Going to Washington Saturday? I just read this

[whometense]

really interesting and thoughtful essay on the protest Saturday. Provocative.

http://www.democracyarsenal.org/2005/09/rove_at_the_ral.html

Rove at the Rally?
Posted by Lorelei Kelly
"The liberals were pretty much right on Viet Nam. And what did that get them? They destroyed their reputation on national security for three decades"

This statement--coming from a thoughtful conservative journalist--was like a sucker punch at the luncheon I attended today. Especially since our nation is entering another public discussion about ending a painful bout of warfighting. This weekend, a massive anti-war march is coming to Washington. I'm not sure yet if I'm going, as I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. I think protesting the Bush administration's strategic blunder is right-on. I also think demanding a policy on how we're going to transition from a combat mission to a peace support role is vital.

My interactions with peace organizations have been encouraging in the sense that they are willing to entertain complex policy ideas instead of "Out Now" slogans. This rally has the potential to be a positive step forward in encouraging liberal Members of Congress to agitate for an exit strategy. The rally could be an on-message, problem-solving American exercise in participatory democracy. But the left has its own strategic blunders to worry about. Which leads me to the question:

Is the organization ANSWER working for Karl Rove? Only he could hatch a plot to offer up a message muddling "Palestine Tent" on the mall coupled with an anti-Israel march to the ellipse in front of the Capitol. So now every elected leader who comes to show support is going to have to bear the wrath of the Israeli lobby and fend off right wingers who love to paint liberals as anti-semitic. . . .

[Mari333]

1. ANSWER might be good at organizing rallies but

they are too shrill and live in a vacumn , and remind me of the self-interest anti war groups that sometimes turned the US public OFF to the message of the Vietnam war back when I protested against that war.
Young, idealistic kids but loud and shrill, NOT who should be C Spans main speakers..I would prefer Cindy Sheehan and the Gold Star mothers be on the front stage of anti war rallies..just regular everyday people. Vets, middle class US citizens, fed up with Bush and his policies. The ANSWER folks just do more harm then good imo.

[electropop]

2. That bothers me too.

I hope that the handheld signage will make it obvious why most of us are there, and that the corporate media doesn't focus only on the whack-job fringe. :rofl: Seriously though, I guess if we get any coverage we should be grateful.

[shoelace414]

3. why would Karl Rove want to give Democrats real advice?

[blm]

6. Rove operatives are at every Dem or lefty event. Count on it.

This tactic has been popular with the right since BEFORE McCarthy's days.

Ask VVAW....GOP operatives infiltrated their group to incite violence so they would be vilified and their voices marginalized.

[mike_c]

4. the usual attacks against ANSWER....

Piss on 'em, I say. ANSWER is off their ass and in the streets, so they have my unreserved respect. Plus I mostly agree with them regarding the Israeli treatment of Palestinians, anyway. RIGHT ON, INTERNATIONAL ANSWER!

[Atman]

5. Answer is a BIG thorn in our sides

Watching them at the inauguration rally was painful. They yammer on about all the things that middle America doesn't care about. And they come across as the very hippys that the right loves to caricature us as. They do nothing to help "our cause." They are self-serving and a turn-off to all but their own members. IMHO.

I'd love to hear a member of ANSWER respond...

[mike_c]

8. I'm not an ANSWER member, but I do disagree with you....

ANSWER has been instrumental in keeping a visible antiwar movement alive, especially in terms of organized street protests. They've been invaluable in that respect. And maybe I also care about things "middle America" finds of little consequence, so I mostly agree with their stances on social justice, ME policy, and so on. As for them doing "nothing to help our cause," I suspect you and I would have substantial disagreements about the nature of "our cause," because I think ANSWER is doing a better job of rallying people to causes important to me than most other organizations-- and they've been doing it since 2002. I'm very appreciative of ANSWER's role in the progressive movement, and I'm not a member, so that suggests your last statement is not entirely correct!

