The Great Noisy Majority
Robert Fantina
February 07, 2007
In 1969, as the American blood bath known as the Vietnam War continued to extract its horrific toll, President Richard Nixon held those opposing the war in the same disdain that his current successor holds those opposing the Iraq War. In one of his more memorable speeches, Mr. Nixon coined the phrase ‘the great silent majority,’ in describing those who he believed supported his war policies.
Nearly four decades later, a new movement for peace has been born, and its adherents must be called ‘the great noisy majority.’ They initially joined together when President Bush first began rattling his saber in the direction of Iraq, an oil-rich nation crippled by years of U.N. sanctions. Members of ‘the great noisy majority’ gathered in the streets throughout America’s major cities and international capitals prior to the U.S.–led invasion. Mr. Bush referred to them as a focus group.
The proponents of peace continued to demonstrate, write letters, send email, etc. as America quickly vanquished this third world nation through a brutal ‘shock and awe’ campaign that included bombing population centers, despite the fact that over 50% of the Iraqi population was under the age of 15. Those who advocate peace and justice continued working toward those goals as the atrocities at Abu Gharib were revealed, and as Mr. Bush denied, but later confirmed, the existence of barbarous ‘interrogation camps’ throughout the world. As he and his attorney general dismissed the principles of the Geneva Convention as ‘quaint,’ the peace movement grew. Yet it was largely ignored by those in positions of power.
Despite this, they remained undeterred. Even when, amidst the carnage of the Iraq war, Mr. Bush was elected to office for another four years, peace advocates persevered. It seemed for a time that their voices would be forever ignored.
That, however, began to change on November 7, 2006 when Congress heard their voices loud and clear. Several incumbent senators and members of the House did not find the sound pleasing, as they then had to listen to their own concession speeches. Mr. Bush fired his long-embattled (and fiercely defended by Mr. Bush & Co.) Secretary of Defense, the grossly incompetent Donald Rumsfeld, and stated that he would soon announce ‘a new way forward’ in Iraq. Finally, it seemed, people in power were taking notice of the will of the citizens they are elected to serve.
After pondering the obvious for nearly two months, Mr. Bush made public his new plan for victory (however he is currently defining it) in Iraq. Ignoring the counsel of the military leaders he had vowed to listen to, and forgetting anything he might ever have learned from the Vietnam War, Mr. Bush determined to add over 20,000 more soldiers into the Iraqi death machine. The new noisy majority spontaneously demonstrated in cities across the country.
The response of the newly-empowered Democratic majority to Mr. Bush’s new plan was swift and completely ineffective: they immediately proposed a non-binding resolution condemning Mr. Bush’s escalation (now called ‘augmentation’). Funding for the war would continue; the new budget proposed by the president allocates over $140 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Mealy-mouthed members of both parties, in justifying this enormous expenditure, whimper something about ‘supporting the troops’ or ‘not sending the wrong message to the enemy.’
On Jan 27, the voices of peace were again heard, this time in Washington, D.C. and several other cities throughout America. What they were saying was again loud and clear: end the war in Iraq now.
The people who need to be listening and then acting are the members of Congress, the decision-makers who determine life or death for American soldiers and Iraqi citizens. In 2001, many of them signed the death warrants for over 3,000 Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, when they authorized Mr. Bush to use whatever he deemed necessary to eliminate the threat posed by Iraq’s non-existent weapons of mass destruction. They merrily jumped on the jingoist bandwagon driven by the president with the assistance of Vice-President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Collin Powell. The words of more thoughtful experts, such as Joseph Wilson, who had disproved the allegation that Iraq had purchased uranium yellowcake – used in the creation of fuel for nuclear reactors – were ignored.
The voices of the great noisy majority now include several who the current administration must find most troublesome, if it ever condescends to listen to them, or even knows of their existence. Groups including Vets Vote, Iraq Veterans against the War, Gold Star Families for Peace and many others are speaking out against America’s cruel imperial adventure in Iraq. Additionally, several Iraq war veterans have deserted rather than continue any involvement in the American occupation of Iraq. They are all joining their voices to achieve peace.
Decades ago Mr. Nixon was able to ignore the clamoring for peace by marginalizing peace advocates and blithely assuming that silence meant agreement. Ragged youths with long hair, initially at the forefront of the peace movement due to their vulnerability of being drafted, could be seen as thoughtless, immature or even un-American. That such ‘thoughtless, immature and un-American’ citizens would be the ones mandated to fight Mr. Nixon’s war is unexplained even today. It took years before so-called ‘mainstream’ America recognized at best the futility, and at worst the obscenity, of the Vietnam War.
Mr. Bush is without any such excuse. With the exception of some yes-man from his own party, opposition to the war is overwhelming. The generals who have thus far managed the war are in agreement that more troops are not the answer. The bipartisan Iraq Study Group called for negotiations with Syria and Iran. And Congress plods on with its meaningless gesture opposing the escalation.
After being anointed president in 2000, Mr. Bush governed as if he had actually won the election; after winning by a narrow margin in 2004, he governed as if he’d won by a landslide. This apparent disdain for the will of the citizens of the United States continues to allow him to march American men and women to their deaths in the futility of the Iraq War. Much of Congress, like the unwitting spouse of an unacknowledged alcoholic, enables this destructive behavior. The voters spoke clearly and eloquently on election day, 2006. Now they must assure that those they elected are listening, hearing and acting accordingly.
