Has anyone noticed that the article has the name wrong?

It was (and evidently is) Students FOR A Democratic Society," which implies a rather more expansive social agenda than is implied in "Student Democratic Society," which sounds a bit more like a junior version of the Democratic Party.

One of the major differences between the Viet Nam conflict and the Iraq war/occupation, is the fact that there is no draft. If young people were being drafted the Iraq disaster would be over. The Bush Junta has been very clever in not instituting a call up with the draft. Nevertheless, Young people need to step up and I am glad to see the reforming of the SDS. The old folks need to stand behind them in support.

I'm a Viet Nam Vet. don't necessarily like to throw that around ,very humble to have served with the group of men that I did. As for that guy who likes to pegion hole all people who don't drink the same kool-aid as him.I would suggest he rush right down to the local Army recruiters office and get some of that sign up incentive money then head for The middle east for an experience of a lift time. Would also recommend he take out a lucrative life insurance policy and make his mother happy if he doesn't make it.

Have been doing this since before war began. Many say it is useless...but at the least it does 2 things...using my right to assembly..who knows for how long?...and keeping the war in people's face...like the MSM they tend to forget this is even happening. Mostly positive response now. Also have IMPEACH signs which get a lot of positive response.

Hey y'all!
This is Nick Martin from Lancaster SDS. Many thanks for all of the support and positive responses. I truly feel that the new SDS is going to explode in terms of chapters and members this year. We're getting new members almost every day - and we're in conservative central PA!

A few folks mentioned that they feel that vigils are ineffective. I agree that vigils are not going to end the war. However, they are going to gain us community support, and help us build a strong anti-war base. We're planning a teach-in for next month.

If you'd like to find out more about Lancaster SDS, send us an email at lancastersds@gmail.com or just visit our website at www.newsds.org/lancaster . If you'd like to learn more about SDS as a national organization, visit www.newsds.org or check out the SDS wiki at http://www.newsds.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

Thanks so much for supporting us!

If we can do this in conservative Lancaster County, so can the rest of the country!

genaman: Your syntax makes you appear to be of or near the Boomer/Greatest Generation. Your are so correct, and yet we who did what these kids are trying to do now, need to encourage this.

Yes, the media is so controlled they won't get ink.
Yes, their futures are so mortgaged that they can't afford to do what the SDS did in the 60's, [these kids need to figure out how to pay their $90K college bill that is coming up.]
Yes, the same hypocrisy will be going on in the churches.
Yes, the same diversions will be making their truly felt work seem like a sideshow to the Greater American Circus that entertain those who pass as True Americans.

But, we need these kids, we need their passion and we need their youth. All we, of a certain generation can do, is do our best to encourage them.

And yes, those made in China flags will start to disappear, as more of our sons and daughters come back anonymously in pine boxes, and the little yellow magnets will disappear as the houses bought with borrowed money, and the cars bought with expensive money get too dear because we have spent and mortgaged our future to China, Japan and whomever else now own our Debtor Nation.

But, genaman, the question is how many more lives is this going to cost? How can they stay silent anymore?

Right on Lancaster SDS - work to save the country you love!

Have Peaceful demonstrations while the Powers That Be throw mudballs with broken glass in them. You Peaceniks have seem to have forgotten that there are few newspapers today that will even give this SDS a couple of inches of print. Then you have our own local police putting informers into the organization.
most likely The FBI will open up a file on them. Remember these kids need grants and loans to go to college.While I applaude those young people it is doubtful they will even get many more recruits for their crusade. People here in PA. have stopped flying their China Made American Flags on their vehicles. There are fewer support the Troops Bumper Stickers .
You see that exhausted them Now they are back to making more money at the expense of their neighbors, going to church then talking about each other, and let us not forget Hunting season is upon us. The same people that drive the Earthmovers or buy or sell torn up farms will be out there locked and loaded ready to try to kill aqnd fill their game bags.
My point SDS is you got to break the eggs to scramble them. That means if you want to be heard then actions speak louder then words.
What will you get for your trouble? Probably only Peace Of Mind and a life ruin.

