Inside Politics Weekend: Peace porridge cold

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By Jennifer Harper

Antiwar protesters can't complain now that President Obama is here. Or can they? Their dream man is in the White House. He does YouTube diplomacy to make nice with the Middle East. He's larger than life. He's approved a White House kitchen garden.

So shut up already, peaceniks. Go rearrange your sock drawer or ready your begonias for Earth Day.

Protesting is a hard habit to break, though. It's gotten to be such fun these days, what with the G-20 summit just around the corner. Just ask all the old hippies who marched on Washington for decades, screaming, "Down with (fill-in-the-blank)." Ask the giddy peace girlies who go topless for peace. Ask the dogs — indecorous and wearing bandannas — who are dragged to peace marches to become dogs-for-peace. Indeed, protesting is sport, recreation. And it's become quite mainstream, complete with parade permits. Imagine. Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin with a parade permit. But hey, everybody's welcome.

A recent gathering of "peace" lovers in San Francisco yielded protesters protesting Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel vs. Palestine, Proposition 8, Sept. 11, Wall Street, health care, gay rights, taxes and the ban on same-sex marriage, among other things.

"It's really important for people around the world to see Americans standing up against this war," protester Noel Juan told the San Francisco Chronicle recently. "Obama has rebranded this war and made it cool for people to wave the flag again. But all the things people hated about George Bush are being continued with a slightly different flavor."

What? Say again?

There is another peace brand, though. Let us bring it out now and dust it off like an old medal. This one stayed on message for decades. Curious? It's the old motto of the Air Force Strategic Air Command — those B-52 drivers and Nike silo sitters who ensured that no one dropped anything on anyone throughout the Cold War:

"Peace through strength."

Now go write that one on a placard, and we'll see you down on the Mall.

Sunday horse race