# Notes from the 8/26 DC Protest: **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 28, 2002, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notes-from-the-8-26-dc-protest/134272 "2002-10-28T17:36:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notes-from-the-8-26-dc-protest/134272/41 "2002-10-31T20:42:57Z")
**Moderator’s Notes:** > [@](#): > > Does “pearls before swine count?” How’s’bout being called useless? Just wondering. Yes. Although I’m not entirely certain Maeglin was referring to you, specifically, as “swine.” His statement seems to me to be more of a general attitude. But your calling him “useless and utterly dismissable” is rather pointed and direct. I’m trying to apply the GD standard here. You may say what you like about another’s argument, or opinion. You may **not** make pointed derogatory comments about the person him-, or herself. Fair enough? ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notes-from-the-8-26-dc-protest/134272/42 "2002-10-31T20:54:19Z")
**Ace** , honey, you have a problem with dates, don’t you? The protest was October 26, not August 26. :MsRobyn thinks she’ll get Ace a calendar for Christmas: Robin ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ace\_of\_Swords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@The\_Ace\_of\_Swords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ace_of_Swords)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notes-from-the-8-26-dc-protest/134272/43 "2002-10-31T20:58:05Z")
Let the record show, again, that I in no way stated that **Maeglin** was X; I stated that class Y was X, and implied that he may or may not belong to class Y, depending on other factors. Further X, being a category of uselessness, was already introduced to the thread by **Gobear** and others. Personally, I don’t think my statements were any different from theirs, a categorical classification. That said, I have no problems with the GD standard being fairly applied to the thread. -Ace ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ace\_of\_Swords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@The\_Ace\_of\_Swords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ace_of_Swords)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notes-from-the-8-26-dc-protest/134272/44 "2002-10-31T21:06:01Z")
**Robyn**. Geez. Yes, thanks, much. Say, when are you coming to town? 1/12 or 12/1? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notes-from-the-8-26-dc-protest/134272/45 "2002-10-31T22:10:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Let the record show, again, that I in no way stated that Maeglin was X; I stated that class Y was X, and implied that he may or may not belong to class Y, depending on other factors. No, you divided the world into classes denominated as 1, 2, 3, the third being the useless class, or as you put it. > [@](#): > > The ironic pessimists: Those who have given up the struggle, have lost their passion, and wish everyone else were passionless, too – so they wouldn’t feel so bad about enjoying evil’s largesse. Once again, you are inaccurate. A. I do not “wish everyone else were passionless”–I want passion to be **focused.** I e-mailed my congressman, Jim Moran and Senators Allen and Warner stating my strong opposition to the Bush administration’s war aims. I am in your second class: > [@](#): > > The passionate optimists: The protesters who do everything in their power to protest and take action both within and without the system, despite their possible ineffectiveness. We agree on the goal: to prevent a useless and costly war. We disagre on the methods. I prefer direct engagement with the folks who actually make the decisions. If you’ve got a petition, I’ll sign it. If you can arrange a meeting with members of Congress, I’ll attend. If you want to put an advert in the NY Times, I’ll help out. But nobody in authority is paying attention to a bunch of hippies dancing in the streets. Really. If you want to get the administration to pay attention to your cause, instead of acting like a pack of children, organize a General Strike (that is, if any of you actually have jobs.) Boycott. Get serious. An **FDoprkusmalorkusmafia** , anyone who thinks that playing a dijeridoo and dancing to a drum is effective political protest ought not to be calling others “naive”. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notes-from-the-8-26-dc-protest/134272/46 "2002-10-31T22:16:35Z")
> [@](#): > > An FDoprkusmalorkusmafia, anyone who thinks that playing a dijeridoo and dancing to a drum is effective political protest ought not to be calling others “naive”. Now who’s being naive, Gobear. That combination would be enough to make me change my ways if only… they… would… **JUST… STOP!!!..** ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notes-from-the-8-26-dc-protest/134272/47 "2002-10-31T22:22:15Z")
> [@](#): > > That combination would be enough to make me change my ways if only… they… would… JUST… STOP!!!.. Seriously? I’d love to see that. Anyone who can dance and play a digeridoo at the same time is probably talented enough to play in the NBA. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notes-from-the-8-26-dc-protest/134272/48 "2002-11-01T01:57:14Z")
