DEMOCRACY isn't something you can eavesdrop on. It's not something you glimpse through your front window or size up via your television screen. Democracy isn't about what 'they' are doing or, as I am often asked, 'What is being done?' Democracy is all about you and me, and what we do. It doesn't happen in the third person or in the passive voice.
We saw an example of democracy in action last weekend when millions in scores of cities around the world took to the streets to protest an invasion of Iraq. There's 'A New Power in the Streets' read the headline in Monday's New York Times, a second superpower in the world besides the United States, and that is 'world public opinion. '
- Cynthia Peters

War & Peace Blast from the past

Politicians on both sides of the argument over Iraq have been busy rummaging through the history books. The pro-war camp constantly warn against repeating the mistakes of appeasement. The antis claim we are heading for another Suez. But which is the more plausible parallel?
· History [Guardian (UK)]

Ironically, on the very day this second Iraq debate ended so humiliatingly in our Parliament, the US senator Robert Byrd, former Senate Democrat leader and now its longest-serving member (45 years), made a speech in the US Senate that puts to shame so much of the pap of so many of our politicians.
· Price of Little Men [SMH: My favourite newspaper]
Senate Floor Speech - Wednesday, February 12, 2003. Common Dreams Readers Most Forwarded Article This Month
· Reckless Administration May Reap Disastrous Consequences [CommonDreams]