Nearly four decades later, a new movement for peace has been born, and its adherents must be called ‘the great noisy majority.’ They initially joined together when President Bush first began rattling his saber in the direction of Iraq, an oil-rich nation crippled by years of U.N. sanctions. Members of ‘the great noisy majority’ gathered in the streets throughout America’s major cities and international capitals prior to the U.S.–led invasion. Mr. Bush referred to them as a focus group.
The proponents of peace continued to demonstrate, write letters, send email, etc. as America quickly vanquished this third world nation through a brutal ‘shock and awe’ campaign that included bombing population centers, despite the fact that over 50% of the Iraqi population was under the age of 15. Those who advocate peace and justice continued working toward those goals as the atrocities at Abu Gharib were revealed, and as Mr. Bush denied, but later confirmed, the existence of barbarous ‘interrogation camps’ throughout the world. As he and his attorney general dismissed the principles of the Geneva Convention as ‘quaint,’ the peace movement grew. Yet it was largely ignored by those in positions of power.
Despite this, they remained undeterred. Even when, amidst the carnage of the Iraq war, Mr. Bush was elected to office for another four years, peace advocates persevered. It seemed for a time that their voices would be forever ignored.
That, however, began to change on November 7, 2006 when Congress heard their voices loud and clear. Several incumbent senators and members of the House did not find the sound pleasing, as they then had to listen to their own concession speeches. Mr. Bush fired his long-embattled (and fiercely defended by Mr. Bush & Co.) Secretary of Defense, the grossly incompetent Donald Rumsfeld, and stated that he would soon announce ‘a new way forward’ in Iraq. Finally, it seemed, people in power were taking notice of the will of the citizens they are elected to serve.
After pondering the obvious for nearly two months, Mr. Bush made public his new plan for victory (however he is currently defining it) in Iraq. Ignoring the counsel of the military leaders he had vowed to listen to, and forgetting anything he might ever have learned from the Vietnam War, Mr. Bush determined to add over 20,000 more soldiers into the Iraqi death machine. The new noisy majority spontaneously demonstrated in cities across the country.
The response of the newly-empowered Democratic majority to Mr. Bush’s new plan was swift and completely ineffective: they immediately proposed a non-binding resolution condemning Mr. Bush’s escalation (now called ‘augmentation’). Funding for the war would continue; the new budget proposed by the president allocates over $140 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Mealy-mouthed members of both parties, in justifying this enormous expenditure, whimper something about ‘supporting the troops’ or ‘not sending the wrong message to the enemy.’
On Jan 27, the voices of peace were again heard, this time in Washington, D.C. and several other cities throughout America. What they were saying was again loud and clear: end the war in Iraq now.
The people who need to be listening and then acting are the members of Congress, the decision-makers who determine life or death for American soldiers and Iraqi citizens. In 2001, many of them signed the death warrants for over 3,000 Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, when they authorized Mr. Bush to use whatever he deemed necessary to eliminate the threat posed by Iraq’s non-existent weapons of mass destruction. They merrily jumped on the jingoist bandwagon driven by the president with the assistance of Vice-President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Collin Powell. The words of more thoughtful experts, such as Joseph Wilson, who had disproved the allegation that Iraq had purchased uranium yellowcake – used in the creation of fuel for nuclear reactors – were ignored.
The voices of the great noisy majority now include several who the current administration must find most troublesome, if it ever condescends to listen to them, or even knows of their existence. Groups including Vets Vote, Iraq Veterans against the War, Gold Star Families for Peace and many others are speaking out against America’s cruel imperial adventure in Iraq. Additionally, several Iraq war veterans have deserted rather than continue any involvement in the American occupation of Iraq. They are all joining their voices to achieve peace.
Decades ago Mr. Nixon was able to ignore the clamoring for peace by marginalizing peace advocates and blithely assuming that silence meant agreement. Ragged youths with long hair, initially at the forefront of the peace movement due to their vulnerability of being drafted, could be seen as thoughtless, immature or even un-American. That such ‘thoughtless, immature and un-American’ citizens would be the ones mandated to fight Mr. Nixon’s war is unexplained even today. It took years before so-called ‘mainstream’ America recognized at best the futility, and at worst the obscenity, of the Vietnam War.
Mr. Bush is without any such excuse. With the exception of some yes-man from his own party, opposition to the war is overwhelming. The generals who have thus far managed the war are in agreement that more troops are not the answer. The bipartisan Iraq Study Group called for negotiations with Syria and Iran. And Congress plods on with its meaningless gesture opposing the escalation.
After being anointed president in 2000, Mr. Bush governed as if he had actually won the election; after winning by a narrow margin in 2004, he governed as if he’d won by a landslide. This apparent disdain for the will of the citizens of the United States continues to allow him to march American men and women to their deaths in the futility of the Iraq War. Much of Congress, like the unwitting spouse of an unacknowledged alcoholic, enables this destructive behavior. The voters spoke clearly and eloquently on election day, 2006. Now they must assure that those they elected are listening, hearing and acting accordingly.
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