Anti War Movement's Death Throes

BAMBINO: With the "retirement" of Mother Sheehan, the far left's anti America campaign is in a "quagmire". A friend of mine, let's call him Bill, who is a vitriolic anti war person, told me that the Anti War movement never really got off the ground for the Battle of Iraq.

He told me that back in the 60's, the entire movement was for one cause. Stopping the Vietnam War. Now he says, the message is convoluted. "There are too many factions" he tells me. "There's the Grannies Against The War, there's the PETA Nuts, Code Pink, Pro Gay, Anti Christian, Anti Israel, Communists Movements, on and on..." He says that the movement is all over the place and isn't taken seriously because of the mixed agendas.

He relived the days where millions showed up for an anti war protest in DC. Now he sees 20,000 at best and that's with trumped up numbers from the organizers. He sees too much talk and no action. "The Hollywood people aren't helping either." Bill says most Americans are turned off by celebrities spouting anti war stuff then retreating in their private jets to their billion dollar homes.

What to do? He says nothing. Not enough people are tuned in and never will be because of (Bill hates to admit this) American prosperity. Too many people have too many things to do and there's too many distractions to stay focused on one movement. "We didn't have internet, cellphones, cable TV, all we had was the Evening News and print media. We also had the draft. That alone was a rallying cry to the cause."

While Bill is sad that the movement never took hold, he is still proud of the job he did ending the Vietnam War. "Hey, we won one, and lost one. Hopefully next time there is a draft and we will get more numbers that way."

Paging Charles Rangel