February 15, 2003

Stop the War. But not

Stop the War. But not really.

I guess I went a little overboard in my grouchy post below, the one complaining about Eric Alterman. I find his tone and attitude extremely irritating, but I imagine many could say the same thing about my t. and a. (Heh.) I do in fact read his blog fairly often. Interesting things do turn up there from time to time.

For example (and I do not mean this as a slag or a slight-- in all sincerity I find this fascinating): here he says he's planning to participate in the weekend's Stop the War demonstrations. (Bringing "the kid" along for her "first ever peace demo." That's sweet.)

On the other hand, here he cites polls suggesting soft support among the American public for a unilateral war, and adds:

this does not mean that they won't support a war when it finally comes. I will too.

Wait a minute. He will? Does this make one bit of sense? What's the message here? Demonstrate against the war until it starts, then support it? (Come to think of it, that's the strategy many accuse the French of being up to. Hmmm....)

I guess that's the sort of "correct-but-complicated" position he's talking about further down. Complicated, not to mention nuanced. Not to mention... uh, weird. How many other participants view the peace demos in this way? Like I said, I don't mean this as a slag. I find it fascinating. Maybe-- probably-- I just don't get it. At any rate, let's hope "the kid" doesn't get too confused.

Posted by Dr. Frank at February 15, 2003 06:56 PM | TrackBack