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Contest: find the stupidest way to protest the war in Iraq

Ladewig

I lost an avatar bet.
Ladewig
Joined
Dec 4, 2001
Messages
28,828
My first nomination belongs to some anonymous graffiti writers. While driving through a somewhat affluent neighborhood in Houston, I noticed that someone had taken the time to write "war" on the bottom of several dozen stop signs. I cannot imagine anyone looking at one these stop signs and then saying, "yes. It is all so obvious now: 'stop war.' I'll write my congressional representatives immediately."

My second nomination is Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War who disrupted an Easter service in Chicago being conducted by a cardinal who wants the war to end.
Chicago Tribune

Six people were arrested at Holy Name parish's auditorium Sunday after disrupting an Easter mass to protest the Iraq war.

The group—whose female and male members identified themselves as Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War—stood up at the beginning of Cardinal Francis George's homily and shouted their opposition to the conflict, which marked its fifth anniversary last week. As security guards and ushers tried to remove them from the service, the demonstrators squirted fake blood on themselves and parishioners dressed in their Easter finery.

The red substance, which one protester later described as "stage blood," initially drew gasps and a few terrified yelps from the 600 worshipers at the mass. The shock, however, quickly transformed into anger as people booed the six while they were escorted from the parish auditorium.

"Even the pope calls for peace," the demonstrators chanted as they left. "Even the pope calls for peace."

"And so should we all," said George, drawing strong applause from the parish.

-more-
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The protesters (later charged with misdemeanors and felonies) chose Cardinal George's service because the cardinal met with George Bush in January. Cardinal George's position is a bit more rational than most people's. He participated in a conference that "criticized both pro and anti-war adherents saying that the former did not recognize the real failures of U.S. foreign policy in Iraq and the need for change while the latter disregarded the probable human costs of an immediate U.S. troop withdraw." Reuters story on R.C. clergy conference

. . . . . . . . .

So, what stupid Iraqi war protests have you seen?
 
IMHO, they're all stupid. We NEED to be there, for one reason specifically. If we don't finish the job *now* and just leave, then we'll likely wind up going *back* (Well after they've had time to fortify and arm, of course). As a service member headed over there later this year, as a man who has had both a brother AND a sister go over as well, I find this abhorrent. Let us do our @#$@ job, get off our backs, and then we could end all of this sooner, and STAY home next time.
 
Mister Earl said:
IMHO, they're all stupid. We NEED to be there, for one reason specifically. If we don't finish the job *now* and just leave, then we'll likely wind up going *back* (Well after they've had time to fortify and arm, of course). As a service member headed over there later this year, as a man who has had both a brother AND a sister go over as well, I find this abhorrent. Let us do our @#$@ job, get off our backs, and then we could end all of this sooner, and STAY home next time.
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Yeah, let's take the failed ideas of Vietnam, and triple them... that's bound to succeed!
 
During my morning commute (in my little four cylinder gas sipper) I often see another commuter driving alone in a Cadillac Escalade (gigantic SUV). It has a "NO BLOOD FOR OIL" bumper sticker.

Robert
 
WASHINGTON - Anti-war protesters paraded in the streets of downtown D.C., causing traffic tie-ups for many commuters Wednesday afternoon.
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Pissing off annoyed DC bureaucrats is always an effective way to make them see the logic of your position.

Groups of demonstrators marking the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war blocked intersections along K Street between 13th and 17th Streets in Northwest. WTOP's Michelle Basch reports at least 100 people used their bodies and placards to block the streets around McPherson Square.
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Earlier Wednesday, police arrested more than 30 protesters outside the Internal Revenue Service building for crossing a barricade and blocking the building's entrance. D.C. Police report demonstrators throwing items at officers, but there are no serious injuries.
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You realize, of course, that the IRS collects taxes to pay for highways and food stamps and the National Park Service and the Food and Drug Administration, as well as aircraft carriers, don't you?

At 12th Street and Constitution Avenue, one frustrated driver got out of his small, red, four-door car and physically moved a bicycle that a protester had put in the road, WTOP's Kristi King reported. The driver then waved traffic on until police arrived.
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Twelfth and Constitution is the intersection where IRS headquarters are located. It's a traffic bottleneck even when there aren't any demonstrations going on. That "frustrated driver" showed extraordinary patience in not simply crushing that bicycle under his wheels.
Link.
 