I just want to back up **Ace of Spades** because I was there at the protest and I thought it was a wonderful example of American democracy in action. Not that it’s the only form our democracy takes, but one of the forms. I certainly respect People for the American Way, and hold in high regard the good work they’re doing, but because one person favors one mode, and the other guy favors a different mode, it doesn’t mean they have to diss each other. “Oh, the lobbyist and the Yippie should be friends…” This debate over the character of the New Left has been around for approximately 34 years. No-nonsense buttoned down, narrow tie, grimly devoted to serious purpose, sacrificing all fun for the Cause? Or _“Revolution means the right to shout ‘Theater’ in a crowded fire”_…? 😉 Why not let both flowers bloom? Different types of folks bring different talents to the cause. The antiwar protest on Saturday was a true slice of Americana. It was not just frivolous college kids, as has been painted here. There were all kinds of people. Muslims in their white kerchiefs facing toward Mecca and praying _salâh_ on the grass. Jewish Women in Black. Grannies and grampas from the FDR era, still going strong. Middle-America soccer moms and ordinary average Joes. Dreadlocked crazies and imaginative guerrilla theatrics. Plenty of earnestly serious People-for-the-American-Way-type activists. Americans of every shape and size and color. And the lovely barebreasted ladies. I thought the whole panoply, so huge and energized with the vigor of exercising their right to peaceably assemble and seek redress of grievances, was inspiring and heartening. Americans caring about the direction their country is going. It’s healthy for our democracy and healthy for the mental state of our citizens to feel that they _can_ get out there and utter open-throated calls for what’s right, unafraid — instead of staying frustrated, grumbling, cowed, feeling excluded as they vegetate before the TV, powerless. Don’t you see, the masses want to feel their numbers in action, be seen, be heard, raise their voices in the street—this is a tried and true classic American means of working for social and political change? A part of the whole picture, and a necessary one. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notes-from-the-8-26-dc-protest/134272/49 "2002-11-01T03:59:54Z")
OK, I got what y’all are protesting, but how about my second question? What is your alternative? Hope that nobody does anything bad to us? Let them prepair with impunity for low-level unconventional warfare? Before anyone jumps on me as a warmonger, let me state my beliefs: I am not against the idea of war against Iraq, but before I wholeheartedly support this one, I need a better justification than has been provided by the Shrub. Sadly, if you read enough news reports, the reasons are there, but without a defined set of goals ( beyond “regime change” ) and a deliniated exit strategy, I think that attacking Iraq is a poor decision. ---
**Author:** ![Soup\_du\_jour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Soup\_du\_jour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup_du_jour)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notes-from-the-8-26-dc-protest/134272/50 "2002-11-01T15:06:08Z")
I was…sort of at the protests. A few friends and I were playing football in the shadow of the Washington Monument. I probably ran past some of y’all. I pretty much agree with the anti-war thing, but the “Don’t Bonb Iraq, Bomb Texas” banners sort of turned me off. Those, and the folks hounding me for not being a Socialist. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notes-from-the-8-26-dc-protest/134272/51 "2002-11-01T15:28:51Z")
**Weirddave:** Alternative? Dude, who needs an alternative, we’ve got a _drum circle!_ ---
**Author:** ![Tygr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df788c/32.png) [@Tygr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tygr)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2002, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notes-from-the-8-26-dc-protest/134272/52 "2002-11-06T15:51:33Z")
> [@](#): > > …energized with the vigor of exercising their right to peaceably assemble and seek redress of grievances Interestingly, I felt this vigor last night when I went to the polls. And look! I get up this morning and find that what I’d done actually DID make a difference… See, THAT’s how things _really_ get done in this country. A peaceful revolution accomplished with nary a drum circle in sight. :: wanders off chuckling :: ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2002, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notes-from-the-8-26-dc-protest/134272/53 "2002-11-06T22:23:43Z")
Duu-de! **toke** Fight the power! **giggle** ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notes-from-the-8-26-dc-protest/134272/54 "2002-11-07T06:37:14Z")
> [@](#): > > See, THAT’s how things really get done in this country. A peaceful revolution accomplished with nary a drum circle in sight. I was listening to **Rage Against the Machine** on my way to the polls…Does that count **Tygr**? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/notes-from-the-8-26-dc-protest/134272.md?page=2)