Ineffective Protest Tactics

[noamnety]

We've been protesting republicans for 4 years now. FOUR YEARS.
It hasn't worked.

Don't point to 2 months of protesting dems, tell us it isn't effective because *look* the war's still going on, and then demand that we return to the previous tactics.

There is no evidence that the previous tactics were more effective.

Every congressperson who just voted more funding for war crimes ought to have sit-ins in their office. And I have no problem if the people doing those sit-ins aren't dressed as bankers. I have no problem if the people doing those sit-ins don't back out of the room bowing when asked politely to leave. I have no problem if the people doing those sit-ins don't extend their pinkies while sipping tea.

WTF. Seriously.

There are dogs chewing on disembodied heads in Iraq. Pelosi just pushed a bill to fund more of that, and you can't figure out why someone is protesting her office instead of singing her praises?

Anyone who is concerned because some women who made fashion choices you don't approve of are sitting in an office when they aren't supposed to, needs to get their priorities in line. Anyone concerned that they spoke out of turn needs to ask themselves when IS their turn, and why are they supposed to wait for it?

Anyone who is claiming Code Pink needs to protest like THEY just did - a small group of conservatively dressed well behaved people in a small town standing on a street corner - needs to compare the press Code Pink got with the press your small group got. Are we here talking about what your street corner group did? No? Does that tell you something?

If you can't tell me specifically what your polite protest of mainstream looking people (the ones who don't pose any visible threat to the white capitalist patriarchy) is accomplishing, then please don't act self-righteous about how those other protesters aren't doing it right. You aren't doing it right, either.

Next week I will probably be at another small street corner protest, conservatively dressed. But I'm not deluding myself into thinking I am having a bigger impact than the hardcore activists at Code Pink.

[mike_c]

1. right on and well said....

I applaud ANYONE who works to end U.S. crimes against humanity, by whatever tactics they can bring themselves to employ. The war criminals are committing their crimes in our names. We have every right to take our names back, dammit.

[chervilant]

2. Sowing the Seeds of Hatred and Fear

And, who is Robert Fisk, anyway?

An activist friend sent me an article by Robert Fisk entitled "The Crushing Fear that Stalks America" and I read this article with grim satisfaction. I then plowed through every other article by Mr. Fisk referenced on the website at which I found the first one. I have not looked for information on the identity and biography of Mr. Fisk; suffice it to say that he is published in an internationally recognized venue.

Whence comes my grim satisfaction? I have been asserting for the duration of Bush's tenure as our Usurper President that he and his cronies are using fear and bipartisan divisiveness both as red herrings (to distract us from our most pressing issues) and as a highly effective means of control (how do we address Bushco's crimes and misdemeanors when we're too busy hating each other because of some ephemeral, loosely-defined categories?).

Hmmmm... I am not the only one, either. Most of my activist friends have grappled with these realizations. We have--almost to a person--articulated deep frustration about the effectiveness of this Bushco ploy (not necessarily Bush's brainchild, as he lacks such intellect--perhaps, Rove's?). How do the vast majority of Americans assert that they are deeply spiritual (read "Christian") while clinging voraciously to their hatred of all things antithetical to their beliefs?

And, help me understand this deep, irrational fear. If all these people truly believe in God--in Whom we place our trust and our faith--why is this fear such a powerful, definitive force in our politics? Trust in God with all your heart, we learn in our earliest inculcation into the Christian ideology. Does anyone truly believe the Creator of this Universe would mock us with His Grace?

Furthermore, why fear death? How irrational is this fear? Death is our transition. Again, the Christian ideology trains us to perceive death as our imminent reunion with God. How is this an event to be feared?

Hmmm... Just thinking out loud here. Any responses? Anyone out there?

[Mojorabbit]

3. excellent post eom

[Orangepeel]

4. all press is not necessarily good press

I believe:

1. Most people do not have strong opinions about things that don't affect them personally
2. Most people like to think of themselves as "normal" and "average"
3. In general, it is easier for people to go along with authority than it is to "rock the boat," as long as they are not affected personally

(Now, I understand that most posters at DU don't have these characteristics, simply because it is a left wing political board. But most people aren't politically active).

Given the above, it is my opinion that it will be more effective if the perception that getting out of Iraq is a "mainstream" position continues to grow. I think that the more that people realize that ending the war is what "ordinary Americans" want, the more "ordinary Americans" will come to realize that's what they want.

It is easy, too easy, for protesters to turn off "average" Americans who do not like to think of themselves as fringe or radical. It is easier to not worry about it and trust that "the president" knows best, as long as your child isn't drafted and you can still afford to fill up your SUV. Is it right? No. Is it fair? No. Is it reality? I believe so.

Violent protests do not work as well as peaceful ones in terms of effecting societal change. Similarly, protests by people who can be easily cast as "the radical fringe" don't work as well as protests by people who seem to be "mainstream."

Codepink has a right to protest. I happen to think that the press that they get is less effective than they think (although it does have the side benefit of making Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats look more "mainstream", which isn't a bad thing in the long run).

[The Magistrate]

5. Locking

Flame-Bait, verging on advocacy of violent revolution.