First, a little background. Mount Desert Island aka Acadia and site of a gazillion (by Maine standards) tourists in summer is more progressive than most of Maine. Our tourists tend to come from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic but from all over as well. The editorial ‘says it all’.
A groundswell for peace (Mt. Desert Islander)
It ran through the crowd, a spontaneous, rolling wave of solidarity more than two miles long. In total it lasted for more than an hour.
While Fourth of July parade entries with a decidedly political bent are nothing new in Bar Harbor, the reaction Monday to a group protesting the loss of life in Iraq was different. In the past, peace activists usually were greeted with stony silence. As they marched Monday, carrying banners adorned with scores of small American flags and the names of more than 1,400 Americans who have died in combat, several dozen protesters were instead greeted by a wave of applause from crowds of spectators on both sides of the street. It followed the group for most of the route.
When people talk politics, they often dismiss minority opposition by saying it may be broad but “it is only an inch deep.” In Bar Harbor on Monday, a broad cross section of people from all over the country made a profound statement of unity with those audacious enough to publicly question whether or not the price we are paying for the war in Iraq is worth it. On America’s most nationalistic holiday, this public push for peace, and the solid support it received, was a decidedly patriotic act.
In recent months, many of the same leaders who pushed this country into war by fanning the fires of fear about Saddam Hussein’s non-existent weapons of mass destruction and ties to terrorism have been grumbling that those who opposed the war are not supporting the troops. But unlike the Vietnam era, the people of today know all too well it is our leaders, not the men and women on the front lines, who bear the responsibility for the present situation. Support for the war may be weakening, but support for our men and women in uniform has been, and will continue to be, unswerving.
Politicians in Washington D.C., don’t need expensive opinion polls to see how deep the erosion of public support for the war in Iraq has gone. All they needed to do Monday was to watch events unfold on the streets of a small town in Maine on the Fourth of July.
PS
For another Maine action take this link and scroll down to the Blue Hill War Memorial. A field of white flags to honor the fallen
http://www.paxchristimaine.org/