In the 60s and 70s the Right Wingers repeatedly and effectively provoked the SDS into violent confrontations, sometimes by fusing or planting violent non-SDS people into SDS marches and organizational meetings (and even co-ops).
The Nazis and Fascisti did exactly the same thing in the 30s, and the John Birchers just copied them.
As late as the 80s protests against the Grenada invasion, infiltrators wove into the demonstrations, caused chaos, and burnt the flags for the right-wing media to film with cameras ready to roll ahead of time.
That means that the SDS will also have to be on guard against saboteurs and infiltrators.... how the progressive movement was destroyed last time, and part of why we have Things like Bush now occupying the highest political offices of our great and beautiful nation illegally.
Part of being idealistic and effective at the same time is realizing (with compassion, but strong self-defense and alertness) that some people are very politically ignorant and easily manipulated by Right-Wing zombie propaganda.... like Birchers and Lord Rush HawHaw fans and people who think Fox tells the truth.
Progressives need to lay off Hillary, who is a smart woman who knows what she's doing to win in a maze of a highly corrupted political system, and instead vent their criticisms and frustrations on the Nasty Crooks who have created the existing mess... and make sure the RepubliCrooks and their party-friends don't get elected in 2008.... which is a Top Priority necessary before anything else can change.

No golfer that won't be funny ,but it would certainly end this illegal war in a hurry. It never fails to amaze me as to the ignorance of those that can not see past there indoctronation.
Just a few weeks ago when the topic of the war was brought up. All my(right wing evangelical cristian)cusin could reply was "Oh aren't you glad Gore isn't president"

At any rate it's good to see that decent is alive in central Pa. We certainly have our share of morons.

TO milesofmusic
Thank you, your words are arrows in our hearts, and it is why it is so important that this generation of SDS do not make make the same mistakes.

One to add: when the soldiers of this war come home, treat them with the respect they earned. They did not choose the fight. You, their peers, should not choose to fight with them. That was a mistake we made, back in the day, don't you.

golfer_088008: You are a great anomaly. Not only have you lowered the level of this forum to that of the right wing name calling variety, you can't even spell well. To address: Boomers were not gutless, and that may be why only(!) 53,000 American lives were lost because of the action of the SDS and the other "gutless" people who demonstrated, got beaten up, tear gassed and arrested, and ended that tragedy so that you could be here.

To give Hillary the construct of the example of the Boomers is to not even understand a little. Hillary is to this Boomer and '60's activist an ananthma, a sell out and a politician more in the role of those we opposed. (She and Tricky Dick would be great together, and let's not mention LBJ, a fellow southerner). I suppose that many Boomers, at least on this forum, would agree.

As to drafting "our kind", it would be interesting to know what that means. We drafted "our kind" in the 60's. They came back just as dead, and accomplished just as little as those we are bringing back dead now and accomplishing just as little. Would you be happier if more of "our kind" were drafted? What kind is that? THe "kind" that read, analyze, question and think independently of what the corporations that run the media want you to believe. ? Oh, wait a minute, you DO believe them, right? In fact, I'd love to see a draft...just see how long this war would last when those of family, stature and wealth, of suburban parents, and sons and daughters of politicans, and your son or daughter, is drafted and sent to be killed for nothing that will directly be of benefit to you. Want to know how long this madness would continue? Not long my friend, because you, me and the majority of this country has not yet shared the burden of this madness, and are free to go about out lives, watch our football games, drink our beer...oh yeah and play a round or two of golf.

We Boomers sacrificed 53,000 dead, 100,000's of thousand injured, only to watch the very "enemy" we were protecting the world from become a major trading partner. Is that the price you want to pay for the outcome in Iraq? How much is your child worth? How many barrels of oil? How much more money to those who are not at all suffering from this debacle? Hey, golfer_08808, how much stock do you own in Exxon/Mobile, BP, Royal Dutch Shell? Have any Halliburton stock, did you dump your Blackwater shares yet? Aren't they all worth the life of your son?

Don't tell us not to protest to end the madness, Don't feed us old idioms about Hillary. We are all more intelligent to be fooled as you are. Hillary is not fooling any of us. She is a proud enabler of the deaths of more Americans, and the waste of more treasure.

Cannon fodder? Think about it. Maybe if you were over in Iraq, with 140 degree heat and not knowing where the bullet or IED was coming from, you'd like to stand up proudly and wave the good old red, white and blue? How many minutes of life do you think you'd have left then?

I have an even better idea? Save us from becoming cannon fodder: go enlist tomorrow. We'd appreciate it if you did. You'd become a Hero in a Box, that the p-Resdient of this country won't even acknowledge.

Thank you for appearing here, it was nice getting a rant from an ill informed stooge.

