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I stayed away from protests for years, saying much the same thing as <br>
Jeff Gibbs--that they had no effect other than to give me the erroneous feeling <br>
that I was doing something, and I would be much better off staying home and<br>
actually doing something.<br>
<br>
But I was wrong and Gibbs was wrong. If you want to organize a <br>shut-er-down action probably the best place to publicize it and recruit<br>assistant publicists is a protest.<br>
<br>
Brian<br>
<br><br><blockquote><hr>To: gplac-forum@cagreens.org; sosfbay-discuss@cagreens.org<br>Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2007 12:52:40 -0400<br>From: alexcathy@aol.com<br>Subject: [Sosfbay-discuss] Jeff Gibbs: Why I Am Not Going to the Protest<br><br><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Dear Friends, <br>
<br>
</font>
<div>I do not necessarily agree with all the far-out stuff posted on Alex Cockburn's web site, <a href="http://www.counterpunch.com" title="www.counterpunch.com" target="_blank">www.counterpunch.com</a>,
and I do not necessarily agree with everything that Jeff Gibbs says in
this essay. But I sho' nuff do understand how he feels when he says: "I
am tired of protests." Already my e-mail inbox is filling up with a new
round of announcements from International A.N.S.W.E.R. gushing about
"all out' for a fresh round of protests this fall.<font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Please! <br>
</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"></font><br>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"></font> </div>
<div><strong>Posted on CounterPunch, August 31, 2007</strong><br>
<a href="http://www.counterpunch.com/gibbs08312007.html" target="_blank"><strong>Why I am Not Going to the Protest</strong></a><br>
<strong>by Jeff Gibbs</strong> </div>
<blockquote>
<div>I am not going to the protest. I am tired of protests:
they don't stop wars. Not protests that are mostly about sign waving
and hooking up with friends and strangers and feeling the solidarity
and then going back to work or school on Monday. They say the
definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again
expecting a different result.</div>
<div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"></font>Sure it FEELS rebellious, these government-permitted, media-ignored,
totally predictable rituals-but come on, going to an anti-war protest
hasn't been rebellious since Abbie Hoffman coughed up a fur ball at one
in 1968. And in the context of the war on our civil liberties
envisioned by Clinton/Reno and executed by your nemesis George W. Bush,
they are very, very happy to have you protest and take your name and
number. Or force you into a field, or a waiting pen to be locked away
until they decide to let you out.</div>
<div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"></font>Personally I am tired of marching alongside people wearing masks and
carrying signs about stupid Bush when we and everyone we know put
together have not been smart enough to stop him. And the Bush bashing
only makes the whole parade, err, protest look juvenile to the rest of
the world.</div>
<div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"></font>Here is what I propose: let's stop messing around. No more anti-war.
Let's stop the war. No more protest, unless it is part of some huge
thing that doesn't involve business as usual the next day. How do you
stop the war? Shut 'er down. No more business as usual. . . </div>
</blockquote>
<div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"></font>One of the reasons why I joined the Green Party was because going
Green represented a public declaration of my refusal to participate in
"business as usual," that is, lobbying, begging, and pleading with
corporate Democrats to give us fifteen minutes of their precious time.
I think part of the reason why the GP has not taken off as much as we
migth have expected is that a lot of Greens still think of the GP as
another "protest" group instead of a political party and a surprising
number of Greens still have a sentimental soft spot for their friendly
local neighborhood Democratic Party Hack. I see this a lot in
inner-city neighborhoods when it's the friendly local neighborhood
Democratic Party Hack of Color.</div>
<div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"></font>I say: No More of Old Politics and the Old Business as Usual! </div>
<div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"></font>In the cities; in the suburbs; in the little towns; in the rural counties; in the 'Blue' states; and in the 'Red' states.<font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">My rant has also been posted at: http://www.greencommons.org/node/776 <br>
</font></div>
<div><br>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"></font> </div>
<br>
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