that we aren't going to get anywhere without a complete diversity of tactics?

The Eleventh Day of Every Month

We have seen Code Pink and Cindy Sheehan move a few degrees our way.
DownsizeDC's "Press for Truth", while not strictly anti-war, is evidence
that thinking the unthinkable is worth thinking about and moving on.

I hope Peace Movement is starting to realize that they are impotent
without 911Truth. The recent vote to continue funding WAR was a
huge and painful poke in the eye for those who pinned their hopes
on the Dem-wits. That painful poke opened many eyes.

I think bringing the two movements together is about the most powerful
thing we could do. For some reason public opinion still seems important
to the PTB. The Peace Movement did assist in turning public opinion against
the wars. But as we can see, this was not enough to end them.

Peace embracing Truth could re-energize both into a POWER to be Reckoned with.
Instead of being demoralized into apathy, Truth could inject HOPE for change with
a means to achieve it.

Just thinking out loud.

Joe

www.northtexansfor911truth.com

Over one million people (mostly women) gathered in DC for the largest Women's Rights rally in living memory, perhaps ever, in the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_for_Women's_Lives

This rally of over one million people was utterly ignored by the corporate press and congress.

I don't think you can force the corporate press to pay attention to you with sheer numbers."

If the goal is to get the corporate press to pay attention, then fine. But that's a pretty meager goal if you ask me. It's also unreasonable. A hundred years ago people had no illusions about the "robber baron press", and nor should we of our corporate "news" makers. Our forebears created their own underground newspapers (as we are now doing with the internet) and they organized mass action (as we are also beginning to do). A single rally, no matter how large, has never accomplished much of anything, nor has any serious activist claimed otherwise. The key is an ongoing effort that grows rather than recedes, in other words, the opposite of the current trajectory of the anti-war movement. Truth squads are vital in the same way that 911 truth vids are vital, but they are nowhere near as important as creating a mass movement. if we want serious change we will need to mobilize in massive numbers. Imo, you couldn't be more wrong on this point, Rep.

Once again I'll draw attention to the Vietnam war:

"In 1969, President Richard Nixon had a secret plan called "Duck Hook" to escalate dramatically the attack on Vietnam, including the possible use of nuclear weapons. Nixon officials planned to issue an ultimatum to North Vietnam on Nov. 1, 1969. On Oct. 15, a half-million protesters descended on Washington, DC, and across the country millions took part in local demonstrations, church services and vigils as part of Vietnam Moratorium Day. Another major demonstration was in the works for the following month. Although the public would not know until years later, that opposition was a main reason Nixon canceled Duck Hook....All who reject...militarism and plans for empire must speak louder and press harder. That commitment by people of conscience--people who believe in their own power--has changed history in the past. Our commitment today can do the same. Robert Jensen and Rahul Mahajan Source: Putting the public back in public policy, 2/17/03"

A bit of historical perspective reminds us that governments which seem to be in total control, of guns, of money, of the minds of the population, find that all their power is futile against the power of an aroused citizenry. The leaders awake one morning to see a million angry people in the streets of the capital city, and they begin packing their bags and calling for a helicopter. This is not a fantasy but history. It’s the history of the Philippines, of Indonesia, of Russia, East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Rumania, and other places where change looked hopeless and then it happened. There is a long history of imperial powers, gloating over victories, becoming over-extended and overconfident, as their citizens begin to get uneasy because their day-to-day fundamental needs are being sacrificed for military glory while their young are sent to die in wars. The uneasiness grows and grows, and the citizenry gather in resistance in larger and larger numbers, and become too much to control, and one day the top-heavy empire falls over.

There are inumerable side benefits to hands on activism as well. It allows people to reach out to like minded members of their community, build support networks, gain confidence in their own abilities, take on leadership rolls, create alternate forms of social organization, and reach newbies face to face in a way that chatting on the internet simply cannot do. Finally, civil disobedience has the potential to turn a benign "marching" movement into a social revolution.

Truth squads are awesome, I respect the people who do it, but we should have no illusions that harassing some politician and putting the footage on youtube will be sufficient to achieving our goals. As YT says, we need diversity of tactics. We need a two-pronged assault of internet activism and mass mobilization.

The Eleventh Day of Every Month

"Marching in the streets is good for networking and sending a message to the world, but not for making change in this country, at this point, anyway. The only way to make change in this country is with cash and in the courts, if the judge you get isn't bought off."

Depends on what kind of change you’re talking about. For our purposes I think you’re completely wrong and history agrees with me.

If you look at Roe V. Wade for instance (regardless of whether you agree with the decision) it was passed by a conservative supreme court. Why? Because they agreed with abortion? No. Because there was a massive women’s movement in the streets. Why was civil rights legislation passed in the 60’s? Because the Federal government suddenly cared about black people? No, because there was a massive civil rights movement in the streets. Prior to that time, the Feds and local law enforcement invariably sided with groups such as the KKK. Vietnam war? The war ended due to a combination of fierce resistance by the Vietcong and unrelenting social turmoil in the homeland. This is not just my own opinion. The Pentagon Papers detail the aftermath of the Tet offensive in which Westmoreland requests 200,000 additional troops for Vietnam. They are refused. Why? Because said troops were needed for “civil disorder control” in the homeland. That’s another way of saying elites were scared shitless of the “anarchy” occurring on the streets, therefore the war effort had to be sacrificed in order to regain “stability”. Don’t even get me started on the labor movement. In the 19th C workers didn’t have the luxury of pretending the legal system would solve their woes; they knew that the only way of achieving basic rights was by directly challenging power and using their numbers to do so.

The reason the Iraq war protests have failed is because they peaked before the war even began. They have fizzled out over time, and we have seen very little in the way of civil disobedience. The key to a successful movement is that it must continue to grow exponentionally while tactics become more and more creative and bold.

As for the comments on 911 videos, again I disagree. It’s not a question of “either” get out into the streets “or” engage in internet activism. The two go hand in hand. We need to use the viral capabilities of the net while simultaneously engaging in concrete action in our local communities. I do agree that the “market” is becoming saturated with 911 truth videos, but that’s a helluvalot better than no videos at all. Without 911 truth videos we’d be stuck handing out books that very few would read. We live in the era of short attention spans, so video is one of our most powerful tools.

I agree that cohesion is agreed. That’s why Cosmos’ 11th Day Campaign has such potential. It does not require a singular “leader” who can be decapitated but provides a coordinated timetable for people to take action -- together, on a massive scale.

The Eleventh Day of Every Month