six weeks ago when i began to protest the march to war, it was cold and rainy. those turning out were the young and maybe 25 to 30 percent in thier 60's and 70's. it was a thankless task. we were ignored by most of our fellow citizens....those who did notice tended to be intent on either intimidating or stirring up trouble and getting some of us arrested.
when i saw this big guy (probably 250 and maybe 6'2") shouting at my little grandmother (maybe 5'2" and 100) i moved over just in case. not that i was really concerned since on any day she can probably whip any two on this board at the same time. she has been doing some form of martial arts since the 1960's a couple of times a week. I guess he was really feeling good venting his disgust and anger until my other grandmother arrived and said, "john, when you get through shouting at my grandson's grandmother i need to get her in some dry clothes and fed." he continued shouting at grandmother No. 1 for maybe 15 seconds until he realized he was interupted by his boss's wife...that look of complete disaster on his face was worth a couple of hours being cold and wet.
while i am sure that mr. baggins is correct that anti-war demonstrators need instruction on the proper hygiene and demeanor, i do hope that he adds another chapter for the pro-war crowd to his tome, Ask Mr. Baggins, on rules for intimidation and verbal abuse.
i will not join the protests physically until the fighting stops. this is out of respect to those who have family and friends in harm's way or have suffered a loss. however, my belief that this is the wrong war and the wrong time is stronger. this afternoon on cnn i saw and heard the soundbite of the young lady who said that she supported the war because she believed like her church that God put george bush at the head of this country. to paraphrase the great american philospher, yoga bera, "it is deja vu or the divine right of kings all over again."
in the past week, newsweek and business week have had thought provoking articles on how the bush white house reached their decision. it is a scary path that we may be going down....next target? iran. i think everyone should read about the junking of the united nations (didn't someone named adolph junk the league of nations?).
and yeah, i admit to being liberal. my parents tried to raise their sons to be generous, tolerant, and broadminded; moreover, they taught us to believe that we should support social and economic progress for all. equally important to them was that we should listen without rancor to opposing views and remember to be civil and non-threatening in our responses.
jay