[Atman]

9. I over-reached, you're right.

I was thinking of all the work that must be done, and the impression I got after the inaugural. We had a president who just stole his second election, who was about to evicerate the constitution and destroy the safety net for so many Americans, and all ANSWER could talk about was the plight of the Palestinians.

I say, let's take care of our own horribly ramshackle house, first. Before it falls down around us, and we become the next Palestinians, fighting for return to our rightful homeland.

But to say they've done nothing to help...obviously, that was hyperbole, and a poor choice of words.

[blm]

13. Hyperbolic, but, still a valid point. They should use Vietnam as a model.

The antiwar protests were NOT effective UNTIL the Vietnam Vets MADE it ALL ABOUT THE REALITY OF THE WAR.

That's it - antiwar message intact.

Cindy has this opportunity, too, along with the vets and the military families, but you can be damn sure that the media will make it all about the peripheral acts of those groups unrelated to the antiwar message.

Expect to hear how Cindy endorses the destruction of Israel.

[whometense]

10. As someone who is old enough

to remember the 60's very well, as well as the way the right has played off against those days ever since, I see ANSWER as a big thorn too.

blm's comment is absolutely correct. This is what Karl Rove knows how to do. Infiltrate, divide and conquer, and make a big wedge. Even if all he can do is see that the number of people who show up is downplayed in the news reports and that the cameras are trained on the people and signs that make the protesters look like fringe characters and freaks to middle america, he'd be accomplishing a lot for his side.

[jillan]

7. I am glad that Answer is out there in the streets

But they really don't represent all of the democrats/progressives that are against this war. They seem very unorganized, and unprofessional.
Yet, I am glad that they exist.

Personally, I think the Gold Star mothers will have a stronger affect on the people.

While ANSWER comes off as an easy target for the other side,
Cindy Sheehan and her followers need to be taken very seriously.
They have paid their dues, and have more credibility.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

12. I agree

that the Gold Star Mothers have more credibility. But don't for a second think that they won't be branded "whackos" as well by the media. I've been to protests since I was 12, and have been called a "hippie" (which is incredibly funny, as I never turned on or dropped out) and "anti-American" (I count as cousins Presidents Grover Cleveland and John Adams) and asked to "go back to where you came from" (Do you think Michigan will let me come back?).

Conservatives and war mongers just like to call names.

Protests get people's attention, but the way to win over hearts and minds is one person at a time.

[melody]

11. Maybe we ought to stop judging the message and simply be the message n/t

[Justpat]

14. I attended the anti war rally in Oct about three years ago

and I vowed never to attend anything sponsored by ANSWER ever again.
If ever that was an organization designed to turn people off of the
anti war movement - that is it. They had speakers get up for
hours on end and voice their particular views on every agenda
under the sun from the Palestine movement, the socialists movement,
to every washed up musical act from the sixties, to every minority
group with a beef (all legitimate)against the government.

It is my opinion that nothings dilutes a message more than having
this total lack of focus. I am not saying that all of those issues
are not important and worthy of attention. But I believe it makes
the anti war people look like a bunch of nuts who don't know
their own mind when their supposed anti war rally turns into a
rally for each and every person's personal agenda.

It is very destructive to have a lack of focus about your message
and ANSWER insures that the anti war movement is so totally all over
the map that too many people refuse to listen.

[radio4progressives]

17. I respectfully AGREE... n/t

[BL611]

15. The hurricane

is going to be hitting land the same time the protest is going on, at the very least it will limit the publicity of the rally (which I honestly don't think is that bad of a thing), at worst it will get attention and make the ralliers look tacky and obtuse.

Full Disclosure: While I was against going into Iraq, I am also strongly against immediate withdrawal (which seems to be the position of most war protesters), and have a pretty much negative view of the anti-war movement (for many of the reason stated in the editorial in the OP).

Full Full Disclosure: I am an Iraq vet.

[ginnyinWI]

16. kick