Protest, schmotest...

I'm going to a protest in DC today, against the War in Iraq. A kind of spur of the moment decision, made at 2:00am. I'm doing it because I've felt rather ineffective and out of touch, lately. I have to admit- when I see a news article about Iraq, it's not the first thing I jump to. "Oh, another 50 soldiers were killed. Terrorist bombing outside Baghdad. Haven't I seen this headline before?" It's not a good state of mind. I am quite certain that escalation is not the right thing, any more than going to war there in the first place was. I do think the United States has a financial responsibility to fix this thing, but that our presence in Iraq is no longer really effective. So once we leave, then what? It will break down into civil war, or they might pull things together. The second option is less likely, but I honestly don't think that there is much that the US or anyone else can do to avert civil war, as the region has been so destabilized. Delay it, yes, at the cost of American lives and resources, and for what? So the politicians can go a little longer without saying they were wrong. I don't think anyone has a particularly happy scenario envisioned for what will happen after the US pulls out. I'll be curious to hear what my fellow protesters think, or if they have any better ideas than mine. That's another reason I'm going... just to listen, to see if anyone has anything new to say. I've been protesting this war since before it began, and a lot of the arguments, though still valid, ring a bit stale in my ears. Times have changed, and if you want to be successful, you have to adapt to where we are now, not just chant the same old slogans.

Another reason I'm probably so keen to go is that I've been feeling sort of guilty lately, because I am realizing that I am maybe not as screamingly liberal as I was four years ago. And it's not because my opinion has particularly changed. I'm probably better informed than I was. But like most learning processes, I have also learned that I don't know the half of it. I have also learned that I am not a crusader. I do what I can, without going immensely out of my way. I have priorities in life, and changing the world is not currently at the top of my list. So I'm hoping that doing this will make me feel like I haven't quite lost my fighting spirit.

In addition to the war, I will also be protesting bad poetry, wearing my snazzy new toothpastefordinner shirt- "Bad poetry/ oh noetry."