The trouble with protesting

[IDemo]

There have been a number of posts recently supporting protests and/or general strikes to try to send a message to the fubar formerly known as our government: enough! Clean your shit up or stand aside!

The outrage envelope has been stretched further with every passing day, and with the exception of the Olbermanns and Froomkins, the media doesn't seem to want to step up to the plate. Many Americans may be experiencing a bit of queasiness with Bushco by now, but nothing like the boiling rage of DU'ers and others who have bothered to pay attention.

The problem with protests is that they simply won't gain us anything other than another 15 seconds of coverage on the evening news, with still another infuriating understatement of the number of protesters and "equal time" given to the pathetic few 26 Percenters who show up to counter protest. Unless there are ten million strong marching on the White House, and for one week or many weeks, nobody is going to notice. Nobody.

Were they to see the reports at all (which I strongly doubt), Dim Son would blink like an owl for a few seconds and change the channel back to monster trucks, and DeadEye would mutter a "go f&*$ yourselves" and continue with the bio of his most admired historical figure: Torquemada.

And nothing would change. Nothing would reluctantly be put back on the table. Another In-Your-Face assertion of executive powers would take place the following day, with another statement of outrage from Reid or Waxman or Conyers, followed by outrageous distortions by Baghdad Tony Snow. And a hushed, giggling silence by the media.

Hell, if Paris Hilton's chihuahua enters rehab on protest day, you may not even get your 15 seconds anyway.

I was too young growing up in the sixties to have been involved directly, but I do remember seeing the protest marches on the evening news. But it's not 1968 anymore. I just don't believe that enough people can be motivated to march, given today's apathetic and distracted population, or that it will make a real difference in any case.

So what is it we can all do, jointly or separately, that will somehow directly shake up the status quo, and do so with serious impact?

[Warren Stupidity]

1. The excuses for inaction and passivity are always attractive.

I'd suggest that 1,000,000 in the streets of DC would actually scare the shit out of that quaint phrase from the sixties: the establishment.

[HughBeaumont]

2. 1 million surrounding the LaFayette Park area would be too big for ANYONE to ignore.

There'd be some Blackwater deployed for sure. Chaos would ensue.

[AndyTiedye]

10. Tianamen Square Would Ensue

What do you think Blackwater is for?

[IDemo]

3. I'm not suggesting inaction

But I just don't believe protests are going to carry enough weight to effect any real change. I think there must exist other strategies that will have greater impact in the long run if not immediately.

[Warren Stupidity]

6. Then fine, stay home, but please don't discourage others. nt.

[Quantess]

4. The sad truth.

"Unless there are ten million strong marching on the White House, and for one week or many weeks, nobody is going to notice. Nobody."

[Subdivisions]

5. After all that, and that I fundamentally agree not-with-standing,

why would you end with the very question you should yourself be answering?

One of the biggest problems we have these days is too much hand wringing and not enough solutions...or action.

You are correct. It would take MILLIONS to make a statement. It will take days, if not weeks. It could get nasty. But instead of working to undermine, even if unintentionally, the efforts of those who have chosen to take at least some kind of action on behalf of the People, perhaps you could help us spread the word and let's get MILLIONS to the http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1388342&mesg_id=1388342">September 15 march.

[Warren Stupidity]

7. Exactly. If it is going to take millions in the streets, then

Lets Get Millions In the Streets

[cascadiance]

9. We need our own "Pearl Harbor" event to mobilize people...

That is our challenge... I'm certainly not advocating engineering such an event, other than continuing to confront the bastards, and perhaps at some point we get something like a Kent State, Tiannemmen Square, or the like to galvanize those that are avoiding any involvement at this point that something needs to be done and that they also need to be a part of the solution.

I sincerely hope that we don't have to have violence or people dying to provoke others into action. But we need some event I think that will expose these bastards for what they are. Maybe even a smoking gun to prove that the real 9/11 conspirators are Bushco and not folks like those they label as such now, though at this late date, it would hard to be able to get that information out, even if damning to most people in an immediate way to provoke action.

As I note in this thread if Bushco is truly working behinds the scenes to do another 9/11 as former Reagan staff member Paul Craig Roberts said on Thom Hartmann yesterday, perhaps we need to make sure we as the activists are prepared to deal with such an event, and to have our radar turned up to full level to try and catch them in the act this time around. If we can do so (and hopefully fend off any disaster like 9/11), we'd have what we need to rally America to general strike or whatever it takes to get these bums thrown out of office!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1381155&mesg_id=1381155

Also, I recently had dinner with some old classmates I went to school with as a kid in Turkey back in the early 70's. The owner of the restaurant we went to that we usually go to reads our Turkish coffee grounds (that's kind of like reading ones' palms).

She basically had one brief prediction for me:

"September's going to be a BIG month for you!"

September is when my next big goal at work gets done right after labor day. I have a birthday near the end of the month. But I'm also thinking that would be a great time to go to DC to be a part of that march on the 15th. I'm really thinking about it now. Everything seems to be pointing to that day being the important day that might make this difference!

[blondeatlast]

8. Visibility matters, even if it isn't in the MSM. Weird analogy, but it's like fashion.

It's starts among those in the know and trickles down to the masses. When patent was being shown on the runways last fall, how often did you see it on the streets?

Watch this fall--if Macy's is selling it, it's okay to wear--and everyone will wear it. The same with public protest. The media doesn't need to cover it. Street fashion always takes off.

Trending is as viable in politics as it is in fashion. It may seem vapid, but it's true. Being supremely pissed off at this corrupt, worthless, destructive administration is the new chic--and I welcome it, regardless of how it came to be accepted.