Peaceniks on parade

By Gregory J. Hand
web posted September 24, 2001

It didn't take long after the dust had settled over lower
Manhattan for the freakish peaceniks, as if on queue, to crawl
out from under their rocks. Dreaming of some sort of perverted
sixties rebirth, they were almost gleeful for the excuse to stock
up on contraceptives, marijuana and LSD, dust off the bell
bottoms, and pull out those old Joan Baez, Grateful Dead, and
Janis Joplin LPs as they practiced singing "Give Peace a
Chance."

Last Thursday was the big kickoff, with rallies at over 100
college campuses, the breeding ground of the leftist ideology
infestation, in what was being called a national "day of action" for
a variety of radicals to hold hands, whine about capitalism, and
publicly posture for the world to see their compassion on
display. As these events tend to be, it was not only a grab the
ankles for third world terrorists type of day, but one to also fight
racism, lest anyone think all Muslims radical terrorists. No doubt
the "Free Mumia" crowd participated as well.

While the former site of the World Trade Center is called
"ground zero" for the terrorist attacks, Berkeley is the equivalent
for the protest movement. Berkeley, in fact, is a cesspool of such
liberal nonsense. Full of anarchists, communists, and socialists of
all flavors, it is what happens when the inmates run the asylum.
There is no logic within the city limits; it is practically illegal; and
everything that is done is to make as many people as possible
feel good about themselves. One would think that with all the
'good vibes' and attention to feelings that this would be a relaxed,
peaceful place full of love and harmony. On the contrary, it is
filled with some of the most hateful, embittered people in the
country, a Democratic Party convention notwithstanding.

It centers on the University, where students and aging radicals
anxiously linger while hoping for the possibility of a return to the
glory days of the protest era. Like those at other colleges and
universities last Thursday, protests held there were ridiculous as
more than 1,000 demonstrators, some wielding placards with
stupid messages like, "An eye for an eye leaves the world blind,"
gathered in UC Berkeley's Sproul Plaza to rally for peace.

"War is unpatriotic. We don't want to see the flag of the United
States hitting and killing civilians," said Berkeley lecturer Hatem
Bazian, which creates a somewhat comical image, "Send them
food rather than bombs." he added to enthusiastic cheers from
the mind numbed crowd. Hatem, pardon your ignorance, but we
actually have already done as you requested. As President Bush
stated in his well received speech the other night, the United
States is Afghanistan's largest benefactor in humanitarian aid.
This means, ironically enough, that we provide the food which
gives those that chant "Death to America" the energy to do so.

"As someone who has been directly affected, I'm here to stand in
peace against the killing of any innocent people," said Yes Duffy,
a UC Berkeley senior in architecture and city planning whose
aunt, a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 77, was killed
when that plane crashed into the Pentagon, "We should have
learned our lesson from losing enough innocent lives already."

Besides Osama bin Laden and his friends, who is for the killing
of any innocent people? Although quite a popular leftist
technique, it is so absurd to stand up to proclaim being in favor
of something on which 99.9% of the world's population agrees
with you. The unspoken inference in proclaiming something to
the world, like "I support healthy children," is that there are those
out there who do not, like a political opponent. Truthfully,
however, how compassionate, much less intelligent, can one be
stating something so obvious so publicly?

"Anyone involved in the terrorism should be taken to an
international court and undergo a just trial." Duffy continued, not
content to quit humiliating himself, "Indiscriminate bombs won't
solve anything." Off to The Hague, they go. That'll teach those
nasty bad guys a lesson. Osama is probably trembling in his
boots at the mere possibility of being hauled off to a show trial in
Europe.

As an aside, this call for an international court and a "just trial,"
strangely enough, seems somewhat out of place for a place like
Berkeley. These are usually the people who decry the criminal
justice system as unjust, especially for those in minority
communities, of which Osama bin Laden and his cohorts are
members. One could reasonably expect those in Berkeley to call
for bin Laden and Co. to undergo sensitivity and diversity
training along with a healthy dose of anger management and a
lecture about how bombs pollute our fragile ecosystem, not to be
placed on trial.

Berkeley, of course, was not alone in protesting an American
response to the terrorist attacks that have claimed over six
thousand lives. At Lewis & Clark College in Oregon, students
formed a human peace symbol and sang, "Give Peace a Chance,
" but sadly enough came no closer to recreating the sixties,
despite the good old college try. "I didn't stop crying for four
days," Satya Bycock, a sophomore at the college whined, "But
the cycle of violence can't continue." In that she is correct.
Unfortunately, bin Laden probably is not going to stop because a
hysterical teenager asks him to. That is the purpose of the United
States Military.

Several hundred students gathered at Harvard Yard to do their
part in the national rally. From the library steps, organizers
pleaded for peace through a bullhorn. "In denouncing the
terrorist attacks, we as a nation must not forget that while we
have been grievously wronged, it will do us no good to wrong
others in return," said Alisa Khan, 17, of Herndon, Va., who
described herself as both a Muslim and an American, and whose
statement makes very little sense. American retribution is
punishment for crimes already committed. The United States is
not going to "wrong others." It is going to penalize criminals and
those that harbor them. How is that a 'wrong?'

Dan Hooper, 24, a member of the Army Reserves, stood at a
peace rally at the University of Wisconsin-Madison holding a
sign that read "War kills civilians, not terrorists," although one
would hope that the Army is not that inept. "As much as I fear
for myself and the role I'm going to have to play in this, I'm much
more afraid for the innocent people who are going to suffer for
this in other countries," said Hooper, a physics student, which is
utter nonsense since his only concern is protecting his own rear
end. Isn't it nice that the cowardly peacenik would take the
scholarship money and other government compensation for being
in the Army Reserves only to get cold feet when his country asks
for something in return?

Florida International University, in doing their part for peacenik
day, held four forums on the university's campus in downtown
Fort Lauderdale Thursday afternoon, one of which was about
nonviolence, where approximately 60 people attended. "I believe
in nonviolence and peace," said Gabriel Hermelin, 35, who is
completing a graduate degree in conflict resolution at Nova
Southeastern and attended the peace forum, "You don't have to
be pro-war to be a patriot. . . .I find myself in inner conflict
because I turn on my radio and hear people getting lambasted
for wanting to hold prayer vigils. I feel like I have to keep quiet."
Oh, the humanity! Can you imagine her teaching a conflict
resolution class?

Colleges, however, are not alone. "A diverse nationwide
coalition of religious leaders, social activists and business leaders
- organized by Rosa Parks, Harry Belafonte and others - have,"
according to the Miami Herald, "issued a message that echoes
what's being said by some on college campuses: Those
responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon should be brought to justice, but indiscriminate military
retaliation would incite more violence, not end it." Who said
anything about the military retaliation being indiscriminate? And
Harry Belafonte as peace activist? What is this world coming to?

Also by Thursday, the nation day of action, nearly 1,500
religious leaders had endorsed a statement by the National
Council of Churches of Christ USA calling for "sober restraint,"
not military retaliation. These are probably the same church
leaders who have just returned from the U.N. World Conference
against Racism, where between rounds of Israel bashing they
were confessing their racist pasts.

There were even protests in New York of all places, where 1,
500 protesters marched through the city, snarled traffic and drew
hecklers as they walked up Park Avenue, over to the Avenue of
the Americas and to Times Square. "This is the belly of the beast
and this is where we need to be active," said a protester named
Amy, as she drew up posters before the rally. naive, naive,
naive. Give her a bucket and let her spend a day down at the
ruins of the World Trade Center picking up the random body
parts of over six thousand victims and see if her attitude changes.

Victim's relatives have also joined in the fray. Judy Keane,
whose husband, Richard, was killed in the World Trade Center
attacks, helped organize a prayer vigil near her home in
Wethersfield, Connecticut, on the Sunday evening after, an event
that drew more than 5,000 people. "The World Trade Center
was in retaliation for something else, and that was the retaliation
for something else," Keane said in The Washington Post
Wednesday. "Are we going to continue this in perpetuity? We
have to say at some point, OK, let's find another way of doing
this." We are. By eliminating the terrorists at the source, this
should prevent, or at least severely stifle, this sort of behavior in
the future.

The peace movement, like other social movements before it, has
seen its best times come and go. But like so many others, it will
never realize this, and will continue to flail away on the dream
that the glory days they once enjoyed can be recreated, if only
for a moment. So every time a fighter jet goes into the air, out
they come looking for another attempt at summoning the past.

"This is not just another (expletive) Berkeley march," said Orinda
native Adrian Wilson, a UC Berkeley senior majoring in political
science, at the Berkeley protest, "This could be the start of a
movement. This is like the marches of the '60s. They stopped the
war. We could do it again." No dear, you can't. You can
certainly try, as no doubt you are going to do (repeatedly), but
the sixties are thankfully dead. Please allow it to rest in peace.

It is a sad commentary that the pinnacle of some people's lives
was in excess of thirty years ago. Like drug addicts looking for a
better high, these aging hippies continue to futilely attempt to
relive that heyday, unwilling to accept the reality that society has
changed, and that while the clothes may come back one day, the
set of circumstances that created that era probably will not. It is
time to grow up and move on.

That the younger generation looks with affinity at this sort of
nonsense only shows the lure of sex, drugs and really bad music,
with a little bit of faux compassion and grandstanding thrown in
for good measure. Having been continuously brainwashed by this
country's education system, they look with awe at their loser
professors in their ivory towers, lamenting the unfortunate timing
of their birth and wishing, along with their elders, to also attempt
to recreate this supposedly magical time.

Regrettably this 'hate America' crowd will always be with us. A
parasite on society, they ignorantly preach against the very thing,
a strong military, which allows them the freedom to act as
ridiculous as they do. Theirs is a simplistic world of high flung
dreams with no basis in reality, and just because they do not
wish Osama bin Laden any harm does not mean he will
reciprocate in kind. On the contrary, he seems to get a thrill out
of attacking the innocent.

Very few people actually enjoy war, but like liberalism itself, it is
a necessary evil which must sometimes be accommodated,
especially with terrorists with whom there is no reasoning. What
the left does not understand is that a hand outstretched in
friendship to people like bin Laden is only going to get chopped
off, and a hug will only be met with a knife in the back.

The only thing a terrorist understands is violence, which is why
they enjoy inflicting it on as many innocent people as they can.
With impunity they act, until such time as others rise up against
them, which is exactly what the United States and its partners are
now doing. Despite the wishes and desires of the peace activists
for it to be otherwise, this is the only way to solve this problem,
for bin Laden is not someone with whom a peace can be
negotiated. To be a peacenik in such a brutal world is to slit your
own throat, if people like Osama bin Laden don't beat you to it.

Gregory J. Hand is a political and social commentator whose
weekly columns disclose his personal passion for conservative
issues. His columns appear regularly at NewsCorridor,
OpinioNet, and Ether Zone, and he is also a contributing writer
with Enter Stage Right. He has a B.A. in Economics from
Wofford College. You can view the complete catalog of all of his
works on GregoryHand.com, and can reach him at
ghand@gregoryhand.com.

Enter Stage Right - http://www.enterstageright.com