Slip sliding away

That mantle of invincibility is not only slipping, it's damn near falling off. This is from Editor & Publisher's website for April 26, via a tip at MichaelMoore.com:

Half of all Americans, exactly 50%, now say the Bush administration deliberately misled Americans about whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, the Gallup Organization reported this morning.

Gallup noted that the percentage has gradually increased over time: It was 33% in May 2003, 39% that July, 43% in January 2004, and 47% last October.

[M]ore than half of Americans, 54%, disapprove of the way President Bush is handling the situation in Iraq, while 43% approve,

which is about a five percentage point shift toward disapproval since early February. Meanwhile, 53% in a Gallup poll last week said the invasion of Iraq was "not worth it."

We are the majority! We who say "Bush lied!" We who say "End the war!" We are the majority and we should never forget it. Never sit quietly when some winger tries to tell you that "the people" support Bush. It's bullshit, splattered around in an attempt to intimidate us into silence. You speak for the majority, not them.

Some historical perspective is revealing:

Frank Newport, editor in chief at Gallup, recalled today that although a majority of the public began to think the Vietnam war was a mistake in the summer of 1968, the United States did not pull out of Vietnam for more than five years....

So first, be neither shocked nor discouraged that being in the majority has not lead to immediate change - although we should be dismayed by the additional carnage we will see before reality sets in at the highest levels of government.

Second, it's worth noting that unlike Vietnam, this shift in public belief has not been driven by mass actions that kept the issue on the front pages and the reality of opposition in everyone's mind. It has developed on its own, from people's own experiences and perceptions. That should encourage us in public actions, knowing that we are speaking to a receptive audience.

Yes, demonstrations, especially dramatic ones, turn some people off, look too "radical" for some people. (I recall some years ago the town where I lived had done a wholly botched property revaluation that caused some homeowners' property tax bills to more than quadruple. While taking part in a quiet, peaceful picket line outside a City Council meeting, calling for a new revaluation, I overheard some of the participants shaking their heads and saying "It's come to this." For them, just walking a picket line was a very radical action which they previously would not have considered doing.) And yes, the experiences of the 60s left a handful permanently angry (the reactions to Jane Fonda and John Kerry being ample proof).

But the fact is, even as they embittered some on the other side and alienated a few potential allies, demonstrations - raucous, rowdy, enthusiastic, hairy, demonstrations - drove and legitimized the opposition to the war. And, except for the hairy part, they can do so again. Let the word go forth: We are the majority!