MOVE ON, ALREADY

Byron York writes of an attempted Move On rally in front of the White House on Thursday. Around 200 people showed up and it didn't go quite as well as they'd hoped. But in particular the courage shown by one particular woman struck me. No matter what side of the aisle you are on, in a situation such as this to have the inner peace and ability to stare down the face of such hatred and simply continue what you think is right is a rare quality today. I'd love to shake her hand. And, if the roles had been reversed and she was at a pro-Bush rally and was the dissenting voice with such calm and peace, I'd still want to shake her hand. Would that more of us were able to handle ourselves in this manner and turn off the vitriol that masks itself as debate these days.

After their brief remarks, it was time for the crowd to picket the White House. About 200 in all, they gathered on Pennsylvania Avenue and began shouting "SHAME ON BUSH! SHAME ON BUSH! SHAME ON BUSH!"

All except one. At the back of the crowd, there was a woman who didn't have one of the big pre-printed MoveOn signs. Instead, she had a simple 8 1/2 x 11 piece of white paper on which she had written "SUPPORT OUR PRESIDENT." She chanted the words by herself as the crowd yelled "SHAME ON BUSH!" As she did, one of the MoveOn protesters, a woman, approached her.

"Why are you doing this?" the woman asked.

"Support our president," the Bush supporter said.

"Why are you doing this?" the woman asked again, raising her voice.

"Support our president," the Bush supporter said, refusing to respond.

"Can we talk about it?" the MoveOn woman asked. "Can you tell me why you have that sign up?"

"Support our president," the Bush supporter said.

"I'll tell you why I'm here," the MoveOn woman said. Then she suddenly began to scream at the top of her lungs. "BABIES DIED OF DEHYDRATION IN MY COUNTRY! BABIES!"

"Support our president," the Bush woman said.

"Supporting the president is great, but supporting the people and the Constitution is more important!" the MoveOn woman said. "THE CONSTITUTION AND THE BABIES ARE DYING! IT'S MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANY PRESIDENT, AND YOU KNOW THAT IN YOUR HEART!"

"Support our president," the Bush woman said. And then she turned away and added, "I have a right to say what I think."

Indeed you are, dear lady.