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.

Boo Frickin Hoo

Free thinking Americans, also known as liberals, suffered so much during the W years.  We were accused of being in league with terrorists for voicing our dissent.  We watched words like patriot get co-opted and twisted into horrible things.  We watched our country torn apart and abused by corporate interests and the Republican lackies they put in office. 

And then one day, to paraphrase Hillary, the clouds parted and the heavenly choir sang.  (I prefer using rainbows and butterfly imagery myself, but....)  And lo!  The Democrats were in power!  Not that that means very much, given how they grabbed their ankles during the W years, but still.  It was something.

And now that we've had our first significant victory (if you can call this lame-ass bill that), the Tea Baggers can't handle it.  They never thought it could really happen!  They were so smug, so self-assured and self-righteous, it never occurred to them that they might lose.  And now that the shoe is on the other foot, what do they do?  To they man-up and take it like we did?  I guess the first time is the hardest, but.......

Spitting on Congressmen?  Throwing bricks through windows?  Fomenting violence and crime?  Seriously? 

Now don't any of you dare try and tell me that there were lefties doing the same thing.  Because as a movement, there weren't.  There are always fringe people exhibiting their stupidity (WTO protests, anyone?), but that is not the same as a 'legitimized' movement. Which the Baggers are. 

So now we have political "leaders," "news" anchors, and other official types inciting all this.  Egging them on.  Encouraging these outrageous acts. Hey Baggers, I've got news for you: spitting on someone is assault, which is a CRIME.  Throwing a brick through a window is assault, vandalism, and damage to property -- all CRIMES. 

Oh I'm sure the Baggers are all pleased as punch with themselves, thinking they are an actual revolution.  Please.  If they think this bill is the brink of fascism, communism, or armageddon, then what on earth would they do if any of those really came to pass?  Soil themselves would be first on the list, I imagine.

But that's just it: they think they are really doing something radical and meaningful.  But they aren't.  This ain't Revolutionary France, or the Czech Republic, or the Civil War.  Talk about delusions of grandeur. 

This is a mediocre, centrist bill that was so watered down that neither side liked it very much and it barely passed.  The Right can't handle this?  This bill is so useless, I'm sick of hearing about how big a f***ing deal it is already.  What on earth would the Right do if we actually managed something like single payer?  Or repeal Don't Ask/Don't Tell, or allow Gay Marriage, or (gasp!) mandate evolution be taught in science class?

I'm sorry.  I know I'm ranting.  I know I'm not as eloquent as I may usually be.  But I'm mad as hell, and I'm not taking it anymore.  I've been trying all this time to have reasonable discussions with people, to show them the light.  And now we're down to the crazy mother f***ers who, well, just won't ever see any light.   Because they don't want to.  They are too busy basking in the tanning bed that Glenn and Rush have set up for them.  They'd better watch out, or they'll end up looking like Boehner: fake and played out. 

I am appalled that these people, and the media and elected officials who started all this, think this behavior is ok.  I am embarrassed (once again) on behalf of America.  Sickened by association.  Well I've had enough. 

Won't you join me?

Getting 1,000,000 People to Join your Facebook Cause Doesn't Equal a Protest

One thing I have heard repeatedly during the last year -- as the economy tanked, as people lost their homes and jobs, as the Republicans' obstructionism watered down the health care debate -- was, "Where are all the protests?  Why aren't the progressives taking to the streets?" 

Yeah, where were we?  Protesting has been the mainstay of the left since the 1960's.  Heck, as recently as the 90's we were out there with our "No Blood for Oil" signs.  But where are we now?  Why, when so many critical issues are coming to a head, are we silent?

At first I thought that maybe we had just gotten too old as a generation -- that most of the GenXers (who carried on the mantle of the 60's hippies) had reached middle age and retired their protest signs.  And that the Millenials were just too damned optimistic and naive to protest (and they are). 

But that's not it.  The real culprit is the rise of the internet and social networking.  Back in the old days, the only way to commune with fellow lefties en masse was to attend a protest or gathering of some sort.  These days?  Join a Facebook group called "Get Rush Limbaugh to Leave the Country" or "1,000,000 Facebookers against Iraq."  And that's it.  Join, and you're done -- you've felt like you've added a voice.  But to what?

Some of these groups actually have some meat behind them -- if the pages are sponsored by a specific non-profit.  But have you really taken a close look?  Most are nothing more than a page created by someone who cares about the issue -- which is admirable, but it isn't going to create any measurable result.  Obama isn't going to be getting any morning briefs about Facebook pages.  Well, he might -- but I think 1,000,000 angry progressives standing on the Mall would have a greater impact.

Meanwhile, the Tea Baggers --- I mean, Tea Partiers -- are getting the jump on us.  They actually have rallies (lame as they are).  Which gives the "news" media something to cover.  Now of course I don't expect Faux News to cover a progressive rally -- except perhaps to make it look like it was an angry socialist mob coming to kill granny with their death squad -- but maybe the local news stations would.  And it would make us visible to others. 

But we don't.  Somehow we've been brainwashed into inaction.  Into thinking that joining some doofy group online means anything.  It's a false sense of security, and we shouldn't allow ourselves to be mollified by it any longer. 

Be loud, be proud, and let's show those Tea Party nutters what a REAL protest is like!