A Horribly Misguided Protester

March 19, 2003 12:30 PM

Sometimes, a Protest Doesn't Work Out Quite Right. Once again, in less than a week, Olympia, WA, the fair city I call home, has made the news because of the actions of a war protester (which Olympia has no shortage of). Though not deadly like the Rachel Corrie incident, it shows the importance of making sure you do your research before you head out to make a statement.
posted by Captain_Tenille (17 comments total)

Somehow, just somehow, comparing a young girl being squished to death by a bulldozer to a clueless guy chaining himself to the wrong building is in very bad taste.
posted by adzuki at 12:47 PM on March 19, 2003

Glad to see that, despite it being nearly ten years since I graduated from The Evergreen State College, very little has changed in Olympia.

BTW, we used to call The Olympian "The Daily Zero".
posted by Shadowkeeper at 12:49 PM on March 19, 2003

"He told employees he'd chained himself to the building in civil disobedience Monday night after listening to President Bush's televised ultimatum to Saddam Hussein...

He had affixed a sign to the building reading, "Reduce Deficit."

Not just the wrong place, but also the wrong sign. Bless his heart, I can't help lovin' him.
posted by taz at 12:51 PM on March 19, 2003

Intelligence. The anti-drug.
posted by PrinceValium at 12:52 PM on March 19, 2003

I wasn't comparing them directly. The only thing they have in common is that both of them were from the same town, and the second story is getting attention too. That's all.

On preview: Shadowkeeper: Yup, very little has changed. We even still call the paper "The Daily Zero", although "The Daily O" is a bit more common. Nobody respects it, in any case. All my friends and I read The New York Times.
posted by Captain_Tenille at 12:56 PM on March 19, 2003

Yeah, cap, this story was hilarious. The Rachel Corrie thing wasn't. So, uh, yayboo.
posted by soyjoy at 1:09 PM on March 19, 2003

grange? coulda been worse. VFW guys, for example, prolly woulda hooked him up to their "40 et 8" parade float locomotive and yanked him off the door and dragged him down main street.
posted by quonsar at 1:16 PM on March 19, 2003

Well, every movement has its clueless idiots. Look at whom the war hawks have....
posted by orange swan at 1:16 PM on March 19, 2003

adzuki> Somehow, just somehow, comparing a young girl being squished to death by a bulldozer to a clueless guy chaining himself to the wrong building is in very bad taste.

The comparisons are very natural, and I don't think this is in bad taste, at all. The only difference is that this story had a humorous ending, rather than tragic.

(It seems to me that some people tend to 'default' into "indignant").

Great story.
posted by cadastral at 1:18 PM on March 19, 2003

cadastral: The only difference is the ending? The girl died doing something she had to have known from the beginning was terribly dangerous. This moron didn't even know what he was doing to start with. There is no comparison besides their hometown their political leanings (which aren't really that similar even since they were protesting different things).
posted by NormieP at 1:44 PM on March 19, 2003

Protester in SF falls off the Golden Gate Bridge.
posted by Frank Grimes at 1:49 PM on March 19, 2003

Captain_Tenille: My apologies if this was not meant as a direct comparison. This apology does not extend to people who do think the stories are simular.

The story itself is pretty funny. Poor guy, he must have been so humiliated.
posted by adzuki at 1:55 PM on March 19, 2003

Protester in SF falls off the Golden Gate Bridge.

Oh, great. Just when we were so clear on the line between silly and tragic.
posted by soyjoy at 2:44 PM on March 19, 2003

At least he can take solace in the fact that he's made as much of a difference as every other person out protesting.

(If someone finds my youthful idealism, can they email me and let me know where I lost it?)
posted by Mayor Curley at 3:05 PM on March 19, 2003

Just when we were so clear on the line between silly and tragic.

I wasn't aware that those two things were mutually exclusive.
posted by Ty Webb at 3:31 PM on March 19, 2003

1. IDF (Is. Def. Force) warned all about them that this was a war zone and that they should not be there.
2. The house being destroyed belonged to a member of a terror organization, Hamas, an avowed enemy of Israel.
3. The UN says that that which many called "occupied land" is in fact "contested land."
4. Name a country that gave back land taken in war without getting a peace agreement or some sort of settlement in advance (other than for strategic purposes).
5. The UN resloutions also note that Israel has the right to just and secure peaceful borders.
6. Have you seen the many photos of the young lady teaching young Arab children how to burn an Israeli flag? Now it is her right to burn flags, but to have her used as some symbol, martyr, for a cause is to bring into question how her death is being used.
posted by Postroad at 4:41 PM on March 19, 2003

Postroad, none of that justifies running her over with a bulldozer.
posted by subgenius at 5:33 PM on March 19, 2003