On September 24th, some 100,000 people are expected to show up for a mass anti-war rally on the Ellipse, followed by a march past the White House, FBI building and the Justice Department.
There will be all kinds of questionable groups running around, such as Queer to the Left, Pastors for Peace, Code Pink, Nicaragua Network, and the Free Palestine Alliance. On the surface, this crazy quilt of groups, some formed just for this event, will appear disorganized. There will be a lot of people in rainbow wigs, giggly trustafarians from Greenwich asking “Like, where do we go to get arrested?” and al-Jazeera cameramen chasing down rumors of Israeli flag burnings.
By asking these people over and over the mock-incredulous “Where are you from?” the press unwittingly advances the idea that this is somehow the spontaneous flowering of anti-war sentiment with people “coming together” from all over. Just ordinary moms who want the troops out of New Orleans like, uh, Cindy Sheehan.
But don’t be fooled. This is a carefully scripted and choreographed event with limited spontaneity. The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, which has been orchestrating this sort of political theater for years, is adept at making a motley collection of defeatist groups appear to be the unified expression of anti-war sentiment. They are putting on a show of strength and a show of weakness.
The dual goals of the Marxist left are to lower the morale of Americans (at home and fighting overseas), while strengthening the resolve of our enemies. By providing startling images of a hundred thousand confused and foul-mouthed zeros milling about, people counting heads can marvel at the strength of the “anti-war movement,” while our enemies will assume that this rally “from all over America” depicts a weakened nation that will run from the next sucker punch.
Take a look around at the A.N.S.W.E.R. website. Note the wealth of logistical information, including printable PDF-format Metro maps, maps of the march route, lists of parking garages, and so on. Planned economies fail, but it’s rarely for a lack of planning.
