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The Disingenuous Anti-War Left
by Frank Salvato
The Washington Dispatch
May 11, 2004
Have
I said lately that I have no use for ignorant, extremist anti-war protesters? Well, I don’t. Now, I am not talking about
those who have given the matter conscientious thought and have an intelligent alternative to the dangers that face us as a
nation, as a people. I’m talking about the drum-beating throwbacks to the 1960’s that contend George W. Bush is
a Nazi and who bash the United States every chance they get. You know the people I am talking about, the MoveOn.org and A.N.S.W.E.R.
group. Quite frankly, I feel they have been cheated out of the ability to utilize common sense and higher thinking skills
but that would be an indictment of our education system and that’s not what this article I about.
I had the opportunity
this past weekend to view several scenes from anti-war protests across the country. If you would like to view them yourself
you can do so by going to http://www.ProtestWarrior.com and accessing their Operation Wolverines streaming video. But be prepared to laugh, shake your
head and inevitably wonder how our society has allowed this type of misguided, undeveloped and ignorantly based thought, possessed
by these teenaged and “twenty-somethings,” to survive in the information age.
The first thing that strikes
anyone with a shred of rational thought is the fact these protesters march the streets of our major cities proclaiming to
be champions of free speech while demonstrating their violently jaded hypocrisy. More than a few times during my viewing of
the marches I saw allegedly peace-loving people, defenders of free speech, pushing, shoving and actually accosting those who
showed up to counter their demonstration. The peace-loving anti-war protesters tore up the signs the counter-demonstrators
were carrying, spat on American flags and used language, gestures and tactics that would get a guard at the Abu Ghraib prison
Court Martialed. How anyone can call himself a defender of free speech while they destroy someone else’s property and
stifle their opposition’s freedom of speech is beyond me. To wit, wouldn’t that very action be the definition
of hypocrisy?
During one of the protests in New York City a member of the counter-demonstration group who was filming
the protest asked one anti-war protester what he stood for. The ragged hypocrite said, “freedom of speech and an end
to violence all over the world.” But when confronted with a video-clip of him ripping a counter-protesters sign up and
heaving it into a crowd of on-lookers, almost hitting a small child in the head, he turned and ran from the cameras. To those
who view the ignorance of these protesters with contempt, his running personified the cowardice of this group of people. To
those new to such things it would have to raise questions about their dedication to “the cause.”
Still
another duplicity highlighted by these peace-loving, anti-war protesters was their sporting of Palestinian flags during their
protest marches. Chants could be heard that depicted Israel of being an aggressor country akin to Nazi Germany yet not one
of the protesters mentioned anything about the suicide bombings with which the Palestinian terror groups have targeted Israeli
civilians or the naked aggression of the terrorists who wrecked havoc on New York City on September 11th. They chanted their
hate for President Bush, his administration and allied governments through Palestinian headscarves that covered their faces,
not unlike their cowardly counterparts in the Middle East. Once again, when asked why they felt the need to hide their faces
they ran away fearful of being exposed. The question really needs to be asked, if they truly believed in their cause, and
they truly considered themselves in the right, why would they feel the need to hide their identities?
Yet another aspect
of their misguided viewpoint was exposed when some of the more verbose members of the anti-war crowd actually enjoined themselves
into conversation with the counter-demonstrators. I can’t tell you how many times the words “conspiracy”
and “CIA” were used but suffice it to say they was used more often than in even the most popular of Tom Clancy’s
novels. The quandary here is how an agency they have depicted as so incredibly inept could be so cunningly good as to have
perpetrated all of the conspiracies that the anti-war crowd contends the CIA has executed around the world.
The same
can be said of there statements about President Bush. They contend that he is a stupid man but that his evil is incredibly
cunning. It should be pointed out to these people that it is quite impossible to be cunning and stupid at the same time. These
extreme Leftists contend certain beliefs at selected times and contradictory points of view at others, their assertions flipping
and flopping like a John F. Kerry campaign stance to suit their unperceptive arguments when needed.
While I do defend
this groups right to assemble and utilize their right to free speech perhaps it should go a step further. Perhaps the mainstream
public, especially the demographic bearing the title “swing voters” should be required to view or attend at least
one of these “peace-loving,” anti-war rallies before they cast their ballots in November. Perhaps they should
be afforded the opportunity to meet and converse with the extremists who call themselves members of the “progressive”
movement. To be honest, I don’t think anything could be more effective for the Bush campaign than for this to happen.
It would almost assure a victory for the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2004. The idea has to scare the living daylights out of the
Kerry Camp…being that he is such a moderate, right?!
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Attack On Honorable American Veterans
I was born and raised in Rosedale NYC. The Rosedale Vietnam Veteran
Memorial was dedicated on Memorial Day 1968. I was in Vietnam serving in the Combined Action Program (CAP), when the
Rosedale Memorial was attacked (April 1970) twice by anti-war protestors.
In 1971, when I returned from living in and protecting a Vietnamese peasant-farming
village, a New York City bus driver told me that I could get on the bus for free. But I had to sit in the back
of the bus. He said that he didn't want any trouble, because I was wearing my Marine Corps uniform with my Purple Heart
on it. (At the time, John Kerry was busy in Washington DC and America's Talk Shows.)
Who was the bus driver afraid of? Did the bus driver feel that too
many people on the bus would give me a "Welcome Home?"
I built the above website and swore that it would never happen again!
Jack Cunningham
Rosedale NY / Sussex NJ
P.S. The bus ride was the only time I wore my uniform in public.
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