All They Want to Do is Dance

Got this from a friend today:

As the debate over war in Iraq proceeds, the anti-war movement is mobilizing. The following is excerpted from a widely distributed e-mail sent by a group called 'Mobilize New York'. We send this on to you for your information and because it concerns a possible demonstration in Times Square on Saturday afternoon, February 15:

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CONVERGE ON TIMES SQUARE AT 3PM SATURDAY
The NYPD's refusal to grant a march permit is preposterous, if not unpredictable. The NYC Carnival Bloc is responding with some love and rage.
They're calling for a massive street party in Times Square at 3pm after the rally. It will be a peaceful but unauthorized expression of opposition to an impending war on Iraq and the ongoing war on democracy in the U.S.
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I weep for the state of the 21st century activist. This is your civil disobedience, to clog the streets of New York with a PARTY? This is how you get the government and the rest of the world to take your desire for a peaceful conflict resolution seriously? This group, the Carnival Bloc certainly has a plan for a feeder march to the rally, and that's fine. I disagree with their methods, even though members of their groups have brought me great entertainment and joy in the past, but they have every right to have a feeder march the way they want it. However, I would hate for them to be the focus of media attention, which is exactly what will happen, especially if they go through with blocking the streets of Time Square. I've seen them do it before, in the Lower East Side, but that was Halloween. It's like drag queens and leathermen getting all the press from the Heritage of Pride March (aka "Gay Pride Parade", don't get me started). This is a deadly serious subject and one that, unlike the war in Vietnam, may have immediate and direct impact on our very lives.

I'm a very happy-go-lucky, flamboyant person, but sometimes you have to put down the freaking feather boa and be sympathetic to the mainstream, because the majority rules, kids! How will it look the next day, on the cover of the Times, hmm? How will a big picture above the fold of some alternative performance artist covered in fake blood and sequins, playing an accordian and holding some too-too clever sign above the caption, "Freaks for Peace"? Yes, it's important to be aggressive, it's important to make yourselves heard, but it's also important to be TAKEN SERIOUSLY. Maybe I just don't get it, but maybe I just understand what it means to live in the real world.