You know the peace movement is in trouble when Andrew Rosenthal — who edited WMD-fantasist Judy Miller at the New York Times — bemoans its invisibility, as he did in an editorial a few weeks ago. When protesters do hit the streets, however, the result is not always inspiring. Today’s rally at the United Nations, timed to coincide with Bush’s speech to that enfeebled body, was thinly attended: just a few thousand people. Energy was low, and 911 conspiracy loons plentiful. United for Peace and Justice did a good job of making a necessary protest possible, by fighting for — and winning — a permit to march, and doing the vital organizing to get bodies and TV cameras to Dag Hammarskjold Plaza. But the event’s dreary mood stood in sharp contrast to a neighboring rally for Iranian political candidate Maryam Rajavi, whose supporters played music and danced, and waved signs with Rajavi’s attractive face on it. (Semiotically moderate, she wears a headscarf and makeup. Her party is reputed to be a weird cult, unfortunately, but they certainly know how to throw a rally!) The mood at the Rajavi gathering was buoyant and optimistic, while the anti-war protesters seemed doleful and stuck in the past. Things are clearly dire when the grand finale speaker is Jesse Jackson, who hasn’t been interesting since the 1980s.

Part of the problem is that the left’s obsession with Bush — quite understandable but always shallow — no longer even provides decent slogans, much less vision. Indeed, looking out at the sea of anti-Bush signs at the rally, the man standing next to me — who had a relative who’d just come back from Iraq “fucked up” — remarked, “The problem is not just Bush. He’s doing what the corporations tell him. He represents the people with billions of dollars. Not just millions, billions. And they want to keep it.” Note to protesters and Democrats alike: W’s approval ratings are back up. Running against him isn’t good enough anymore.