Protesting

I WAS RAISED by conservative parents to be a member of the establishment. That didn't work out. In the first grade I became a Yankee fan, and never recovered. In western movies i rooted for the Indians. As the Viet Nam war dragged on and on, I got the impression that it would never end, would be with me my entire life, and that I had therefore learn something about it, and form an opinion about it. After the big North Vietnamese offensive in early 1968 Walter Cronkite convinced me what I had already begun to suspect: that there would never be an american victory. By then I had already decided that the hippies and college students protesting the war on television every night were correct, and that those disparaging them for "unpatriotism" were wolves dressed as sheep. I wanted to join a protest, but understood that it was no place for a thirteen year old. I kept my opinions to myself. For over twenty years I wondered whether I would ever get another chance to protest an unjust american war, with conflicting feelings. I got my chance in 1991, when President George bush the first invited Saddam Hussein to invade Kuwait, then, when Saddam did exactly that, responded with feigned indignant outrage, military force, and death. Five hundred of us walked through a college town - I was an instructor at the university - and one of my students saved my life by getting between me and some super patriotic red neck who called me a "traitor". I was carrying a flag and a hand made sign which said "no war for oil". Like the Viet Nam protesters, we were on the right side of history, and humanity. Now I'm starting to wonder whether I might yet get another chance. America, under the criminal trump, is at it again. if there is a military strike against Iran, I'll be back out on the street, even if the street is in front of my house in my quiet middle class neighborhood. I would need to secure another flag, and decided what my sign would say. Dump Trump? We Are the Bad guys? First, Trump reneged on an america commitment, a perfectly good international treaty with Iran, reimposed sanctions, and inflamed the conditions for war. who know who attacked the oil tankers? The united States deliberately provoked war in 1846 and lied about it. The United States deliberately provoked war in 1898, and lied about it. the united States deliberately provoked war in 1964, and lied about it. The United States deliberately provoked war in 1990, and lied about it, then again in 2003. Everyone except the United States says that the evidence that the oil tankers were attacked by Iran is dubious at best, non existent as worst. Its time to start looking for bargains on flags, cardboard, and magic markers. I suspect that, if push comes to shove, fellow travelers will not be hard to find.