Protest the war with votes. As noted (and as I constantly note) when your demonstration makes people angry, it is almost always YOU they are angry with - not the problem you want them to notice.

My favorite (current) example is when illegals held a demon. in Orlando. It accomplished nothing except to irritate many citizens - including me since a meeting/activity that would have greatly benefited my students was canceled because of the illegals demon.
blocked roads.

Indeed a shame he just moved the illegal barrier to traffic.
 
I think the anti-war people would be better off if they stopped allowing the movement to be organized and lead by communists, maoists, and marxists like ANSWER, World Can't Wait, etc. It seems all the big rallies are organized by these groups, and I'd bet most of the participants don't even know what they're all about. These people are not friends of peace, justice, or freedom.

Example
 
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Ladewig said:
My first nomination belongs to some anonymous graffiti writers. While driving through a somewhat affluent neighborhood in Houston, I noticed that someone had taken the time to write "war" on the bottom of several dozen stop signs. I cannot imagine anyone looking at one these stop signs and then saying, "yes. It is all so obvious now: 'stop war.' I'll write my congressional representatives immediately."
Click to expand...

It's not really meant to work like that. It falls into much the same category as adding "hammertime" to the bottem of such signs.
 
Pope130 said:
During my morning commute (in my little four cylinder gas sipper) I often see another commuter driving alone in a Cadillac Escalade (gigantic SUV). It has a "NO BLOOD FOR OIL" bumper sticker.

Robert
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One wonders if that driver's only grasp of irony is when he picks up something to change his tire.

Then again, the few people I know who drive Escalades have other people change their tires for them. :p

DR
 
geni said:
It's not really meant to work like that. It falls into much the same category as adding "hammertime" to the bottem of such signs.
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I've been thinking about this activity and I wonder if these folks are followers of "The Secret" (would they be Secretists?) who actually believe that if the phrase "stop war" passes through enough minds at once, then world peace will ensue.
 
Darth Rotor said:
Then again, the few people I know who drive Escalades have other people change their tires for them. :p

DR
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We used to have house slaves for that until the Justice Department started harrassing us. Now we just holler at the nearest Mexican and tell him to fix it or we'll call ICE.

Life used to be so much more genteel; I guess those times are gone with the wind.
 
Ladewig said:
I've been thinking about this activity and I wonder if these folks are followers of "The Secret" (would they be Secretists?) who actually believe that if the phrase "stop war" passes through enough minds at once, then world peace will ensue.
Click to expand...
Visualized whirled peas.
 
JoeEllison said:
Yeah, let's take the failed ideas of Vietnam, and triple them... that's bound to succeed!
Click to expand...


+1

And I wonder what Mr Earl meant blabbering about: "We NEED to be there, for one reason specifically."

... Oil
 
Oliver, I think you would have found out what Mr Earl meant if you had read the rest of his post ... or perhaps not.
 
Ladewig said:
My second nomination is Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War who disrupted an Easter service in Chicago being conducted by a cardinal who wants the war to end.
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I'm not sure why you would nominate this as a stupid protest. The whole point of protest is to provoke media attention and inflame public debate. Clearly, it worked: it attracted your attention, and perhaps contributed to your decision post on this forum.
 
Mister Earl said:
IMHO, they're all stupid. We NEED to be there, for one reason specifically. If we don't finish the job *now* and just leave, then we'll likely wind up going *back* (Well after they've had time to fortify and arm, of course). As a service member headed over there later this year, as a man who has had both a brother AND a sister go over as well, I find this abhorrent. Let us do our @#$@ job, get off our backs, and then we could end all of this sooner, and STAY home next time.
Click to expand...


Not to derail the thread, but I have yet to have anybody satisfactorily define what "finishing the job" entails. How do you end a war if you don't know when it's over? This is one of the biggest problems our politicians should face. No one has set a definitive goal that, once achieved, says "We are victorious. Let's go home."
 
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