Protesters again take to uptown streets (of Charlotte)

[davidthegnome]

99. When it comes down to it...

There are few things I find more despicable than burning writing material to make some kind of political point. Throughout history, many tyrants have done this, now though, it seems people do it to grab some attention. It may be effective in the short term - people will get pissed off so they might sit up and listen... but they will not listen long if you don't have much to say.

So what does this group have to say? Obama... come out, we want to talk about the environment and the corporations that are destroying this Country? You know, he might possibly have been more inclined to care about what they had to say if they hadn't burned a copy of the Presidential oath of office... an oath he has taken and I am sure holds to be sacred - or at the very least, takes very seriously.

They don't have to burn him in effigy, burning the oath makes it very clear what their sentiments are.

The ridiculous thing is that I actually agree with them on several points. Yes, I despise the corporate oligarchy and think it has far too much power in this Country. Yes, I think our environmental standards require vast improvement if we are to do our part in slowing climate change. I'd be thrilled if Politicians paid more attention to these issues... however, I believe they are being acknowledged and addressed by the democratic party overall. Yes, things are happening slowly, it's going to take years of work, voting, campaigning, maybe arm wrestling some of the more stubborn imbeciles in office... but ultimately, we can accomplish what we need by working within the system. It is not so broken that it can't be fixed.

I can't think of any large protest movement in history that succeeded without some kind of solution, without a plan. In some cases the solutions were obvious, in others they were not. Generally there were leaders who rose to the occasion and brave people willing to sacrifice for what they believed in.

Perhaps this is why this is no longer a large protest movement. There is no plan, no solution that I have yet seen.. nor a leader to unite them and express their ideas to the public.

That said - I will never stand side by side with assholes who burn writing material for moronic reasons.