Amid Bush’s calls for a surge in troop levels in Iraq, the anti-war left gathered in Washington to express their love for their country — or lack thereof.
All of our most famous traitors were there. Sean Penn was overheard bragging about partying it up with Uday and Qusay at their private mansion (read: sex slave and torture compound); it was a party so exclusive that Paris Hilton couldn’t even get in. Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins turned out to show the world the direct relationship between plastic surgery and diminishing brain function. “Hanoi” Jane Fonda stepped up to the microphone to revamp her image, shedding the out of style “Hanoi” for the more “in touch” title of Jihad Jane Fonda. Sadly enough for J.J. her presence was not as well received as she anticipated. Organizers thought that her appearance would only serve to reinforce the out-of-work, over-the-hill hippy stereotype that plagues the anti-war movement. One official, who asked not to be named, had this to say: “Even talentless Ben Affleck was able to find a role following his performance in Gigli. The least J.J. could have done was to request a cameo in Monster in Law II.” This, however, was just the beginning of a march that was chalk full of disappointment.
United for Peace and Justice, the leading organizer of the march, had hoped that 400,000 activists would gather to listen to inspiring orators like perennial presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich and astute foreign policy experts like Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) who was the only elected official in this country to vote against the war in Afghanistan.
The march, however, only managed to muster several thousand America haters. Estimates in the size of the crowd ranged from 30,000 to 90,000 in attendance. The large gaps between these two estimates can be attributed to several factors. Some of the pollsters admitted to mistakenly counting homeless people along the route; other pollsters, meanwhile, admitted that they chose not to include children in their count because they did not want to encourage other anti-war agitators to lie to their kids about “Take Your Daughter to (Non-Existent) ‘Work’ Day.” The protesters made up for the disappointing turnout with even more over-the-top rhetoric.
The steps of the Capitol Building were spray painted by demonstrators. When police attempted to stop the vandalism, United States Capitol Police Chief Phillip Morse ordered the officers to stand down, saying, “it is the USCP’s duty and responsibility to protect the Capitol complex … while allowing the public to exercise their First Amendment rights … at the end of the day, both occurred without injury to protestors.” Hopefully, some other activists might use Chief Morse’s home as a canvas for political expression sometime soon.
One can only imagine what would be said if social activists had vandalized government property during the March for Life a week earlier. Nancy Pelosi would be harping about the disruption the vandalism had caused. John Kerry would call the pro-life movement an “international pariah.” Ted Kennedy would amend the minimum wage hike to also prohibit pro-life activists from protesting in front of abortion clinics, just as he did during the Clinton Administration. Standing in front of an abortion clinic is considered an abomination, but spray-painting the Capitol Dome is a protected form of expression.
Spray paint may have replaced flag burning, but if there is one style of protest that will never go out of style, it is spitting on heroes. Liberals are always quick to showcase their masculine side by parading around likeminded heroic soldiers. War veterans with opposing viewpoints, however, do not receive the same level of support from the Left. While some activists turned out to laugh at John Kerry jokes and support the insurgency, others came to D.C. to defend the mission. One of these men was Corporal Joshua Sparling of the 82nd Airborne Division. Corporal Sparling could not have walked with the protesters, even if he wanted to — his right leg was still somewhere in Ramadi, Iraq. He sacrificed it so that the legions of anti-American defeatists could spit at him on their way to listen to Jihad Jane and gang.
It is no secret that Leftists do not just hate war or Bush: they hate our soldiers. Their sound bites may hide their true feelings, but numbers do not. In polls taken among registered Democrats after the State of Union, only 12 percent supported the troop surge. Even more disturbing is the fact that 49 percent said they either did not want the surge to succeed or they were not sure if they wanted the surge to succeed.
Leftists claim that their “symbolic” anti-surge resolution and the March for Peace are not aimed at hurting troops but helping Iraqis. The only Iraqis these events serve are insurgents. The insurgents, like the Viet Cong, have enjoyed nothing but “symbolic” victories, having never been able to defeat American forces on the battlefield. The “lazy” Iraqi army that Democrats are so quick to deprecate killed 200 insurgents on Sunday with the help of U.S. air support. Those superior insurgents that we hear so much about from the Democrats didn’t have a chance against the Iraqi army we trained. This resolution and the Democratic pot-shots at the Iraqi government do not inspire confidence in our allies, only our enemies.
Democrats are rooting for failure in Iraq. They believe that such failure translates into a black mark on Bush’s record and a Democratic president in ’08. Failure also requires more American and Iraqi casualties. Democrats claim that they are helping the Iraqis while expressing the will of the American people through activism — but the only people I know that actively serve the people of Iraq and this country are wearing desert camouflage, not tie-dye.
Billy McMorris is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at wjm27@cornell.edu [1]. John Manetta Once Told Me appears alternate Wednesdays.
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[1] mailto:wjm27@cornell.edu