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Ref. : Local Newsbriefs
Ref. : Letters to the editor
03.05 Open Letter to Congressman Bart Stupak
Video National Health Care Systems In Other Countries
03.20 The Death of American Populism
03.18 Pressure Drop: Brave Sir Dennis Ran Away
03.12 Slick Barry and the $100-Billion Medicaid/Medicare Fraud Claim
03.09 Kill Bill: Death to Obamacare!
03.09 Obama’s Rhetoric May Be “Fiery,” But His Health Care Reform Is Still Lukewarm
03.17 CNN Scrapes Bottom of Right-Wing Barrel With Erickson Hire
03.16 WPost Blames Obama First, on Israel
03.16 Letter to the New York Times' Editor: Stovepiping To Persia
03.12 Cud and Complicity: Burying the Alternatives to Empire's Dominion
03.11 NYT and the ACORN Hoax
03.05 Sorry, Rove, Bush Did Lie About Iraq
03.03 It's Snow News
03.03 The Woeful Washington Post
Ref. : The Daily Howler
02.26 America's Supremes: Court Over Constitution
03.11 Power Rangers: Policing the System With the "Fightin' Progressives"
03.09 Thinking About Countings
03.07 Unnatural Acts: Breaking the Fever of Militarism
02.25 Future Shock: A Better World Beyond the Imperium
03.19 Israel's Troubling Tilt Toward Apartheid
03.18 The Lawfare Project's Anti-Democratic Agenda
03.16 America's Secret Prisons
03.13 Palestinian Dispossession in East Jerusalem
03.12 Israeli Settlement Expansions Continue
03.11 Brutalizing Palestinian Children
03.08 The Russell Tribunal on Palestine: Barcelona Session
03.05 Targeting Israeli Apartheid
03.01 America's Permanent War Agenda
02.25 Global Sweatshop Wage Slavery
03.19 The Growing Movement For Publicly-Owned Banks
03.19 America's "Houdini Recovery" under IMF-Type Austerity
03.14 The Crisis in America's Telecommunications Network
03.09 The Business of Water: Privatizing An Essential Resource
03.05 Is the Recovery Real?
03.04 IMF-Style Austerity Measures come to America: What “Fiscal Responsibility” Means To You
03.04 Barry C. Lynn's "Cornered: The New Monopoly Capitalism and Economics of Destruction"
03.01 Thinking About Fees
03.15 Peace Process Hypocrisy: Stillborn from Inception
03.03 Muslim Disunity
03.02 Funding Israeli Militarism, Belligerence and Occupation
02.26 Iran Captures a 'Good' Terrorist
COMMENTARY:
Time to Run for Change, America
Back to reality: on July 25th the International Herald Tribune ran a piece titled "Teens march across America in lonely opposition to war." The article talked about nineteen-year-old Ashley Casale and eighteen-year-old Michael Israel, who started their 3,000-mile walk from San Francisco to Washington to show their opposition to the war in Iraq and express their hope that others would join them.
The pair did pick up a third marcher, nineteen-year-old Tom Garrett, but the masses were absent. What happened to them? What happened to all those Americans opposing the war?
If we follow the old saying of "two's company, three's a crowd," it is evident that we have an anti-war movement growing on the ankles of these courageous young men. Granted that—taking into account the US population numbers of 302,465,868 people, according to the US census Bureau—three people is a tiny representation for opposition to the war, at least there are three.
After all, it was U.S president Lyndon B. Johnson who said, "Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time."
Who knows? Forrest's mum did say that "life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you gonna get." Maybe peace-loving people will understand the need for this run to continue, and just like Jennie yelled out to Forrest, "Run Forrest run!," we will all shout to Ashley, Michael and Tom, "Run guys run!" Maybe then, funding will flow in order for this run to continue. Maybe people will take to the streets and go from coast to coast until they're out of breath. And then, with the war stopped, just like Forrest did, they will proclaim: "We're pretty tired... we think we'll go home now."
Forrest's run across the country took three and a half years. Maybe a run to stop this war will take a lot longer, but then again, running is good for our health, and running for a good cause must be promoted.
Who knows, maybe this is America's chance to embark on an epic journey of healthy change, and they will prompt foreign runners to join their race. After all, many people around the world are waiting to see signs of change, to rally behind the American cause. Three runners marching for peace, is inspiring, but is simply not enough to stop the war.
Hopefully those Americans looking for something bigger than a weekend rally will follow the footsteps of their three fellow patriots. When pro-justice and pro-peace groups chant in unison "Run America run!," America will run and run and run. It will run so much and so hard that the braces will brake from its legs and it will never have to wear them again.
Pablo Ouziel is an activist and a freelance writer based in Spain. His work has appeared in many progressive media including Znet, Palestine Chronicle, Thomas Paine’s Corner and Atlantic Free Press.
Republication or redistribution of Baltimore Chronicle content is expressly prohibited without their prior written consent.
This story was published on August 10, 2007.
