Excuse after excuse is made for capitulation to this regime, from the notion that "if we move to impeach now, it will hurt our chances in November" (hurt our chances to do what exactly? - and why with public opinion mounting against Bush would this "hurt our chances"?); "we have to be tough on national security issues" (where does that put you in relation to torture, unjust war, and new police state measures?); and "we can't talk about the culture wars because that will just embolden the Republicans - in fact, we have to show that we can pander to religious fanatics too" (does anyone really think that the theocrats who want to ban abortion and birth control, teach the bible instead of evolution in school, and shove gays back into the closet or worse will just go away if we ignore them?). Taken together, all this points to an election in which the terms are being set by those who support the war and the Bush program, and in any event don't want the millions of people who oppose this rocking the boat.
Many people are refusing to support candidates who are for the war, including by withholding contributions from candidates who are not calling for an immediate end to the war, and such a principled stand is a good thing. But where will our opposition be in the 2006 elections and by 2008 if and when the candidates in the running are supporting the war if we have demobilized what is and has been our greatest strength and best way to impact public opinion and change the direction of society? As the New York Times pointed out in an April 12th editorial on the impact of the immigrant rights protests, "the immigrants and their allies have carried off an amazing achievement in mass political action, even though many of them are here illegally and have no right to vote. Whether the rallies leave you inspired or unnerved, they are impossible to ignore."
If the movements opposing this war do not stick to principle, but instead end up supporting candidates who oppose their demands, this will only make things worse. If the thousands mobilized out in the streets to demand an end to the war are hemmed back into an official politics in which such a demand is beyond the pale, this will in fact work against the efforts to stop the war. As it says in World Can't Wait's Call, "This whole idea of putting our hopes and energies into 'leaders' who tell us to seek common ground with fascists and religious fanatics is proving every day to be a disaster, and actually serves to demobilize people."
The Bush Regime IS Taking Things to New Extremes
We must also point out that channeling opposition toward candidates who support the war is not the only problem confronting the anti-war movement. There is also a stubborn refusal to confront the full scope and scale of what the Bush regime is doing, and its implications for the not-so-distant future.
ANSWER's call for action on the 3rd anniversary of the war says that singling out the Bush administration for protest is an "exercise in misleadership". While we would be the first to point out the complicity of the Democratic Party leadership in the war, at the same time a failure to recognize the fascist remaking of society and bring this understanding to the people we are seeking to mobilize against the war will only consign people to ignore and be crushed by this onslaught.
In fact, those who believe that injustice and oppression are systemic to this country should grasp even more readily how a regime could emerge that would take all this to new extremes. When you take a sober look at what the Bush regime is cementing into place, from a doctrine of pre-emptive war, open and legalized torture, new police state laws, and the moves towards theocracy, and the whole package all this is part of (as described above), this nightmare is not simply a continuation of previous injustices but marks a whole "new normalcy" with horrible consequences for the planet and its people. And it is hard to conceive of making any progressive changes without stopping this deadly trajectory.
The fact is, even with the complicity of the Democratic leadership, the Bush regime is the driving force in and power presiding over all this. Without driving the Bush regime from power and repudiating its whole program, we cannot derail the juggernaut barreling down on us. Such an approach does not imply relying on the Democrats, but uniting and mobilizing the millions of people disgusted by the current direction of society to take independent political action outside of the killing confines of the "official politics". The success of such a movement will not only mean the removal from power of the most pressing danger to the world, but would also usher in whole new possibilities for progressive social change, with the emergence of a movement of people that has driven out a monstrous clique and are newly energized and organized and ready to take society in a much, much better direction.
Our Responsibility to the World
Within World Can't Wait, there are many different views about what should replace the Bush regime, from reforming the Democratic Party, to building a 3rd party, to revolution, and more. What has brought this movement together is people from diverse perspectives and backgrounds seeing the urgent need to change the whole direction of society. And it is our hope that major anti-war organizations like ANSWER and UFPJ will join this movement to drive out the Bush regime while continuing their efforts to end the war.
As we enter the 4th year of this unjust war and new threats of war on Iran, people around the world are looking to see if the people in this country are just going along, or if there is a growing resistance that will not allow this disastrous course to continue. A movement that sticks to principle and mobilizes people based on what's true and what's right can "join with and give support and heart to people all over the globe who so urgently need and want this regime to be stopped" (World Can't Wait Call).
