,worked for Johnson.
He has appoligized for lying .

Viet Nam was built on falsehoods
Iraq , the same.

If you don't want your children's children fighting the final war, to end all wars, you better wake up to the fact that none of this is by accident, it has been in the planning for quite a while.

The same group of people have been involved.
The same people that brought you the 911 Commission Report,
which 86% of the American puplic do not believe.

  Labels, labels, labels,
"kooks" and of course Ramsey Clark( one of the few respected

perhaps if the slander stops for a moment, and you look at what the "kooks" are talking about, you will see that their effort is to stop this wat and ensure the future, is war free.

We cannot keep putting the same people in to office and expect a different results.

The anti war group shoul embrace the 911 Truth Seekers
they should connect the dots
War, humpf,what is it good for
911truth.org



This guy is obviously... (Nick Stump - 3/20/2007 2:28:41 AM)
one of Mac's 100,000.  I say ban these loonies.  MYDD is right on this issue.


Link to MyDD article? (elevandoski - 3/20/2007 10:34:38 AM)
Can you provide, please?


Here's the link (railfanbob - 3/21/2007 5:59:07 PM)
I had to dig a bit to find it but this is it:

http://www.mydd.com/...

"7.  MyDD is not a place that tolerates 9/11 conspiracy theories. Posting such theories in the diaries of comments will result in immediate banning (when I notice them). Period."

A good policy, I think.  Especially for a major blog like MyDD trying to establish and maintain its credibility.  Becoming an outlet for the fringe is a good way to marginalize oneself and become ineffective.

I watched "Loose Change" out of curiosity a while back and found it totally unconvincing.  There is no coherent narrative there, just a lot of running selectively quoted statistics past the viewer that can be easily rebutted.  That film also heavily cites to the "American Free Press", a newspaper which I've read and found severely lacking in credibility, and not just on this issue.