Of course, what people are protesting about nowadays is completely different from what people were protesting about in the 70's or 80's. Back then, it wasn't only the war in Vietnam that got people to march on the streets. It was also the fear of nuclear weapons that did this as well. As with any other organisation, there are sensible people and those that are downright bizarre.
A couple of days ago, I watched a program on TV called Helen's War: Portrait of a Dissident. It was about a person called Dr. Helen Caldicott. A person that I wished I never came across. You see, she is one of those downright bizarre protesters I was talking about before. She is against nuclear weapons. Sure enough, there's nothing wrong with them. So am I. But it's what she says and thinks that really disturbs me. It's the likes of her that destroys the credibility of the peace movement.
This documentary follows Dr. Caldicott for about a year as she goes to America to speak out against George W. Bush. Yet again, I have no problem with this. But how she does this is what I don't like. For you see, Dr. Caldicott has been against nuclear weapons for many years. She really has a very strange way of trying to "persuade" people to think the way she does.
She is a very emotional person. You could see this as you watch the show. A whole range of emotions pop up as she addresses her audience through her speeches: anger, sadness, fear. She uses these methods quite effectively at times. But really, sometimes she goes just too far. An example of this was when she was talking to the producer of the documentary in a hotel room. The producer had asked her a question which went along the lines of "what do you believe makes you persuasive?". Dr. Caldicott then says that she gives people the facts. She doesn't try to persuade them. But then the producer asks the question "how can you get you get your message across if you don't persuade them?". Then Dr. Caldicott really goes off the wall. In a fit of rage, she says "I just do! I present the facts!" Then she becomes depressed and says "what I say is true. People have to believe me. Everything could go away in an instant. We could all die like that." Very very troubling. She is deeply disturbed. Must have happened because her husband left him (and I wonder why THAT happened?!"
Let us look at the "facts" that the doctor presents. She claims that on September 11, a nuclear war nearly broke out because of how tense America was. That's pretty paranoid if you ask me. I mean, what can nuclear ...........
