Raise Hell

'nuff said, originally uploaded by Tracy Russo.

I just read that one of my favorite political columnists, Molly Ivins (and one of the few things left from Texas that I like) has been hospitalized because of a recurring battle with breast cancer. See Molly Ivins' cancer 'back with a vengeance'.

Her last published column, Stand Up Against the ‘Surge’, had this to say:

The purpose of this old-fashioned newspaper crusade to stop the war is not to make George W. Bush look like the dumbest president ever. People have done dumber things. . . . How massively stupid was the entire war in Vietnam? Even at that, the challenge with this misbegotten adventure is that we simply cannot let it continue.

It is not a matter of whether we will lose or we are losing. We have lost.

* * * *

We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we’re for them and trying to get them out of there. Hit the streets to protest Bush’s proposed surge. If you can, go to the peace march in Washington on Jan. 27. We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, “Stop it, now!” (Emphasis added).

I'm sure Ivins is pleased with the protest against the Iraq War at the National Mall in DC today, Protest Focuses on Troop Increase for Iraq. NPR's article on the march, Tens of Thousands Demand Iraq Pullout, said:

Convinced this is their moment, tens of thousands marched Saturday in an anti-war demonstration linking military families, ordinary people and an icon of the Vietnam protest movement in a spirited call to get out of Iraq.

Celebrities, a half-dozen lawmakers and protesters from distant states rallied in the capital under a sunny sky, seizing an opportunity to press their cause with a Congress restive on the war and a country that has turned against the conflict.

Marching with them was Jane Fonda, in what she said was her first anti-war demonstration in 34 years.

"Silence is no longer an option," Fonda said to cheers from the stage on the National Mall.

Tags: Iraq, War protest, News