With all the talk about how Iraq is just like Vietnam it was bound to happen sooner or later. The 60s and 70s protest culture has returned - complete with those groups that respond to policy differences with violence. One such violent organization, Students for a Democratic Society, has formed a chapter on this campus.

It is an interesting exercise for the left that when faced with new challenges and new problems, they revert to reliving the past. When word got out about the very legal monitoring the National Security Agency was doing, the left began to talk Watergate. When faced with a minor war that they disagree with, they relive the 60s and 70s Vietnam protests. The only difference is there are no draft cards to burn.

Students for a Democratic Society figured large during that time suggesting that the cure of all that ills humanity is a return to the repressive and freedom-less regimes that history rightly relegated to the dust-heap. Despite the tens of millions killed by Stalin and Mao we should give communism and Marxism another chance.

So the left, currently faced with the problem of an inability to come up with a convincing message about Iraq, has decided that revolution is the answer to their inarticulateness. Their way to end the fighting by mostly foreign insurgents in Iraq is to have a few teach-ins and perhaps another occupation of the Henry Administration Building. They seek to replace the doctrine of preemptive strike with the doctrine of preemptive surrender.

They'll argue from their ivory towers that democracy can't be trusted to bring about their version of utopia.

It has always fascinated me that those in academia who advocate violent overthrow of the U.S. government find no problem in collecting paychecks from the same government they seek to overturn. One would think that an intellectually honest person wouldn't take money from the imperialistic police state that they so preach against.

However, what should be underscored is the willingness of the radical left to use force to get their way. When their message is rejected by society, they turn and blame society instead of themselves.

Now this exercise might be amusing if it weren't for one problem. There is much to be said about Republicans abandoning the will of the voters for that of special interests. This can be clearly seen in the immigration debate where almost 80 percent of voters want the government to do something about illegal immigration yet the politicians refuse. Limited government went out the window once the Republicans gained a majority.

It is absurd to think that the GOP will care much about voter opinion when there isn't a viable alternative. While the left is off reliving the past, the rest of us are forced to either choose a less-than-perfect party that at least has ideas, or choose the party that still hasn't produced their plan to move the country forward.

For as much as the left decries the one-party majority of the federal government, they've done the most to make it come to pass. Instead of coming up with an economic plan, they try to convince the voters that the raging economy is really a depression. Instead of coming up with a plan for Iraq, they pretend that retreat will make it go away. They bring up "charges" for impeachment in an exercise of politics looking for a pretext.

The only thing worse than Bush's approval rating is the fact that Republicans will still win elections because the Democrats simply cannot come up with a new idea. Referring to the president as Hitler McBushCo is not a strategy. While the Students for a Democratic Society can all give us an interesting taste of long irrelevant history, it is just another step by the left to disengage from reality at a time when someone needs to keep the Republicans honest.

John Bambenek is a graduate student and academic professional at the University. His column appears on Wednesdays. He can be reached at opinions@dailyillini.com.