The morning after the night before

"It always starts with a small group of committed people. They raise their feeble voice. The media ignore them, the politicians laugh at them ("a tiny, marginal and vociferous group"), the respectable parties and the established old organizations crinkle their noses and distance themselves from their "radical slogans." But slowly they start to have an impact. People leave the respectable (meaning linked to the establishment) organizations and join the militant groups. This compels the leaders of the mainstream organizations to radicalize their slogans and to join the wave. The message spreads throughout the parties. Politicians who want to be reelected adopt the new slogans. "Important" journalists, serving as weathercocks, smell the change and adapt themselves in time to the new winds." -- Uri Avnery, Israeli activist opposed to the oppression of the Palestinians, 2/02

Thanks John John for this quote...