March 21, 2003
1,400 Arrests in SF protest

If these people really want to accomplish something, they should take their protests to Walnut Creek. Repeatedly disrupting downtown San Francisco will not stop the war, it will only encourage ordinary people and their businesses to move to suburbia. That not only damages San Francisco but it entrenches what they see as "the establishment" in places that are much harder to influence.

A far more effective protest would be to get everyone in cars and stall 'em all on a major suburban freeway. At least it would be non-violent. Idiots who think smashing windows will accomplish anything deserve what they get.

Posted at 4:35 AM | Comments (1)
Category: General Thoughts



 Comments on this article:

Wouldn't the ideal protest hinder the workings of the group you are protesting against without causing problems to the rest of the populace? Stalling cars on the freeway, while not causing the urban chaos that you dread, would keep families apart, disrupt emergency traffic, and generally sway public opinion against your cause.

I work near Washington, D.C. and I found that this is a good example of what NOT to do. Many people sympathetic to the anti-war movement assumed that this was just another anti-war protest that just happened to add another 2 hours to their commute without ending the war.

Posted by: Ben Shayne on April 19, 2003 10:08 AM