[ crossposted from My Left Wing ]
I hate to say this, but I’m appalled.
Look, we are all born, suffer and die.
We are are randomly extinguished by cruel fates.
But, rather than spend our lives of limited and uncertain duration on self interest, some of us choose to fight to make the world a better place.
Currently – it seems according by this recent DailyKos poll of close to 1400 site members that – by a 65% to 34% margin ( don’t ask me about the mssing 1% ) – the Daily Kos community, and by extension ( if the dKos [population is representative of the left ) the US left, is scared: about the US turning into a dictatorship, about being rounded up and put into FEMA camps, whatever….
Talk about being whupped before the fight !
I think it’s time for the American left to buck up and screw up its courage to try and stop the INSANE Bush Administration push to invade Iran.
It’s absurd, because things now REALLY are in the balance, and the left seems to be sidling off, tail between its legs.
Here’s what I wrote on the Daily Kos.
Apparently, it’s more popular on that site to talk about FEAR than about COURAGE and ACTION.
Well, I wonder about the extent that those talking about leaving the US have considered that they might have a moral obligation – to all those who could get caught up in a world or theater-wide war in the event of the US attack on Iran – to try and stop such a CATASTROPHE before it occured ?
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The “I’m Afraid” recommended diary poll has fear beating courage by A 2:1 margin. This community, and the left, needs to move beyond talk and worry and on to ACTION – war with Iran would be very bad.
The Bush Administration wants to launch a preemptive attack on Iran and has started to send up the ludicrous claim that Iran can make a nuclear bomb in 16 days. [Most estimates say Iran will achieve that capability in about a decade]
Things are in the balance…
Mainstream media is not yet parrotting those claims ( see Google News ) , and many credible voices are emerging to weigh in on the insanity of a US attack on Iran.
Meanwhile, many are scared – many fear that terrorist attacks will follow US strikes on Iran, and that a Bush Adm. declaration of martial law will follow…
Between the world status quo and a possible world war, or dramatic escalation of world conflict, we are balanced on a razor’s edge…
So, are you scared ?
It’s OK to be scared – that’s a perfectly reasonable human response. I’m scared too. But, the real question is this :
Will you run away ?
Please, don’t.
Don’t.
Fight.
How ?…..
Well, let me answer that, to begin with, with a question :
The “16 day to a nuclear Iran !” claim has popped up on the “Drudge Report”….will the mass media repeat it ? – will the US mass media play the same role as it did prior to the US invasion of Iraq – broadcasting the same sort of Bush Administration LIES, about the status alleged Iranian WMD program, as were broadcast before the invasion of Iraq about Saddam Hussein’s “Winnnebagos of Death”, and Iraq’s alleged ties to terrorism, etc. ?
Will the US mainstream media play the same enabling role now in a US attack on Iran ?
Well, so far the mainstream media isn’t buying the rotten garbage the Bush Administration shovels out.
But, this is infowar, and the left isn’t fghting very succesfully.
Seymour Hersh has said that he wrote his recent article – on the Bush Adminstration’s consideration ( now in the operational plans phase says Hersh ) of tactical nuclear strikes on Iran – in order to get the administration to back off from such possibilities. You – and we – can play a similar role.
What can you do ? What can we do ?
We need to throw up a withering counterfire to even the idea that US strikes on Iran would be anything less than insane. We need to broadcast a number of other themes too.
I’m going to lay out here a number of concrete steps YOU can take and WE can take.
Simple steps:
- Recommend this diary. Few seem to be saying these things now, and they must be said – loudly. I don’t have the time to be doing this. It’s just that an invasion of Iran would mess up my life – and the World in which I live – even more than spending the time now to write this. Really. I’m acting in my own best self interest.
- Call your political representatives. Ask them why the Democrats ( or moderate Republicans ) are so paralyzed about the the Bush Administration push to attack Iran. If you are a Democrat, ask why the Democrats aren’t using the substantial cover being provided by those from the US defense establishment who have stepped out to say such an attack would be disastrous. If you are are Republican, suggest that you are disgusted and planning to leave the party in the event of such an attack.
- Protest tactics, personal networks :
WHY is the center and left so paralyzed ? Call your parents, call your friends, call anyone you can – and email them, whatever you can:
Hang banners from highway overpasses : “Attacking Iran is INSANE”
Arrange protest vigils in your city / town [ see talkingpoints/themes belowe ]
- The Internet : make noise. You know how, and not just here – there are many political forums on the Net. [ See my themes, below. ]
- A more ambitious plan : a fund for a dKos ad – in partnership with other groups/orgs typically depicted as less “partisan” or more to the center of the political spectrum.
Where ? – I don’t know : the NYT, maybe even a TV ad if there’s enough $ A TV ad would be great to try for because the big networks would probably initially refuse and then they could be accused of facillitating the Bush Adm. push for war on Iran.
If there’s enough interest, this idea will become a separate diary – not necessarily by me but perhaps by some more prominent dKos member. Details can be arranged. For now, let me say this : I’m frightfully broke, and my wife would probably punch me in the head for this, because we’ve got unpaid bills aplenty, but here’s my pledge of $200 – to buy an ad/ads publicizing the fact that a US attack on Iran would be disastrous and batshit insane.
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Talking Points, Themes :
The Bush Administration lied repeatedly about alleged Iraqi WMD’s – So, we should trust them know about Iranian WMD’s
“Iraq, Iran… Here we go again – but WORSE”
“WW4 – Just a few airstrikes away”
“Iraq – “Mission Accomplished” [ what was the mission ? ], Iran…..”
“George Bush – Would you buy a used pretext for war from this man ?”
here are some more aggressive themes :
WHY is the Bush Administration aiding the growth of Islamic Radicalism ?
Why is it considering throwing NAPALM on the already growing fire ?”
“What the HELL do they think will happen in Pakistan – and all over the Islamic world if they use Nuclear weapons on Iran ?
WHY do they want to help Islamic radicals to take over in Pakistan and get control of an entire nuclear arsenal ?
Are they trying to provoke WW3 – or do they think of it as “Armageddon” ?
WHY does George W. Bush love Islamic terrorists so much that he wants 10 times as many of them ?
OK, that’s my pitch. Please help.
You know what ? RUNNING AWAY is a luxury I can’t afford, and in any case I don’t believe I could outrun the fallout ( literal or figurative ) from a US attack on Iran…. it would catch up with me one way or the other. Like, if I lived in South America, inaction on Global Warming ( while much of the world was wracked by war ) would lead to utter, global climate catastrophe.
You can’t run away really, nor can the many millions of civilians who could get caught up in the possibly impending war. The Iraqi civilians could’t run away, nor could Iraqi children or American troops who had their limbs blown off.
Or, if you run – you may be forever disgusted with yourself that you did.
So please – reconsider, screw up your courage, and fight.
