(from 'Militant')
The growing opposition to the Vietnam war was reflected when 20,000 people jammed Madison Square Garden te capacity for a Rally to end the War Now on Dec, 8. Hundreds stood outside the Garden listening over loudspeakers. The meeting was sponsored by the Committee for a Sane. Nuclear Policy.
As well as many older members of SANE there was a sizeable contingent of young people and, sitting in a large block, rank and file trade unionists organised by SANE's Trade Union Division, Joel R, Jacobson, who is President of the New Jersey Industrial Union Council of the AFL-CIO, received big applause when he announced that there were 5,000 unionists present,
One feature of the rally which was in most of the speeches, and certainly reflected the mood of all sections of the audience, was deep distrust. and dislike for President Johnson, Every blast at Johnson was greeted with great approval. Journalist I.F. Stone reflected the feeling of many liberals present with the statement that Barry Goldwater was right in the 1964 campaign when he said "Johnson is the biggest faker in the U.S,"
Jules Feiffer, the cartoonist, did a hilarious imitation of Johnson. It was in the form of a statement by LBJ explaining each new escalation of the war, and went into future escalations up to the point where he orders an atomic attack on Moscow in order to "bring Hanoi to the conference table" and protect the Ky regime, now station-~ ed in Formosa, The audience loved it - even reporters joining in the laughter,
While SANE represents the conservative wing of the coalition which makes. up the antiwar movement at the present time, the rally indicated that in the past year, SANE has been influenced.by the more militant sections of the movement and by the growing antiwar sentiment in the country, While most of the speakers pressed SANE's official ‘moderate' line of favouring negotiations, the demand for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops was also presented from the platform,
Floyd McKissick, black power advocate and National Director of CORE and Mrs. Grace Mora Newman, sister of one of the Fort Hood Three, called for immediate withdrawal, Pete Seeger had the vast crowd shouting "Bring them home" and joining him in a song with that refrain,
Cnce, during a lull as the collection was being taken, someone shouted tx Ossie Davis, co-chairman of the rally standing at the microphone: "When is SANE going to come out for immediate withdrawal?" Davis said: "I think the answer is SANE demands withdrawal of American troops now”.
The mixtare of radical antiwar demands and liberal demands was reflected in audience response to other statements. There was general support for Fulbright's position and for U Thant's appeals. But it was made clear that although SANE represents the conservative wing of the movement it wishes to maintain its connections with the more militant sections — particularly the youth.