Posted on 09/27/2006 7:35:44 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
"Like all the people in this tent and all the people on the stage, I have a strong preference for trouble-making.” So said a prominent participant at Code Pink and NOW “Women for Peace” Day at their encampment deceptively named “Camp Democracy” on the National Mall last week. The day included music, movies, speeches, panels and an appearance by leftist Howard Zinn.
I’ve sat in on a number of leftist conferences and this one seemed rather normal at first sight. There was a mock cemetery, using the deaths of our service members as political leverage against President Bush and the war. Quite typical. The tents were hung with anti-Bush banners and signs. Nothing new. Then came the “non-violence training.”
At first, the “non-violence” workshop seemed to be rather Ghandi-esque and benevolent, but I soon learned that the essence of “non-violent resistance” is not the actual sit-ins or protests themselves but the goal of getting arrested. Now, the organizers recognize that not everyone is keen on getting arrested but encouraged participants to reach out to those individuals anyway because you need a “support group” to help you be arrested “effectively.” You know, people you can count on to feed your cat while you are in jail, publicize your imprisonment, and so on.
Now any normal person would wonder, how does getting arrested help a cause? Evidently, it’s the left’s best hope for outreach and recruitment. Participants were encouraged to use their jail time to reach out to cellmates and the lawyers and judges in the court system and help persuade them to join their left-wing cause. The leaders explained that there are millions of people in jail in America and that activating them for their cause would be very powerful.
What’s another advantage in recruiting criminals? They aren’t afraid to break the law, which is exactly what these leftist activists are designing their movement to do.
Multiple participants gleefully identified themselves as “troublemakers” and proclaimed their goal of “taking the revolution to the streets.” Sound socialist? That’s because they are; and proudly, too. One panelist wore a shirt comparing the infamous hammer and sickle (the same that murdered millions upon millions) in shape to the dove universally recognized as the symbol of peace. That irony is deafening. Another panelist heralded that Americans should emulate the “revolution of the people that was Cuba” as democracy in America is dead because of the Supreme Court’s involvement in Bush’s election. By any traditional definition, that is treasonous.
Yes, America’s leftist leaders are out to cause serious trouble for us all. Col. Ann Wright, a former Army officer and diplomat who resigned her position in the Foreign Service because of her opposition to the war said, to wild cheers and applause, “We need people getting arrested. We need trouble-makers ... just voting in November is not enough!”
Even more worrisome is their acknowledgement of the need to appear normal and to outreach, even beyond those prisons, to the average Joe. Noted a panelist, “We need to think about the guy in the pick-up truck and not humiliate them or alienate them.”
Now why would they need to worry about alienating normal, American, pick-up-driving guys? Because their agenda and tactics are extreme enough that the average American would indeed find them distasteful and want nothing to do with them.
The wolf is wise to this and so he hides his true self with sheep’s clothing, appearing benevolent and normal to the other sheep in order to advantage of them. And we all know how the story ends for the unsuspecting sheep. Let us not be fooled.
The ad for the Roach Motel (circa 1985) comes to mind: They check in but they don't check out.
The cat is unlikely to starve during two or three hours in the lockup. For the most part, these drama queens stand greater risk of being smashed by a falling piano than imprisonment.
It seemed rather obvious to me that the best solution for your average municipal justice system is to arrest only the ones you can make an ironclad case against, then prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law, with no options for fines, probation, community service or suspended sentences, only hard time, be it only a few weeks or months.
If only a handful of these adorable scamps have to do a year in the pen, said city would see a rapid decline in organized disorder from the black bandana crowd.
Yeah, that!
You're on to something. I recall how the Kent State incident put a major damper on anti-war (Vietnam) protests. These things are only courageous when there is serious risk of injury, imprisonment or death involved. Without serious risk, it's only a lot of pissing into the wind.
As an aside, I remember a lie-down protest in front of GHWB's White House at the start of the first Gulf War (January, '91). Hell, the cops simply stood by and waited for Nature to take her course. After a half-hour or so of lying on the cold, cold pavement, the protesters had to get up and go have a hot coffee at the Presidential McDonalds.
Don't jail them. Fine them. Many of these people are well to do, and a potential source of local revenue. Fleece them. Eighty bucks, plus cost of court should dampen things.
Write up the ones with ID's. Then load them on a bus and ship them out to Maryland, to a distant commuter train station. They should be able to sing "Kumbaya" several times through on the way out. They'll have to buy a ticket back to wherever they parked their car.
Eighty bucks?! What a sweetheart you are! How about eighty thousand bucks? Toss the book at them, bring in their priors, fine and sentence them (both) on second, third, and subsequent offenses. You'll get into the thousands of dollars in fines and a year or two in the slam pretty quickly.
Let's see how keen they are on "prison outreach" after spending six months or a year as Tiny's bitch.
Professional protester organizations have their own assault teams (black bloc) to confront the police, field medics to treat the wounded and lawyers to get them out of jail.
This is the principal of creating a problem, then fixing it and gaining plaudits, respect and the ensuing power.
The theme of a book called "The Unseen Hand" by A. Ralph Epperson.
According to this conspiracy theory, this has been played out throughout history with wars, famines and depressions. The fixer gets the prize, so why not create a depression?
It's based on the premise that things don't just happen in this world; they are intentionally caused.
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