Is ANSWER agitprop?

[txaslftist]

Seriously. First, to dispell a couple of myths. 1) no one else except either ANSWER or God Almighty could have orchestrated the rally. This is bullshit. This rally was already in the planning process before ANSWER jumped in, got the permits, and forced the rest of the organizations putting things together to join them. ANSWER did NOT organize this event. ANSWER and a bunch of other organizations did. Without ANSWER the event still would have gone off.

2) ANSWER did not hurt the efforts of the rally and no one watches C-Span anyway so they did more good than harm. This is more bullshit. If it had not been for Hurricane Rita hitting the coast, this would have been THE major news event of Saturday. I watched C-Span, spinning through channels trying to find anything covering the protest because I couldn't go at the last minute. What the ANSWER speakers said made me want to vomit. Watching them with Palestinian flags shouting intifada, intifada made me sick. Sick first of all because I don't agree with them on that issue, and secondly because this was the public, media-face of the protest. I recognized instantly that these were clips that would be used to marginalize the protest.

You know, if I was watching C-Span because I wanted to see some coverage on the protest other folks were. And what I saw was ludicrous. Free form commie poetry was the least of it. Palestinian flags were part of it. Every radical left-wing cause you can imagine was part of it. The Iraq war was practically an aside.

I found out here that ANSWER representatives regularly go into North Korea to sing the praises of Kim Jong Sick. That they are an umbrella under which a bunch of communist/socialist/pinko/whackos shelter to get out of the withering rain of justified scorn.

So, if you are Karl Rove, wouldn't you want to know what those whackos were up to? Wouldn't you want them associated with the only viable movement likely to take down GWB? Wouldn't it be great to have access into North Korea's higher counsels? Access into the Palestinian side of the Israel/Palestine conflict? You think the CIA and Rove haven't thought of this? And why won't anyone tell me where ANSWER gets their funding (aside from the little red buckets).

The anti-war movement is serious, growing and powerful, but only so long as it is credible. ANSWER destroys that credibility. Their agenda is not anti-war, it is anti-America.

We need to dump them, let them know they've been dumped, and get on with a serious, patriotic, mainstream anti-war revolution. Grandmothers, soldiers and soccer moms carrying signs are much more effective than lunatics flying PLO colors. They are also much less likely to be used by this maladjusted administration as dupes.

[Ignoramus]

1. If they are

How exactly do you intend to stop them? Will you abandon all the people who turn out to demonstrate against Bush and the occupation, in order to show your dislike of ANSWER?

How about this? Continue to attend the demonstrations, and create a platform for yourself to express your concern, as others at the demonstrations do.

If another organization comes along to get the permits etc. Great.

The yokelish tone of all the anti-answer posts I read here really irk me though. You say "they're communists", like Bush folks say "they're liberals".

A demonstration is not generally a directed performance. It is a public event to which the public is invited. It represents a united front by a public with diverse political views. Please don't take the adivce of some of the people here who want to abandon the public and only attend directed media events.

[Terran1212]

2. Infighting among the Left is dangerous

Sure, we might get the usual patriofascist Right and Christopher Hitchens (who is quickly moving to that side ) using ANSWER as a soapbox upon which to condemn the Left, but I still think their presence brings a lot of information and organization to a powerful crowd.

[geek tragedy]

4. It is not Left vs. Right.

ANSWER is the antithesis of liberal, progressive values, and should be shunned. Not because the rightwingers don't like them, but because they don't represent progressive values and goals.

[geek tragedy]

3. The blame lies not with ANSWER, but with ourselves

The democratic, progressive left should not be allowing ANSWER to have such a prominent place. That means that (A) ANSWER and its minions should be completely shunned; and (B) That democratic, progressive leftists should be doing the organizing and hustling that ANSWER does.

There will always be stupid and immoral leftists, just as there will always be stupid and immoral rightwingers and stupid and immoral centrists. But, we should not share the stage with the stupid and the immoral.

[Ignoramus]

5. Dissent is the life blood of democracy

Don't shun "ANSWER's minions". Engage in a dialogue. Do you actually oppose the people, or is it a philosophy and policy that you oppose?

How about this. Attend the demonstrations to support the theme of the demonstration but also to oppose specific ideas of ANSWER's which you elaborate? You can even inform the media of your being there, create fliers etc.

[bemildred]

6. Duh, you think? nt

[Coexist]

7. good thoughts.

[bemildred]

8. ANSWER in their own words:

http://www.internationalanswer.org/

Make up your own mind.

[Beacho]

9. I don't need a dialogue with stalinist thugs

They bully and intimidate their way into other peoples causes. I've watched these dumb shit punks do the same thing before they were called answer in Berkeley during the eighties. Their main target then was the environmental groups, which they infiltrated and then took over. These are NOT nice people, try and get in their way sometime and you'll find out what I mean.

[The_Casual_Observer]

10. I would guess that the next peace march will be organized by others.

There are a lot of very qualified groups out there.

It's all about live and learn, no real harm done.


Thank god for tivo.