Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Tanks for Da Memories...
Via Madison Indymedia comes a report the arrest of a protester. 
It is unclear whether or not his protest or the Wausau Wisconsin National Guard was sponsored by Coca-Cola. I'm picking not.
According to the comments on the posting,
If the above were true, I suspect George W. Bush would be sacking his current PR firm! Notwithstanding this, it does raise the question of whether getting arrested merely to bring attention to your cause is smart.
I would argue no. A Google search and various other combination searched for the incident shows the media reported nothing. So, no attention and a criminal record. Worth it? You decide.
Subsequently, comparisons are made to the civil rights movement. Excuse me, but this is a guy sitting on his ass on a tank. Admittedly it's a lot better than other activist "actions" of smashing windows and burning buildings, but seriously, is this really as noble as getting arrested for freedom?
Sounds a bit self-righteous of the poster.
Readers will also be pleased to learn (via Madison Indymedia comments) that:
Wayne Olson who served both in the Army Airborne and Marine Corps during the Vietnam War was arrested for disorderly conduct charges after he would no remove himself from on top of the Wausau's Wisconsin Nation Guard decommissioned tank in front of the armory building.
According to the comments on the posting,
He could have just legally protested, but that wouldn’t have has the same effect. The point of his protest was to get arrested. Protests always get more attention if there’s an arrest, especially if the protest consists of one person.Interesting. After a comment that "if the message is worth hearing, it will be heard without the gimmicks", the discussion then turns to whether or not his protest would have been reported otherwise by the "corporate media who does PR work for the White House".
If the above were true, I suspect George W. Bush would be sacking his current PR firm! Notwithstanding this, it does raise the question of whether getting arrested merely to bring attention to your cause is smart.
I would argue no. A Google search and various other combination searched for the incident shows the media reported nothing. So, no attention and a criminal record. Worth it? You decide.
Subsequently, comparisons are made to the civil rights movement. Excuse me, but this is a guy sitting on his ass on a tank. Admittedly it's a lot better than other activist "actions" of smashing windows and burning buildings, but seriously, is this really as noble as getting arrested for freedom?
Sounds a bit self-righteous of the poster.
Readers will also be pleased to learn (via Madison Indymedia comments) that:
from a fellow vet, thank you wayne. we have more domestic enimies to the constitution than foriegn !Death to the 'enimies' of capital letters.
