In my 69 years on earth, this is the scariest and most dangerous time I have ever seen. The actions of our leaders have brought us closer to nuclear war than any time in history.
This administration and most of our representatives have decided to endanger our lives and risk Armageddon. In less than a year, they have spent over $100 Billion to feed this war at the expense of everyone except the military-industrial complex.
A half-century ago, a broad-based antiwar movement helped stop the bloody war against the Vietnamese people. That movement was made up of a huge cross-section of Americans. This movement included people of all colors, religions, political parties, and ideologies. It was a movement of unity: anyone and everyone who opposed the war were welcomed regardless of their positions on other issues.
We should welcome and embrace everyone who opposes the advance toward World War 3, whatever their reasons might be. There are so many reasons to oppose war, and specifically THIS war, let us not argue about which reasons are better than others. ANY argument to stop the war that can convince someone to join our movement is a good one. The warmongers welcome sectarianism and division among our ranks, and are doing everything they can to feed that disunity. Don’t let them divide us.
There is currently a Republican bill to end all US support for the war and calling for the US to support negotiations. But no progressives, no Democrats at all, have signed on to support it. It is our duty to pressure our representatives to support this important measure, regardless of who introduced it.
The rally today in Washington has been ignored or shunned by most of the establishment media. But on Friday night, Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson had a 4-minute segment promoting the rally which featured the 10 demands of Rage Against the War Machine.
Let’s take a lesson from the former slave and American abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who fought to unify the anti-slavery movement. Douglass believed in making alliances across racial and ideological divides. He famously said "I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong,"
Eric Garris is the co-founder and director of Antiwar.com.
YES!
If I were in San Francisco, I’d go to that rally. There should be protests in DC outside the White House.
Great speech Eric!