This is not the time for nuanced positioning or compromising handshakes with "our friends across the aisle." If the base of the Democratic Party doesn`t stake claim to a microphone real soon, it may find itself having to settle for umpteen permanent bases in Iraq, a New Surge-Lite plan and a nominee so beholden to political machinery that the idea of leaving Iraq will end up in the Quaint-But-Dead column.
George W. Bush doesn`t believe in personal sacrifice. In George`s World, guys don`t give up their guitar lessons just because people are drowning in their attics and they don`t stop riding their bikes just because Iraq is littered with body parts. There`s always time for an adolescent King-of-the-Hill contest or a devil-may-care joke about not finding WMDs under the living room couch. In George`s World, sacrifice is a three-day weekend instead of a four.
Sacrifice is exactly what is needed right now. The higher the Iraq Invasion death toll climbs,
http://icasualties.org/oif/ the more useless the polls seem and the more relevant the memories of the Vietnam War resistance. Perhaps it`s time to turn it up a notch face the fact that we`ve been too easy on ourselves. Too much time out, too much wait and see. Unlike during the Vietnam War, examples of civil disobedience and mass marches are rare. We`ve been too quiet for too long.
If you haven`t done it yet, hook up with a local peace group. March with Veterans for Peace. Put a sign on your lawn, in your apartment window. Tape something to your car...your bike...your horse...your dog. Wear an armband, an anti-Iraq War button. Write a letter to your editor. Call your local radio station. Stand on a corner with a sign. Be heard.
As Maggie Kuhn once said, "Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes."