A true democracy, explained Davis the Communist, would have allowed the demonstrators to march that day, rather than to just peacefully assemble. Charging that the Bush administration is “specifically targeting immigrant communities,” she casually dismissed any concerns about Saddam’s suspected stockpiles of hidden weapons. “Have we forgotten,” she asked rhetorically to a loud ovation, “which country claims the largest nuclear arsenal in the world?”
She accused the U.S. government and American corporations of supporting war solely for the purpose of taking over Iraq’s oil fields. Boasting that she was not worried about possible attacks from any external enemies, she expressed concern only “about attacks against single mothers, about structural racism, about homophobia,” and [about] the oppression of “political prisoners like [cop killer] Mumia Abu Jamal.”
Shouting over the cheering throngs, Davis denounced America’s “prison-industrial complex and the military.”
There were numerous others who spoke as well, including folk singer Pete Seeger, actor Ossie Davis, and playwright Tony Kushner. A representative of the Socialist Organization of New York was received especially well, as was the International Secretary of the Black Radical Congress. Susan Sarandon introduced a man who, though he lost his son in the 9/11 attacks, exhorted President Bush to “stop the headlong rush to war, anger, and destruction.”
Though he did not explain why a twelve-year wait for Iraq to comply with its obligations should be defined as “a headlong rush to war,” he chastised America for not promoting “the equitable sharing of the world’s resources among all peoples.”
The day’s final speaker took the occasion to publicly denigrate the hundreds of police officers who, in a thoroughly professional manner, had made certain that everyone attending the rally was safe. “When you leave here,” he told the crowd, “you can expect that the police will probably attempt to do something to try to provoke you. Referring to the officers as “fools with guns,” he continued: “They will attempt to manipulate you in order that you might fall into their plans. We’re not going to fall into their plans. . . . Don’t engage in the foolishness that the police are gonna try to provoke you into. . . . We want to shame the police!”
The crowd responded with roaring approval.
National Organization for Women president Kim Gandy was, notably, the only speaker during the four-hour demonstration to utter even the most trifling criticism of Iraq’s brutal dictator. But even that was diminished by what she said in her next breath. Though she acknowledged that “Saddam Hussein is an evil, maniacal tyrant,” she quickly proclaimed that our government should combat “poverty, homelessness, and [street and domestic] violence” before meddling in foreign affairs.
The overriding anti-American venom pervading the entire rally manifested itself not only in the rhetoric, but also in the remarkable dearth of American flags. I observed only one such flag on display at any point during the day, whereas I saw tens of thousands of placards denouncing the U.S. and the Bush administration.
This crowd was characterized, as much as anything else, by its steadfast refusal to make moral distinctions between Saddam Hussein and George Bush, or between the Iraqi regime and the American government. One particular placard illustrated this point quite graphically. Featuring side-by-side photographs of Bush and Saddam, it read, “Two of a Kind, Hussein and Insein, Both Unelected, Both Psychotic?; Bush’s face was adorned with a Hitler-style moustache, the hairs of which were formed by black letters spelling the word “Florida.” In a similar vein, another sign read, “Germans Did Not Stop Hitler. Will Americans Stop Bush?”
On the few occasions where the demonstrators did make moral distinctions, they actually depicted Bush and the U.S. as worse than their Iraqi counterparts, as evidenced by the speeches heretofore referenced. And as one placard bluntly put it, “Drop the Bombs Where They Are Made” — a curious suggestion indeed from a champion of “peace.”
(FrontPageMag.com)
