There’s a joke I read on a conservative blog one time that goes more or less like this:
Q: Why don’t Republicans get all up in arms and march to protest issues the way Democrats do?
A: Because they all have jobs.
Well, it seems that under Bush, not all of them do:
Activists planning to demonstrate against the upcoming GOP convention should be on the lookout for young conservatives gearing up to protest the protesters.
“To show that there is a group of people out there, there are Republicans that will protest them right back,” said Tom Paladino, who leads the New York chapter of the newly formed Protest Warriors.
“We are the right-wing freedom fighters — we are out there and are just as animated as the protesters can be,” said member Jason Sager, of Brooklyn.
Protest Warriors, which claims about 3,000 members nationwide, expects about 200 in New York for the four-day convention, which begins Aug. 30 and is expected to draw tens of thousands of opponents of President Bush.
Note to Protest Warriors: Welcome to Democracy! ; p
Oh, and if anyone bothers you, just come find me and I’ll stick up for your right to protest the protesters. Or if you’re in need of giant puppet handling lessons, or want to rent out bullhorns for the day, or wonder where the good, clean, free restrooms can be found, I’m your information center.
Maybe they’ve just been saving their PTO 😉
Somehow there’s something terribly endearing and joyous about young people setting out to Fight The Good Fight (TM) against enormous odds.
Not that I think they’re fighting the good fight, you understand. But they obviously do. Good luck to them!
(Edward, you rock. Have I mentioned this?)
Yay! More protestors! More protests!
“Two-four-six-eight,
We’re just learning to dem-on-strate.”
Sol-i-darit-y forever, (c’mon everyone, you know the words)…
(Edward, you rock. Have I mentioned this?)
Ahh…thanks Jes. Given the hellish work day I’ve had, that’s a welcome notion to end the day on. Ditto, btw.
“Two-four-six-eight,
We’re just learning to dem-on-strate.”
cute…others? I’ll start
“Hey! Hey!
Ho! Ho!
Make mine a Grande, black, To Go!”
“What do we want?”
“LESS PROTESTS!”
“When do we want it?”
“SOMETIME SHORTLY AFTER WE FINISH PROTESTING!”
“No jaundice, no pizza!”
What? Well, what are they saying?
Well, I guess that means that we’ll start seeing protesters protesting the protesters who had protested the protestation against the original activity. And then somebody will protest about them, no doubt.
At any rate, I think that we can all agree that posterboard companies are starting to look like a pretty good investment right now.
Moe
Posterboard seems so lo-tech — when will we start seeing protesters holding aloft tablet PCs with Powerpoint presentations cycling through all their slogans (with nifty fades and sound effects, natch)?
I’m holding out for fiber-optic clothing weaves that can support complex images. Imagine a bird’s-eye view of ten thousand protesters, with their chosen image reproduced in larger scale…
You may not have to wait long Moe.
Adver-Wear has created T-shirts with 11-inch embedded video screens and four mini-speakers to make the wearer a high-tech walking commercial.
Dude. That’s either the single coolest thing I’ll see today or an infallible sign of the End Times.
“From Iraq to Palestine,
Protesters suck (on the hippie side)!”
“We’re here, we hate queers, get used to it!”
Mike, Obsidian Wings has a no-profanity rule; one that is sometimes honored more in the breach than in the observance, but it exists nonetheless. Please do not engage in sexual and/or racial epithets while posting to this site. The link to the Posting Rules may be found here.
Thank you in advance for your compliance.
“…the single coolest thing I’ll see today….”
Yes, I thought they were cool three weeks ago, as well.
Welcome to democracy? Us pro-life protestors have been censored for more than a decade. 😉 We also knew about ‘bubbles’ and ‘speech zones’ long before you worried about it.
As excited as I am to see democracy in action, I can’t shake the nagging feeling that something is going to get very, very ugly at the Republican convention this year. Very ugly indeed. I hope it all goes off without a hitch, but I see the possibility as vanishingly small with each passing day.
As excited as I am to see democracy in action, I can’t shake the nagging feeling that something is going to get very, very ugly at the Republican convention this year. Very ugly indeed. I hope it all goes off without a hitch, but I see the possibility as vanishingly small with each passing day.
Welcome to democracy?
Yeah, I knew that would tickle someone…that’s why I added the emoticon. Originally I wrote “Welcome to the Party” but as that has two meanings in this context, I didn’t want to confuse anyone…so I opted to offend them. Kidding. 😉
As excited as I am to see democracy in action, I can’t shake the nagging feeling that something is going to get very, very ugly at the Republican convention this year. Very ugly indeed. I hope it all goes off without a hitch, but I see the possibility as vanishingly small with each passing day.
