Tuesday, January 21, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

COLUMN: Steve Sebelius

Peaceably assembling

The several hundred Las Vegans who had turned out on a beautiful winter Saturday to protest for peace in front of the Bellagio were listening to speakers and passing out literature when they were interrupted by the booming music and towering jets of water of the hotel's dancing fountains.

The tune? Lee Greenwood's patriotic anthem "God Bless the U.S.A."

For the moment, Greenwood had the floor -- as well as the sidewalk, the Strip and everything else within range of the impressive outdoor speaker. The protesters' chants of "No blood for oil! Stop the war in Iraq!" could barely be heard over the din. The scene was repeated 90 minutes later, after the chanting protesters had made their way down to Tropicana Avenue, across the Strip and back up the other side, drawing stares and the occasional denunciation along the way.

Back in place in front of the Bellagio, they were interrupted once again by a sound-and-water show to the tune of the "Star Spangled Banner." Many of the protesters covered their hearts or extended their hands into the air, their fingers outstretched in the peace sign.

The timing of the songs -- which the Bellagio insists was totally coincidental -- couldn't have pointed up the contrast more vividly: Peace vs. patriotism. Love of country vs. hatred of war.

But in a country founded by dissidents, where standing up to speak unpopular views sometimes marks the height of courage, does patriotism really have to mean being in favor of war? Or might not the height of patriotism show the depth of its love for country when hundreds of people gather to encourage their country to avoid war?

"Real patriots want peace, not war," boomed the loudspeaker on a van with a sign that identified it as belonging to the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Oppression.

Certainly, that's not a universal view. As the crowd marched past the sidewalk cafes outside the Paris hotel-casino, still chanting to "Stop the killing, stop the hate," someone else shouted, "Tell Saddam to stop the killing." As the protesters went silent-- respecting the fact that the pedestrian overdressing at Flamingo Road and the Strip is technically considered private property -- an older tourist who will never see military combat in any new Iraq war noticed the signs and blurted the word "cowards" over and over. Another tourist, wearing a ball cap that bore the name and hull number of the U.S.S. Alabama, strode through the chanting crowd, shaking his head.

The signs were as varied as the crowd, carried by everyone from students to older folks. "Wiccans Against War," read one, next to "Pagans for Peace." Passers-by learned that "Elvis Hates War" and were reminded of the classics-never-die slogans of anti-war past, including "Make Love, Not War" and "Give Peace a Chance."

Organizers, including Paul Brown of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada and Liz Moore of Equal Rights Nevada, were impressed with the size of the turnout, the largest ever for a non-union event in town, they said. "The fact that the anti-war movement can mobilize as many people as the Culinary [union], that's something," Moore said. The American Civil Liberties Union's Allen Lichtenstein was impressed with the restraint of police, security and protesters; there were no scuffles or arguments over private sidewalks. "This is really America at its best," he said.

There was a near-universal understanding that any war in Iraq would be waged for the country's vast oil reserves, a notion that occasionally peeks out from behind the staid columns of The Wall Street Journal as well declaring itself boldly on myriad signs at Saturday's demonstration. There were radical speakers who railed against the plutocracy and signs that cautioned that only the corporate media's views are aired in newspapers. (A caveat: This column has been thoroughly vetted by those self-same capitalists.)

But what does it all mean? A single day of protesting -- even protesting concurrently across the nation in cities such as Washington, D.C., and San Francisco -- isn't going to change the course determined by a president who seems hellbent on war, is it? Even with a public wary of war, democracy's stalemate is settled by whoever sits in the White House.

So perhaps all that can be done is to protest, at least as a first step toward building a coalition so strong that even the White House cannot ignore it. And perhaps a little of that took place in the shadow of the Bellagio on Saturday.

Because even after the strains of "God Bless the U.S.A." died away, the chant continued: "No blood for oil. Stop the war in Iraq."

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist. His column runs Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at 383-0283 or by e-mail at ssebelius@reviewjournal.com.