Uncivil Disobedience

Last night I posted a pretty angry article on how the Baggers think they are having some sort of little revolution.  Thankfully today I feel a little more myself, and as such I would like to address the same topic with a little more aplomb.

There is a HUGE difference between what the Baggers are doing and anything the Left has done in the past.  (WTO and similar dumbheads excepted -- we don't claim them as our own).  Civil disobedience this is not. 

Civil disobedience has been a cornerstone of the Left for decades.  Sit ins, chaining oneself to a tree, going limp when being arrested for these actions......The key is that all these actions, while disruptive, are inherently nonviolent.  In fact, participants in and advocates of civil disobedience routinely disavow any acts of violence.  Personal assault (spitting), racially based hatred (n-word), and violence (brick throwing) are not tolerated, much less promoted.

I'm not sure what to call what the Baggers are doing.  Rioting, maybe?  Whatever label you give it, it's wrong.  It's criminal!  And so is the act of encouraging these things -- inciting someone to commit violence or crime is itself a crime.  And it's bad enough that we have Beck et al encouraging it -- but we actually have elected GOP officials egging them on too! 

I feel like I've followed Alice right down the rabbit hole.  Where is this strange place I've landed?  What kind of rules govern this place where such acts are considered acceptable? 

These people are just getting off, feeling powerful or self-satisfied in their stupid acts.  Just like the idiots who burned police cars in Berkeley during the Gulf War protests way back in Bush I's rule.  We legitimate protesters publicly denounced them and their violence.  Where are the reasonable conservatives denouncing the Baggers? 

This whole thing is just so unbelievable....I really do feel like I smoked with the Caterpillar or ate some of his magic mushroom.  This is no way to have a revolution (not that there's really anything to revolt against, frankly.  See yesterday's post).  This is just stupid people doing stupid things that make them feel big.  Kind of like a guy with a small penis driving a monster truck. 

Thoreau, Gandhi, and other proponents of civil disobedience are rolling in their graves.  They are appalled.  But then, I suppose the Baggers haven't really read any of these people's works;  after all, that would put them in lefty-elite territory. 

Disobedient, yes.  Civilized, no.