LAT op-ed: Antiwar Wackadoos Are Winning

[DeepModem Mom]

Rosa Brooks: Antiwar Wackadoos Are Winning
Opposing the war in Iraq is no longer fringe -- it's American.
August 11, 2006

....Today, the antiwar fringe is starting to resemble California during the Gold Rush of 1849. When gold was discovered in 1848, California had a nonnative population of 14,000 and technically belonged to Mexico. By the end of 1849, the lure of gold had brought the nonnative population up to a boisterous 100,000 — and California had been formally absorbed into the United States.

Similarly, when the war in Iraq began in 2003, only about a quarter of Americans disapproved of President Bush's Iraq policies. But by this month, the trend had reversed, with 60% of Americans telling CNN pollsters that they oppose the war and savvy politicians rushing to stake out an antiwar claim before it's too late. (To paraphrase Kerry, who knows a thing or two about this, who wants to be the last politician to go down for failing to admit the war in Iraq was a mistake?)

Opposing the war in Iraq isn't fringe anymore — it's become part of what defines ordinary Americans.

You wouldn't know it, though, from listening to the pundits. As far as many in the "mainstream" media are concerned, those who oppose the war in Iraq are still oddball extremists.

Take the reaction to antiwar candidate Ned Lamont's successful effort to oust incumbent Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman in this week's Connecticut primary. Lieberman spent the last five years cozying up to the president, defending the administration's foreign policies more vigorously than many Republicans. Given the widespread public opposition to the Iraq war, Lamont's victory was hardly a shocker — yet the media persist in furthering Lieberman's fantasy that he lost only because "the Democratic Party … has been taken over by people who are not from the mainstream of America."...What happened was just that the whole democracy thing worked just the way it's supposed to, for once. A majority of citizens oppose the war in Iraq, so they went to the polls and voted for the guy who shares their views, instead of the guy who doesn't....

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-brooks11aug11,0,7246084.column?track=mostemailedlink

[MercutioATC]

1. "Anti flat-earth wackadoos" are winning, too...

In 1500, there were between 450 and 500 million people residing on this planet. Only "fringe wackadoos" didn't believe that the world was flat.

A mere 500 years later, with a world population of over 6.5 billion, more than 99% believe that the Earth is a sphere (I'm making allowances for televangelists and their followers).

Opposing the idea that the Earth is flat isn't fringe anymore - it's become part of what defines ordinary humans.

[Warren DeMontague]

4. Actually, I don't think that's true.

With the possible exception of recalcitrant holdouts in, for instance, the theological professions (the more things change, huh?) I actually think 500 years ago it was fairly common knowledge that the Earth was round, popular mythology about Columbus being warned he would "sail off the edge" notwithstanding.

[MercutioATC]

5. Alright...back it up a few hundred years...you get my point.

[Warren DeMontague]

6. Absolutely. Point taken.

Although it's pretty interesting-- Some of the Egyptians and Greeks had it figured out, down to a pretty decent estimate of the acutal size of the Earth, something like 2500 years ago.

http://www.phy6.org/stargaze/Scolumb.htm

[William Seger]

2. Duh

Kinda pathetic when something that obvious is written about as if it's a tremendous insight.

[Warren DeMontague]

3. Wow. Not only am I an "Atheist Whackjob", now I'm an "Anti-War Wackadoo"

That's wack.

[reichstag911]

9. Wackadoos unite!

A natural rallying cry, or what?

[MrCoffee]

18. Nothing stirs the patriotic furvor like a Wackadoo Yell

IMHO

[reichstag911]

24. Wouldn't that be...

...a Wackadoo Warble?

[Olney Blue]

7. "Neoconservatism: its the new fringe."

Excellent. K and R.

[AntiFascist]

17. yeah but fringe used to be cool...

K & R as well, this is a great op-ed piece.

[Hissyspit]

8. It doesn't matter if you are fringe or not. What matters is that you

know the truth. What matters is that you are right. Are well-informed. Are enlightened.

What matters is that you are RIGHT (as in correct).

The mainstream is normative, not NORMAL. Majority belief that George W. Bush was a great leader was normative, not NORMAL. Abolitionists were once "fringe." Suffragettes were once "fringe."

[gordianot]

10. Give Rosa a gun.

They need her in Iraq!

[Canuckistanian]

11. She's anti-war, too

Don't just look at the headline, she's just written a scathing indictment of the MSM.

Look at this line:

Lieberman's defeat only illustrates what most Americans already know: Mainstream Americans are tired of watching young Americans come home in coffins from an unnecessary war, tired of reckless foreign policies that have increased rather than decreased the threat of terrorism and really, really tired of incumbents who still don't get it.

[gordianot]

23. My apology

[annabanana]

22. read the article!. . . . n/t

[wryter2000]

12. 25% are wackadoos?

When the war started only 25% opposed it? Since when does 25% compose a "fringe" of "wackadoos"? A minority, yes. Fringe, no!

Jesus on a trailer hitch. Still, this reminds me of the slow transformation of *asshat from a "popular President" to a "love him or hate him President" to the belly of an earthworm.

On edit: apologies to earthworms and the people who love them.

[badgerpup]

16. Apology accepted on behalf of the earthworms...

...harmless (if unlovely) little critters who do nice things for garden soil, and provide protein for birds and bait for weekend fisherpeople.
Couldn't garden without 'em...

:crazy:

[wryter2000]

21. I actually love earthworms

When I uncover one while gardening, I'm careful to put it someplace where it'll be safe. I was going to say snakes, but I have two pet snakes.

[Spazito]

13. Good article!

She nails it re who is really the fringe and who is not and it is NOT the anti-war crowd, it's the neocons and their sheep.

[bvar22]

14. Somebody help me here.

Before the Invasion of Iraq, wasn't the country evenly split?
Didn't 50% of Americans favor Giving the Inspectors in Iraq More Time?
Am I misremembering?

It was only AFTER troops were "on the ground" in Iraq that support jumped to 75% under the constant barrage of government propaganda.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

15. Of course the pundits don't fucking understand.

Wonder why? Rich peoples' kids aren't dying yet. And they've got plenty of money to pay for $6/gallon gasoline. The war is remote to these people. Their friends' kids aren't in the army either. Or their social group's kids. Or whatever. If there's one thing that the punditocarcy have demonstrated in the past fifteen years it's that any grassroots/populist idea is so wholly alien to them that they can't help seeing it as anything other than weird or extreme, despite the large numbers of people in the "flyover states" who see things that way, because their kids and their friends' kids are the ones in the army. And they're not the ones who get hurt when gasoline costs $4/gallon. On top of that, most media is managed by procorporate conservatives. What do you expect?

[Amonester]

20. Because they'R paid to say anything they can find to try to save...

**'s insane Titanic to sink deeper and deeper.

Pundits wouldn't want their pink slips handed to them that fast!

[MrCoffee]

19. buncha damn wackadoos ruinin 'merica