To close with the following from our Call:
The point is this: history is full of examples where people who had right on their side fought against tremendous odds and were victorious. And it is also full of examples of people passively hoping to wait it out, only to get swallowed up by a horror beyond what they ever imagined. The future is unwritten. WHICH ONE WE GET IS UP TO US.
worldcantwait.org
866-973-4463
Many people are refusing to support candidates who are for the war, including by withholding contributions from candidates who are not calling for an immediate end to the war, and such a principled stand is a good thing. But where will our opposition be in the 2006 elections and by 2008 if and when the candidates in the running are supporting the war if we have demobilized what is and has been our greatest strength and best way to impact public opinion and change the direction of society? As the New York Times pointed out in an April 12th editorial on the impact of the immigrant rights protests, "the immigrants and their allies have carried off an amazing achievement in mass political action, even though many of them are here illegally and have no right to vote. Whether the rallies leave you inspired or unnerved, they are impossible to ignore."
If the movements opposing this war do not stick to principle, but instead end up supporting candidates who oppose their demands, this will only make things worse. If the thousands mobilized out in the streets to demand an end to the war are hemmed back into an official politics in which such a demand is beyond the pale, this will in fact work against the efforts to stop the war. As it says in World Can't Wait's Call, "This whole idea of putting our hopes and energies into 'leaders' who tell us to seek common ground with fascists and religious fanatics is proving every day to be a disaster, and actually serves to demobilize people."
The Bush Regime IS Taking Things to New Extremes
ANSWER's call for action on the 3rd anniversary of the war says that singling out the Bush administration for protest is an "exercise in misleadership". While we would be the first to point out the complicity of the Democratic Party leadership in the war, at the same time a failure to recognize the fascist remaking of society and bring this understanding to the people we are seeking to mobilize against the war will only consign people to ignore and be crushed by this onslaught.
In fact, those who believe that injustice and oppression are systemic to this country should grasp even more readily how a regime could emerge that would take all this to new extremes. When you take a sober look at what the Bush regime is cementing into place, from a doctrine of pre-emptive war, open and legalized torture, new police state laws, and the moves towards theocracy, and the whole package all this is part of (as described above), this nightmare is not simply a continuation of previous injustices but marks a whole "new normalcy" with horrible consequences for the planet and its people. And it is hard to conceive of making any progressive changes without stopping this deadly trajectory.
The fact is, even with the complicity of the Democratic leadership, the Bush regime is the driving force in and power presiding over all this. Without driving the Bush regime from power and repudiating its whole program, we cannot derail the juggernaut barreling down on us. Such an approach does not imply relying on the Democrats, but uniting and mobilizing the millions of people disgusted by the current direction of society to take independent political action outside of the killing confines of the "official politics". The success of such a movement will not only mean the removal from power of the most pressing danger to the world, but would also usher in whole new possibilities for progressive social change, with the emergence of a movement of people that has driven out a monstrous clique and are newly energized and organized and ready to take society in a much, much better direction.
Our Responsibility to the World
Within World Can't Wait, there are many different views about what should replace the Bush regime, from reforming the Democratic Party, to building a 3rd party, to revolution, and more. What has brought this movement together is people from diverse perspectives and backgrounds seeing the urgent need to change the whole direction of society. And it is our hope that major anti-war organizations like ANSWER and UFPJ will join this movement to drive out the Bush regime while continuing their efforts to end the war.
As we enter the 4th year of this unjust war and new threats of war on Iran, people around the world are looking to see if the people in this country are just going along, or if there is a growing resistance that will not allow this disastrous course to continue. A movement that sticks to principle and mobilizes people based on what's true and what's right can "join with and give support and heart to people all over the globe who so urgently need and want this regime to be stopped" (World Can't Wait Call).
To close with the following from our Call:
The point is this: history is full of examples where people who had right on their side fought against tremendous odds and were victorious. And it is also full of examples of people passively hoping to wait it out, only to get swallowed up by a horror beyond what they ever imagined. The future is unwritten. WHICH ONE WE GET IS UP TO US.
worldcantwait.org
866-973-4463
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