Paul Waldman takes a bemused look at Code Pink and the anti-war antics of the left and sees neither bark nor bite:
If nothing else, progressives can take heart in the fact that relative to the extremists on the right, the fringe elements on the left are utterly harmless. The occasional eco-vandal notwithstanding, these days radical leftists don't stockpile weapons, they don't bomb federal buildings, and they aren't plotting the overthrow of the government. There was a time when leftists did such things, of course, but decades have passed since the Weathermen and their ilk passed into history. Our extremists may be ridiculous, but they aren't hurting anyone. Except, that is, for the causes they advocate, and the progressive movement itself ...What worked for the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s is not going to work today. And the truth is that comparing the civil rights marches to a bunch of people carrying signs with "No more war!" on one side and "Free Mumia!" on the other is an insult to everyone who took part in the civil rights movement. The civil rights activists weren't just looking to feel good about themselves. The political actions they undertook were carefully planned and well-executed. They knew exactly which levers of mass and elite opinion they needed to press and how to do it. They weren't trotting off for a Sunday to hang with some friends and speak their minds -- they were engaged in a deadly serious enterprise, one with enormous personal risks, and they approached it with the seriousness it required.
Read the rest and comment here.
--The Editors