It’s the only question anyone asks at social events in NYC any more. “What are you gonna do for the RNC?” The fact that most folks still have no concrete plans may or may not reflect that what you fear is true Phil. Personally, I don’t think we need a repeat of Chicago ’68, but I do think we need a good primal scream of sorts to get out of our systems all the bile that living under this administration has built up in many of us.
It’s not easy to see the words “left-coast liberal” spat out like we’re de facto devil worshippers, and it’s certainly not easy to hear Republicans insist homosexual marriage is more of a threat to the nation than al Qaeda. (I could go on…and Yes, I’m sure so could conservatives, only they’re currently in power, so…)
So there’s a bit of anger, yes. But hopefully, we see folks express that anger within the law and conscious of the rights of those around them.
Moe:
It wasn’t meant as an epithet at all. I was just trying to parody Protest Warrior. No offense intended.
In reference to all the above, it’s great to see people discussing recent issues, and taking advantage of one of our basic rights of free speech, which was originally intended to focus on POLITICAL speech, without going to jail. What the Protest Warriors are protesting is the fact that all those other “protestors” represent, and are backed by, Socialists and Communists from all over the world. It only takes a few hours to do the research and see where their funding is coming from; like International Answer; ACORN; The Workers World Party, among many others. We do not live in a democracy, thank God, but a representative republic. Mike, don’t worry about offending anyone, because there is no “right” to not be offended; I’ve looked. I get very tired of hearing people call conservatives “The Right” or “Right-Wing Extremists.” Actually, if you look at the county by county vote map of the 2000 election, it shows two things very vividly: that we should NEVER get rid of the electoral college, and that the majority of Conservatives are very much right smack in the middle. What most people aare too busy to realise is that the Democrats \ Liberals have been taken over by people who believe in Socialism and Communism (yes, I can provide proof.) To Moe Lane.. Mike was simply using correct terminology in his post. Sexual deviants; homosexuals, whatever, are NOT “gay.” Being “Gay” has nothing to do with sexuality. Queers, Faggots, etc,are the true names of those who CHOOSE to act opposite of what nature intended. (Sorry, but I had to use correct terms to describe the facts. I will refrain in the future.) The Protest Warriors can be compared to our Founding Fathers (who saw what was happening in America) and are demanding a return to our Constitutional laws. Edward, the bile you mention is most likely caused by all the hype and un-truths being expoused by the Liberals. No WMD’s? They found over 200 tons of yellow-cake; All of the Chem and Bio and Nuclear stuff Khadaffi (sp?) gave up came from Iraq\Hussein, not to mention the 406 scientists on Husseins payroll, all of which was found in a hollowed-out mountain. Shall I continue? I don’t know you, so I cannot infer anything pertaining to your beliefs. “West coast Liberals” stems from things like taxpayers paying for sexual transference surgery, et al.
Liberalism; Communism; Socialism; Marxism has become one and the same, and all are contrary to and the opposite of “Americanism.” You, alone, are not responsible for this, but to support it is inexcusable, considering the truth is out there to be found. I’ve said enough for now. Thanks to all who have been very considerate in their posts, and not lowering themselves to invective towards one side or the other.
In reference to all the above, it’s great to see people discussing recent issues, and taking advantage of one of our basic rights of free speech, which was originally intended to focus on POLITICAL speech, without going to jail. What the Protest Warriors are protesting is the fact that all those other “protestors” represent, and are backed by, Socialists and Communists from all over the world. It only takes a few hours to do the research and see where their funding is coming from; like International Answer; ACORN; The Workers World Party, among many others. We do not live in a democracy, thank God, but a representative republic. Mike, don’t worry about offending anyone, because there is no “right” to not be offended; I’ve looked. I get very tired of hearing people call conservatives “The Right” or “Right-Wing Extremists.” Actually, if you look at the county by county vote map of the 2000 election, it shows two things very vividly: that we should NEVER get rid of the electoral college, and that the majority of Conservatives are very much right smack in the middle. What most people aare too busy to realise is that the Democrats \ Liberals have been taken over by people who believe in Socialism and Communism (yes, I can provide proof.) To Moe Lane.. Mike was simply using correct terminology in his post. Sexual deviants; homosexuals, whatever, are NOT “gay.” Being “Gay” has nothing to do with sexuality. Queers, Faggots, etc,are the true names of those who CHOOSE to act opposite of what nature intended. (Sorry, but I had to use correct terms to describe the facts. I will refrain in the future.) The Protest Warriors can be compared to our Founding Fathers (who saw what was happening in America) and are demanding a return to our Constitutional laws. Edward, the bile you mention is most likely caused by all the hype and un-truths being expoused by the Liberals. No WMD’s? They found over 200 tons of yellow-cake; All of the Chem and Bio and Nuclear stuff Khadaffi (sp?) gave up came from Iraq\Hussein, not to mention the 406 scientists on Husseins payroll, all of which was found in a hollowed-out mountain. Shall I continue? I don’t know you, so I cannot infer anything pertaining to your beliefs. “West coast Liberals” stems from things like taxpayers paying for sexual transference surgery, et al.