I know that these SDS people are trying to save American lives, just as we SDS Boomers did, because they and their parents know history and know that all the American lives we lose will have been sacrificed on the altar of Big Oil and, just as in Vietnam, will have been wasted for no good reason. Please support this madness, please help kill more of your sons and daughters.

from the article:

"I feel like we can learn a lot from older people, but this is our generation, and we need to work at it now to make a difference," said SDS member Amber Nitchman"

---------------

an open letter to amber:

amber you may be surprised to find out how little you have to learn from older people.

you sound like a wonderful young woman and i want to be as encouraging as i can - so, to you i say; don't wait around for the older people young lady.

go for it.

if we had a lot to show you then the country would not be in the mess its in in the first place.

quite the contrary, we have let you down and done you a major disservice in our sloth and our inability to rise to our own moments of decision.

we have failed you and we have failed your generation.

our parent's left us in pretty good stead, somewhat innocent and secure in a world that did not seem as scary as the one we live in today.

rather than preserve this gift for you and your generation we allowed the country to slip into becoming a corporate war machine that deals death from one corner of the globe to another, that feeds you food that is not only not good for you but rather food that is killing you.

you are the first generation - ever - to have a shorter life expectancy than your parents.

we have let you down.

we have allowed the country to be polluted and diseased on many levels other than just the environmental.

and we have no answers for you there either.

we, your parents, have been worn down and defeated by corporations and fascism which has sprung into much of our government and we have let you down terribly there as well.

we have been distracted by tv.

we have been on diets.

we got implants.

we swooned over the hale bop comet.

we are so stupid we think that oj simpson is newsworthy and watch his trials endlessly.

we allowed bush to steal two elections, which has seen the country thrown into an unjust war of his singular making built on a pack of lies, and we have said nothing.

we couldn't figure that one out.

we are prepared to sit back and do nothing as bush sends his private armies to war against iran.

all of this at your peril my dear.

you and your generation are going to be stuck with this bill and this legacy and, there, we have let you down the most.

we said nothing then, so we have nothing of value to say now.

do not wait for those who's time has come and gone.

make us proud - speak out - don't believe the government's lies about the war or anything else.

do better than we did.

with all my love;

miles

These kids must be the children of the gutless Baby Boomoer generation. Well, if you elect Hillary and conservatives stop enlisting, she will have to draft your kind to provide cannon fodder for her own war.

Now THAT will be funny.

TO: captmorgan September 23rd,2007 and ALL

"Where do I send a donation? Oh, how I wish I had sent a donation to the SDS when I was in Vietnam!"

No need for a donation, just put yourself on the line again. Check out all the sites on google.com ... IRAQ MORATORIUM,3rd Friday of the month ... and you will find the groups forming and acting and a national fever spreading. Do some of the simple things suggested by yourself, and preferably gather with others on the 3rd Friday of each month, and let's spread this people movement starting right now!

The sleeping giant is awakening. Let's help it along to wake up, stand up, and roar BIG TIME! IT'S TIME!

Where do I send a donation? Oh, how I wish I had sent a donation to the SDS when I was in Vietnam!

As a former SDS member out of NYC, I wish the Lancaster SDS the best. I also ask them to remember that my generation took those three initials very seriously and remind them not to turn it into another retro-chic trend.

SDS of the 60's was a place of serious study, open exchange of ideas, and taking care to turn those ideas into meaningful actions. These young people are to be congratulated. Now, just as then, it is up to them spread The Movement, keep it serious and never allow set backs to discourage. The Lancaster SDS may represent our last best hope, that our children's (or grandchildren's) generation cares as much for this country and what it should stand for, as we did.

Like your parents, Lancaster SDS: Keep the faith, Right On! Peace!

Woooohoooo! Way to go Lancaster, my former hometown and usually far too conservative for this kind of thing. Maybe the tide IS finally turning.

I am amazed at what I find reported at CommonDreams and other alternative sites. It's like being in parallel universes. One is the internet, the other is the MSM network news. Students are protesting? Students are activists? There are anti-war demonstrations? How would one ever find this out?

It is the youth who need to really want a change. Hooray for the new, reinvigorated SDS. There are chapters across the country. If we only had a real media which would pay attention...

Excellent!

The role that young people played in the civil rights movement, the movement against the war in Vietnam, and the movement for women's rights were crucial. Where there was no youth movement, such as during our wars in Central America and Korea, there was very little challenge to the disgusting agenda of the ruling elite of the U.S. I am hopeful that the revival of student activism will bring about the momentum to end the occupation of Iraq, to snuff out the re-bith of blatant racism that we have seen in Jena and New Orleans and in most other places, and will also re-invigorate the movement towards economic justice and labor rights.

I'm proud of the young men and women in central PA...that is an extremely conservative place...I know I grew up there!!!

Yeah, right. Protests fall on deaf ears.

Just make it non-violent and you might have something.