| July 15, 2005 A Letter From An Angry Patriot by Tom Macchia, insurgent49 Last Tuesday's Anchorage Daily News has a letter attacking Alaskans for Peace and Justice's 4th of July parade float. It is rabid and irrational, which is to be expected of our critics. Read it for yourself and see what you think. Alaskans
for Peace and Justice mar an otherwise pleasant Fourth of July
On a picture perfect Fourth of July, my wife and I attended the annual parade. We truly enjoyed watching the various community groups in their traditional costumes, and even the usual pandering by politicians (like Mayor Begich waving royally to the serfs he ignores in favor of his developer friends) did not spoil the day. Imagine my shock, however, when I saw the celebration of the Fourth turned into a propaganda fest via the Stalinist slogans of the group calling themselves Alaskans for Peace and Justice. I recognize, of course, that Independence Day stands for freedom of speech, and I will defend to my last breath the right of Alaskans for Peace and Justice to spew, just as I will defend the right of their political fellow travelers such as Nazis and communists to spew their silliness. On the other hand, this is a community event and a celebration of our country. Should we allow every lunatic fringe group to use the parade as a platform? Evidently the parade organizers think so, and their decision, I'm afraid, will come back to haunt them in the future. - Ken Feinman Anchorage Given my experience with the Daily News and the way it edits letters, I hesitate to brand the writer a lunatic; but this gives us an excellent opportunity to further expose the public to our chosen "Heroes of Peace and Justice": Harriet Tubman, Gen. Smedley Butler and Rachel Corrie (figure out which is the communist and which is the Nazi), and the ideas that informed their lives and actions. As someone who walked with the float carrying a quote from Butler and was looking to see what the crowd reaction would be, I can say that it was overwhelmingly positive. There was one sleek looking well dressed grey haired man who jumped off the curb in front of the Captain Cook, waving his arms and yelling at us, but I could not make out what he was saying. I think we saw it in his letter. |
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2005
Insurgent Media. All Rights
Reserved. in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership. |
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