[Vision2020] Political Coaxing Better Than Force (Molly Ivins)

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (August 31, 2006) Spokesman Review -

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Political coaxing better than force 
Molly Ivins 
August 31, 2006

AUSTIN, Texas - I know it's bad form to brag, but I am now a graduate of
Texas A&M University, and you can't stop Aggie pride. I became a diplomee of
the great institution in College Station after successfully completing the
three-day short course in beef cattle this summer. 

The most amazing part of cow college was meeting the cow whisperer. Think of
everything you know about moving cattle from one place to another - for
shots, round-up or loading into trucks for market - just physically moving a
lot of cattle. GEE, GIT ON, GO DOGIE, whistle, whip crack, move 'em out,
chase 'em down. Turns out all these years we've been doing it wrong. 

What happens when you scare a cow by making a lot of noise and chasing it
down and forcing it to move where it doesn't want to go is the cow responds
by relieving itself. And since a cow has three stomachs, it can unload up to
20 percent of its total weight at one go, the last thing you want just
before you take it to market. 

So the latest thing in cattle handling is cow whispering. Either on foot or
horseback, you just kind of sidle around your herd without upsetting them,
talk to them gently and suggest they might like to go THAT way for a while,
and then perhaps a tour along the pen line, and then perhaps some
consideration of the gate and another little tour of the pen line. But all
of this is done without loud noise, sudden movements or eruptions of
testosterone. It's such a revolutionary development of an American macho
tradition it's a little like watching NFL teams come onto the field in
tutus. But it also works a lot better on the cows. 

I bring this up because I recently attended a women's peace movement
meeting, sponsored by the Code Pink group founded by Medea Benjamin, Jodie
Evans and Diane Wilson. (Ha, now you think you see where I am going.) The
women peacemakers also included Cindy Sheehan, writer Anne Lamott and Col.
Ann Wright, who served 29 years in the Army and more than 15 years in the
Foreign Service, before resigning in protest over Bush's drive to war in
Iraq. 

I must say, they were a lot more emphatic than the cow whisperer. In fact,
as I left, they were saddling up to ride down to President Bush at his ranch
with a people's posse peace warrant. Lots of whooping about it.

Women peace activists, as a rule, have totally solved the gnarly old
dilemma: What do you do about hating the haters? If you're a woman peace
activist, this is Step 101 - you spill love and calm and reassurance and,
well, peace all over them. (Which is why it's especially funny that George
Bush is so afraid of Cindy Sheehan.) 

For those of us who have not mastered this advanced technique, a Revolution
in Favor of Kindness and Libraries seems like a nice idea. Anne Lamott, one
of the funniest people in America, has developed a scenario for a Revolution
With Good Manners, in which we are all extremely Nice to one another. Good
manners never hurt anything. "Our Revolution decrees that we will fight
tooth and nail for these things, politely." 

I am still lamentably stuck in the middle - not that I hold with hating the
haters; we can all see where that leads - but I am always tempted to shout
them down. Now does that repel more potential supporters or attract more
people who really NEED to sound off? 

What I learned from Code Pink is that this is not an either-or question. The
peace movement is a matter of And and And and And. You just keep adding more
people, from those like Sheehan, who lost her son Casey in the stupid
debacle, to the Iraqi Veterans Against the War, easily the strongest, most
moving group of young people in America. They have learned in the hardest
way what politics is. 

War is about rounding up people with Shock and Awe and really loud noises,
and about thinking you can herd them by hurting and killing them. Politics
is what you do if you're not so stupid you walk into an unnecessary and
unprovoked war. I'm founding Cow Whisperers Against the War.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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"In America, anybody can become president.  
That's one of the risks you take . . ."

- Adlai Stevenson

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