April 04, 2003
The Killing Joke
On the surface, it was a fine idea. Almost inspired. In response to those few antiwar protesters who insist on burning the American flag to protest the war in Iraq, a handful of pro-war demonstrators would burn a peace flag. But somehow, they just didn't think the idea through.
It was clever to be sure. Of course, it was also pimped on Lars Larson's talk radio show earlier this afternoon, so it might not be surprising that it turned out to be more laughable than anything else.
Turn-about being fair play (and all things being fair in love and war), burning a peace flag -- or, in fact, several -- sounds like a straightforward way of making a point. Unfortunately, the point they made wasn't quite the one they intended. Because it was something of a joke, and that joke was on them.
Above, you can see why. What they provided was not some powerful statement about how they feel about the antiwar movement, but instead a symbol that can now be used by that very antiwar movement.
I and many others now have pictures of people flying the symbol of America while burning the symbol of peace.
We can all be rather certain that this is not the message they wanted to get across to all of us. We can also be certain that the mainstream media present for the laugh-in will not bother to point out the screaming irony.
Those of us who remained to watched the entirety of the spectacle (rather than pursue the weekly PPRC march down to Schrunk Plaza) could barely hide, even if we had wanted to do so, our utter bemusement.
However, this event was not without its darker perversions.
Today is April 4, the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. So it is the height of political obscenity for a small group of pro-war demonstrators to be burning a peace symbol while singing (get ready for it), "We Shall Overcome" -- the anthem of the civil rights movement from which Dr. King can never be separated.
On this day of all days, the day of King's death, these people had the sheer gall to sing that song while burning a flag under which King himself would be marching were he still alive today.
As you will see later tonight from further pictures, these people are filled with hatred and anger. You will see their faces contorted with it. But by giving the very movement which they oppose a powerful new image, and by doing so under the sounds of a song forever linked to a man of peace, they demonstrate nothing more than their own sadly laughable ignorance.
