Posted on 08/28/2002 5:50:15 PM PDT by Starmaker
As I watched police attempt to disperse those protesting the arrival of President Bush, who came to Oregon for a fund-raising event, to pitch his plan for more forest logging to help reduce the amount of out-of-control wildfires, and, of course, the Iraq plan, one thought went through my mind — what a waste of completely good pepper spray. If you were one of the protesters, I mean that in a good way. You shouldn't have been gassed. As a matter of fact, you shouldn't have been there.
In some ways, tear gas and pepper spray lend credibility to the protester. As the pepper-afflicted protester is being dragged off by one of his friends, who remains unaffected by the pepper spray because he had the foresight to wear the safety goggles he swiped from wood shop his senior year, the sprayed protester resembles Jimmy Swaggart during his "I have sinned" speech. The crying, red eyes, and apparent helplessness garner sympathy from some. Sympathy is only worthy of those who are fighting for a just cause, even if it's one we may not agree with, and for those for whom freedom of speech isn't a one-way street on the map of justice.
Pepper spray and tear gas should be reserved only for those real protesters who have a true beef, not for a bunch of college punks who blew off classes and a shower who, along with 40-year-old "protester-for-hire" fleabags, decide to kill an afternoon annoying normal people. Traditional crowd control methods should be used for these people. A kick to the shins or a light wrist-flicked baton upside the head usually does the trick with these types. Anything that doesn't leave any outward injuries that the protester can use to gain sympathy for his or her movement, whatever it is. The only way the baton method is bad is that, sometimes, one of the covey of quail that is nesting in the protester's beard will be injured or killed, and then you've got a crop of angry animal rights hairballs on your hands.
Three of the more recent protests in the news have concerned logging in the northwestern United States; anti-war "Bush is a terrorist" chanters in California who are against any measure of self-defense, including deodorant; and some Norwegians who couldn't ski their way to California for all the "down with everything" festivities. The latter decided instead to stay home and protest the new "McAfrika" sandwich being sold by McDonald's in Norway. Why are they protesting it? Because the name of the burger is apparently insensitive to the starving in Africa. As if somebody in Africa is reading the morning edition of the Zimbabwe Bugle and saying to a friend, "Hey Kwame, the McDonald's in Oslo is being insensitive to our plight."
When a cause is manufactured around the whims of the perpetually offended, it's not a real cause. The fact is, in this country, we really haven't had a good reason to protest in quite a while. I'm talking about real protest, not the "Dutiful Middle Class for Lower Taxes" type groups. Though I am a charter member of the DMCLT, I'll be the first to admit that we're not exactly a radical political movement. Minor squabbling aside, the last decade hasn't seen a significant reason for protest.
From the 50's all the way through the 80's, people really knew how to, and had a reason to, protest. Whether or not the method of protest was effective, at least there was a solid foundation on which the ideal was built. Segregation, nuclear proliferation, Vietnam, the horrendous stagflation of the Carter years (so disliked was Jimmy that even rabbits attacked him), knocking down the Berlin Wall, et al, were all causes that many could, and did, either back or protest.
Whenever there's no good reason to complain, the forever ticked-off fall back to the two default positions on the protest dial — deforestation/rain forest issues, and anti-war. In Bush's western swing they had both of those things to whine about in one convenient visit. In either case, their logic doesn't hold water, but thanks to the pepper spray, their eyes do, and that's what gets the coverage and helps give air time to empty arguments.
Those of us who embrace freedom are all for a good, intellectually honest protest. Protest is a part of what began the creation of this great country. Protest is what I'm doing right now. Frivolous protests, over time, bring about a "boy who cried wolf" attitude from onlookers, and those who have real beefs should not applaud it. By the time it's your turn, maybe nobody will be listening — except the guys with the tear gas and pepper spray.
To comment on this article or express your opinion directly to the author, you are invited to e-mail Doug at comedywriter@voyager.net .
These folks don't riot for a cause or causes. They adopt a causes so they can riot.
The plan is to destroy society to make way for a new order. They are classic anarchists who never give up on the "ideal" of global totalitarian Marxism.
Pretty good summery actually...
Don't let that stop you from having your say. Let your freak flag fly.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.