Where Were the Tea Partyers?

Today I attended a peace march in Los Angeles to protest the never-ending wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the new war in Libya. We've been in Afghanistan a decade, Iraq eight years, and today was our first of many, many days to come in Libya.

For those of you who thought that we're no longer in Iraq because Obama supposedly pulled out combat troops, think again. We still have tens of thousands of troops in Iraq, we've got at least that many contractors (read: contracted killers), and we built scores of bases in the country that we have no intention of ever abandoning. Just as with Japan and Germany, we're never leaving Iraq.

As I marched through Hollywood today, I wondered, "Where are the Tea Partyers?" They are after all, eternally concerned about the size of the federal deficit, and the Afghanistan and Iraq wars have already cost us about $3 trillion. That's a whole lot more than the $60 billion of healthcare, education, and Social Security that some Republicans have suggested cutting from the budget. We would have absolutely no budget crisis if we'd stop killing people in other countries and if we'd stop giving tax breaks to the super-rich. The Tea Partyers' dreams would be realized in one stroke of the pen. But for some strange reason, there were no Tea Partyers at the march.

How do I know? Because Tea Partyers are white, at least 50 years old, and middle class. The people who attend peace marches are of all races, of all ages, and many are definitely not middle class. What is heart-warming to me is to see how many young people show up. People in their late teens or early 20s who were kids when 9/11 occurred. They basically have known no other America than the one we currently have. They grew up with the Patriot Act and the trashing of the Constitution. And yet they are working for a return to something they never knew.

I was also glad to see that the 9/11 truthseekers were out in full force, making the connection between 9/11 being an inside job, the invasion of countries that either have oil (Iraq and Libya) or one that is planned to have an oil pipeline run through it (Afghanistan), the erosion of freedom in the U.S., and the CIA infiltration of the major media. And many of these truthseekers again were young people.

Pictured at right is a Code Pink gal I met in Long Beach a few weeks ago. Isn't this haunting? A digital  morph of the photos of G.W. and Obama. No caption necessary.

(In case you can't read the banner at left, it says, "The CIA owns everyone of any significance in the major media."

Former CIA Director William Colby)

What is disappointing is how few people showed up. I guess about 2,000, enough to fill one city block. Way down from the numbers of six or seven years ago. That's 2,000 out of 20 million people in the greater LA area. What is wrong with Americans? Why are we so passive? That's the subject for another post.

Perhaps one reason for the low turnout is shown at right below: another sign of the encroaching police state and its Orwellian double speak. (LAPD=Los Angeles Police Dept.) So I'm being filmed for my safety, huh? How about if I'd rather not be filmed and take my chances? How about if your filming makes me feel unsafe, Big Brother?

In closing, I would like my European and Middle Eastern friends to know that a few Americans do know how to march for what they believe in. I am always impressed by the number of protesters who turn out in Europe. And, of course, the entire world has been moved by protesters in Egypt, Bahrain, Tunisia, Libya, and Iran. I hope some day that my countrymen and women will do the same, telling truth to power and holding our government accountable.