Liberalism; Communism; Socialism; Marxism has become one and the same, and all are contrary to and the opposite of “Americanism.” You, alone, are not responsible for this, but to support it is inexcusable, considering the truth is out there to be found. I’ve said enough for now. Thanks to all who have been very considerate in their posts, and not lowering themselves to invective towards one side or the other.
“Sexual deviants; homosexuals, whatever, are NOT ‘gay.’ Being ‘Gay’ has nothing to do with sexuality.”
And language doesn’t evolve, and one can’t find “gay” as a usage for homosexual in the 19th century, and we’re still speaking Old English because of the existence of prescriptive approaches to language rather than descriptive approaches.
“Queers, Faggots, etc,are the true names….”
Are those “true names” in the Vernor Vinge sense, or the Ursula Le Guin/Earthsea/magic sense?
“…of those who CHOOSE to act opposite of what nature intended.”
I’d like to research further what nature intended. Could you give me contact information for nature, please?
“The Protest Warriors can be compared to our Founding Fathers….”
Just so you have a firm sense of proportion.
“All of the Chem and Bio and Nuclear stuff Khadaffi (sp?) gave up came from Iraq\Hussein….”
It’s a shame that President Bush is conspiring to keep this from us, but understandable, given his desire to protect Libya and Hussein. I’m glad you do not provide any cite for this information, because information is so valuable it is purest when taken on faith.
“…not to mention the 406 scientists on Husseins payroll, all of which was found in a hollowed-out mountain.”
I wish I had a collection of 406 scientists in a hollow mountain. I don’t even have any action figures, or an unhollow mountain. It’s just not fair.
“Shall I continue?”
Please.
Zappafan1, please read the Posting Rules before commenting here again. This is a privately-leased website with rules forbidding the use of racial/sexual epithets in the comments section; for that matter, your commentary on the nature of homosexuality violates the ‘reasonably civil’ section of said Posting Rules (at the very least). This will be your only warning on this subject.
Also, Gary, please do not encourage (even implicitly) commenters to continue violating the Posting Rules; I understand that it may be a nigh-irresistable temptation sometimes, but indulging makes my own job more difficult. I ask this nicely, and without anger. 🙂
“Also, Gary, please do not encourage (even implicitly) commenters to continue violating the Posting Rules….”
Sure thing, Moe. For the record, it didn’t occur to me — honest! — that I was even implicitly doing such a thing. I simply was responding to the thought I quoted: “Shall I continue?” Which didn’t translate in my head to “shall I continue violating the Posting Rules?”
Other possibilities as to what the poster should continue doing did occur to me, to be sure.
I’m just hoping those 406 scientists in the hollowed-out mountain are being stored in good condition.
“For the record, it didn’t occur to me — honest! — that I was even implicitly doing such a thing. ”
Oh, I believe you. Just getting it out on the record, and all that. 🙂
When I tell a commenter to read the Posting Rules before posting to my site again, I mean, precisely, that a commenter is to read the Posting Rules before posting here again. Just so that everyone is clear. – Moe Lane
Post deleted by editor.
Moe, can we just ban this guy already?
Posted by: zappafan1 | August 23, 2004 08:15 PM: “Either it was….”
Was some part of the message just above this message of yours unclear or confusing?
Edward: “Moe, can we just ban this guy already?”
You guys get to make up whatever rules you like, but as a kibitzer, I’d have to say that would seem a wee bit premature/unfair.
To be sure, my sensing of entertainment value in the water unduly biases me in this judgement. *coughchumcough* (And I’m apt to not be online much the next couple of days for various reasons, between a bunch of medical stuff and a bit of house-sitting and whatnot.)
Post deleted by editor.
Zappafan, might I humbly request that you delimit and attribute quotes in your comments? The above is comment confusing as all get out.
Oops! Transposed a couple of words there. Make that:
“The above comment is confusing as all get out.”
“You guys get to make up whatever rules you like”
Yes. We do. And there is no ‘but’ about it. zappafan1 is banned from this site – actually he was banned yesterday, but you know how dynamic IP addresses are.
Moe
I usually ban one address at a time, and if the party in question persists in being an idiot after multiple warnings, I clobber the whole subnet. Unsubtle, sure. But that’s me. I’ve only banned a couple of individuals, and one of them is an occasional poster here. Possibly you may have detected a little more than average abruptness when I respond to him, mostly because he accused me of knowingly bribing Chinese government officials when adopting over there. That’s right up there with Mac Diva’s infamous mail-order-bride suggestion to Sharkansky.
But, your site, and you get more traffic than I ever want to have.