BLIND AFFILIATION

We protested Tuesday outside the Union Club in Cleveland, a venue hosting a $500 breakfast fund raiser for Guiliani. His speech was canceled so we took our “SUPPORT THE TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME NOW” signs to a traffic-laden corner.

Some demonstrators ridiculed the people in suits who entered the Union Club. I don’t think wearing a suit is an offense. I joke about “suits”, but I’m not hostile to someone wearing one, and I’ve worn my share. I feel sad for someone in a suit. It seems like a prison uniform.

One demonstrator tried to get passersby to sign a petition to put the Libertarian candidate on the ballot. He approached one man who didn’t even wait to hear what the inquiry was about. He dismissed the lot of us saying, “I’m a Republican.”

I don’t see Republicanism and peace as opposing concepts. A “limited government” party that examines itself should have qualms about spending 750 million dollars a day in Iraq and bloating the debt.

The demonstrator approached another guy who just said, “F- off.”

Blind team affiliation is a natural and regrettable behavior. I used to be a Democrat. I just assumed that the Democratic party was “for” my interests. I didn’t bother to dig deeper and see if the party’s actions followed its words. After more research, I see the Democratic leadership as corporate kowtowers.

I remember the viciousness directed against Bill Clinton, his daughter and wife. I couldn’t understand then how people could be so cruel, and I didn’t think Chelsea deserved scrutiny. That viciousness is repeated in the personal attacks against Bush and his family. Yes, I’ve relished the attacks because Bush and Cheney are de facto mass murderers and their crimes arouse ugly feelings in me. But the problem with hostile discourse is that it undermines opportunity for constructive dialogue and change.

It’s important to recognize that there is a class war in this country, and the class war is escalating, and it has real consequences for most people in this country. But it’s also important to recognize the potential for change in individuals. Ridicule reinforces boundaries. We need to try to get beyond boundaries and parties and classes. We need to try to humanize and empower each other rather than demonize. (I appeal to my better nature here, but I expect relapse.)