Desultory Thoughts

Well, it’s been an eventful week! Our protest coverage generated a variety of responses. Seems we made a lot of people laugh and a lot of people really mad. It’s natural. Politics is a polarizing topic that tends to cause passions to bleed to the surface. A nice political debate is invigorating and good for the soul.

So Today I thought I’d highlight a few of the responses we’ve recieved on the topic of last week’s protests. I will excerpt several notes we’ve recieved and respond to them (some of my responses here will mirror those I’ve posted in the comments section- I apologize for the redundancy). This post is directed to those peace-loving regular every-day folks at the protests last week. Both separate protests, that is. Because heaven knows we wouldn’t ever want to lump Leftists and Israel haters into the same group.

My main argument is that protesting is just plain stupid. There are so many better and more efficient ways of getting your point across than by staging a protest.

Example: You spent time and money making a sign/outfit/bucket, took the day off work (wink, wink), made the pilgrimage to Rocky’s Castle, and spent the day demonstrating. I wrote a 3-paragraph blog on my lunch break. And I pissed off a lot more people than you could have ever dreamed of. Why? Because nobody takes protests seriously. Anybody who gives a rat’s butt what you have to say is already there with you. This includes any kind of protesting, by the way. Conservative protests (though extremely rare) are just as stupid as liberal protests. Please don’t stop though. It’s extremely amusing.

So let’s go down the list. First up is is actually a thoughtful comment from Unbiased Observer, who writes:

I would like to say that some of you seem to have no idea about the atrocities committed by both Muslims and Jews in this region. You seem to have very little awareness of what is going on over there and if you had, you wouldn’t be so glib with the comments you make.

Oh believe me, I am well aware of the atrocities committed by Muslims in this region. What I must be less aware of are those committed by Israel. Pray tell, what atrocious acts has Israel committed against Muslims lately? Sawing people’s heads off? Kidnapping journalists, abusing them, and forcing them to convert to Judaeism at gunpoint? Strapping a bomb to themselves, boarding a crowded bus and blowing everybody to shreds? Hiding weapons caches in civilian homes? Setting up HQ in synagogues?

I didn’t think so. You want glib? Google the Nick Berg beheading or the United Flight 93 cockpit recordings and then come back here and tell me again how evil Israel is.

Seriously, if you can come up with some atrocities committed by Israel that are even in the same ballpark as those committed by their Muslim neighbors, I would love to hear them.

Next up is Tracy, who I must say is the queen of potty smack!

First of all, I love how so many of you right-wing bloggers love to imply that those who were protesting don’t have jobs…the rally was held during lunch and many used their lunch breaks to attend. The place was crawling with business attire and cell phones (Not that you would show your readers pictures of those people, though I have some, if you’d like).

Ok, ok. So some of you have jobs. I guess libraries, Starbucks, and Wild Oats have to get their people from somewhere!

Well Tracy, your lunch break must be longer than mine. I barely had time to pop over and make a few observations. There’s no way I would have had time to don my protest gear, grab my “Bush is a Terrorist” sign, and partcipate in the protest. I’d only be able to chant half a hateful epitaph before I’d have to get back to work. Maybe I should get a job with your employer!

Incidently, The only suits I saw were worn by Rocky Anderson and the paper mache Bush (which, unintentionally I’m sure, actually looks a lot like Rocky Anderson). And quoting Sickboy’s reponse, “The fact that you have a cell phone and own a pair of Dockers does not excluded you from Moonbatism.”

Next up is Elizabeth, who challenges me on my rhetoric:

Where is the “Death to Israel” sign? I don’t see it.

Clever! Since there was no sign at the “Death to Israel” rally that said “Death to Israel,” I shouldn’t be so critical of them. Nice try. If Robert Breeze were to have actually had a sign that read “Death to Israel,” 1) do you think he could have suckered even Utah’s homeless into holding them? 2) Would he not have had the crap kicked out of him?

Do the signs need to say “Death to Israel” to be offensive? Seems to me they were pretty offensive as they were. The permit itself said “Death to Israel.” That’s what the dude wanted his group to be called.

Poking around your blog, I think it’s safe to say you’re not too big a fan of Israel yourself. Too bad you couldn’t have been out here standing with Breeze and his band of bums. It would have definately made things more interesting for Tyler and I.

Rob Banks of guerrillafolkpunx.org chymes in:

hey! i’d just like to say that almost all of us were not with the “death to israel” people. I had no idea that any of that type of thing would be present at this. (I really don’t know much about that whole conflict. I know, I should learn more about current events. I am sorry.)

Yes, you should.

And anybody with half a brain understands that the anti-Bush demonstration you were part of was not affiliated with the lone ranger across the street. I clarified that until I was blue in the face and I’m done.

Your signs were indeed rad. And I think the handkerchief “outlaw” look was very effective. Still not quite sure what you stand for (specifically, how the words ‘anarchy’ and ‘peace’ can be used in the same sentence), but you made an impression. I do have a suggestion for you though- as long as you’re sporting the black outfits, use a different color sidewalk chalk other than pink to scrawl out your messages. Come on, Pink? Black chalk would have been much more effective. Anything but pink!

As a political junkie, I understand the Israel-RestoftheWorld conflict very well. I also understand the reasons behind the anti-Bush protest. Rest assured, I dislike you for the correct reasons;)

Just kidding, man. I checked out your website and while you’re definately jacked up, I’ve seen much worse.

That’s all for this time. We of course welcome any and all comments. For those of you I’ve mentioned today, I would love to hear from you again. If I am wrong on anything, I will happily stand corrected.