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Go for the gutter! That's where the fun is!
But seriously, street protests are not and should not be the exclusive province of the left. Nor do they require masses of people to be effective. One rally I know of started with a Marine's wife and her two kids standing on a curb to show support for her deployed husband. Another was started by a mother supporting her deployed son.
You need to understand what your aims are. Media attention? Hell, you know you won't get that. We've had news crews plop their tripods down in the middle of our rally to shoot the opposition across the street and leave without ever speaking a word to us. At the Santa Monica Tea Party, the ABC News crew pulled four Code Pinkers aside from the crowd of hundreds of tax and spend protesters and gave them their own private interview.
Change minds? Unlikely to impossible. Everything that has taken place in the politics of the left in the last eight years has resulted in a total polarization among their believers. I'm an ex-Democrat. I still get their mailings. While Steele and Cornyn are blithering about working with the Democrats, the mainstream of the Democratic leadership is talking about ending GOP influence in politics once and for all. I march with people who do try to engage the lefties, but since there is NO branch of leftist politics that does not approve of lying to waste your opponent's time and energy, I don't see the point myself. Just smile as they curse and wait for the light to change.
So why do it?
Because there are people out there like you who do not know they are NOT ALONE. They can't speak up at work or school, they don't hear their beliefs from the network news or talk shows or approving celebrities. They need to see you.
And you WILL have an effect. We don't go a week without someone coming up and thanking us for being there, a veteran, a servicemember's parent or loved one, even just plain people off the street. Who knows, you might even inspire some of them to start their own rallies.
This week's picket signs:
5 comments:
Now see....That's funny!
Thanks, Richard. This is your best post to date, in my opinion.
P.T.Barnum knew the world was full of suckers. Did he also know most of 'em vote?
Naturally they're going to go for the nutstream protestors, the shriekers and foully worded signsters. Ratings, readership, man! The mainstream media is now where the tabloid media used to be, and it's the tabloids that are giving us facts (except for, you know, Elvis alien babies, but that's becoming old hat now).
Next time you read something about "serious journalism", laugh and point.
RebeccaH
Two I'll always remember were spontaneous protests in opposition to planned protests by leftwing organizations. The first, in 1990, was in downtown Cincinnati at the Federal Building. People protesting the Gulf War were shouting, etc. As I was walking along their side, I looked across and saw a group of people stop and shout out their support of the troops. I walked across the street and joined them.
The second was in 2004 in Yellow Springs, Ohio, the city of the infamous leftwing college, Antioch. It was an anti-Bush rally and a rather large group of pro-Bush protesters showed up and shouted on the other side. I could tell they were having a thoroughly spendid time.
wronwright
WRONWRIGHT! Good to see you!
Especially since you've still got the keys to the coffee fixin's in the VRWC lair...
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