Possessed

Posted on August 21, 2002 in Courage & Activism IRC/Chat Peace

Something possessed me, today, to stand up to a so-called ally and give her a piece of my mind. The #politics channel at Dalnet includes a small contingent who feel that war with Iraq is just fine — they just don’t want Bush to do it. Those who read my earlier critique of Karen know how feel about that. I’ve spoken my mind before, but what set me off was that this woman — a Jew — called a fellow Jew who happened to be a pacifist, a coward.

Joel the Angel of Wrath came out swinging the terrible swift sword of invective. Who did she think she was, I roared through my fingertips, calling a guy who stuck his neck out and declared to a crowd of war-thirsty Americans that maybe war wasn’t such a good idea, a coward? I decided that I’d had it with people who patted me on the head and said “nice little pacifist” when they wanted my vote, but who turned around and abused us when we stood by our principles and said “No war. Sorry.” I’m laying it out to the Democrats here and now: you want my vote, you better show some guts and just say no to anyone who wants war with Iraq. I know that Bush plans to force a vote on the invasion just before election day. Given the wimpiness of Democrats like Joe Biden and Joseph Lieberman, Bush is going to have this war. And the truth is, if it were Al Gore in the White House, it would still be a bad idea. I don’t give money or time for people who don’t know how to say “No”.

A year ago, right after 9-11, I warned people: don’t give Bush a blank check. They did. Now a lot of these people whine about the TIPS program and the terrible post-9-11 economy we find ourselves in. They come to me, crying that we’ve got to stop this thing. It’s out of control. I feel like the dead body of Cassandra, lying atop the dead body of Agamemnon. I told them about the knives and now that we’re all getting stabbed, they still equivocate on the Iraq business. They say “well, ousting Saddam is fine, but we just don’t want George doing it.” (The same people claimed to feel sympathy for Palestinians before 9-11. I doubt it. I think they just seized on an excuse to acknowledge hatreds they’d always secreted.) Now I am just saying “I think you need a lesson. I think you need to learn that wars happen in people’s neighborhoods. No, I’m not calling on terrorists to attack us. I’m just going to let you do your thing — bomb Baghdad, threaten Saudi Arabia, wave the Israeli flag, and pretend that Ariel Sharon is the nicest of men. Terrorism will come. I don’t have to give money or light a fuse to ensure that it will come. In fact, I won’t do either because violence is, to me, plainly evil. I’m just going to let you do your thing. That’s going to bring more attacks on us. Go ahead: hate Palestinians and Muslims blindly. Blame it all on them. Make life in their neighborhoods hell. It will come to our neighborhoods in time.”

Dark words, I know. But it’s time they learn that they are the terrorist’s best friends, not folks like me who call for foresight, a little thought, and a lot of compassion for the downtrodden who may be tempted to join the terrorist cause because we leave them no other alternative.