Old man yells at cloud
So funny I may burst into tears: AT&T, which is probably responsible for more annoying, unsolicited telemarketing calls than any other company in the US, has been selected to manage the FTC’s new nationwide “do not call” list, designed to REDUCE the number of telemarketing calls. Government in action, I guess…
By the way, I forgot to point you toward Mark’s essay on domestic terrorism in San Francisco. It’s a good read; of course, I got to hear it in person, with musical accompaniment…
This morning, I received an emailed form letter from some idiot taking me to task for supporting the protests in San Francisco and “giving comfort to the enemy” or some such claptrap. It was pretty much the last thing I expected since I made a pretty loud statement AGAINST the protesters earlier this week. It’s proof, I guess, that there are lunkheads on all sides of this issue…
I ain’t leaving the house today, what with Hypocritical Mess being joined by Bikes Not Bombs (I’ve decided to join forces with the guy next door who fixes timepieces and start a group called “Clocks Not Clichés”), the Giants season-opener, and a whole lot of ill-timed construction starting all at once…
Anyone interested in starting a “help David and Mark escape San Francisco” fund?
I’ve been filled with a rather seething rage for the past week or so and haven’t really had the time nor the attention span to write about it. I’m not thrilled about this war thing, which should be rather obvious. No sane person gets all gushy and excited about the prospect of war; it’s a dirty — if sometimes necessary — business. But my opinion on the war is irrelevant; my beef is with the protesters who are hell-bent on taking San Francisco hostage by deciding that their “right” to “free speech” supercedes the rights of thousands of others to live their lives and support their families…
And I’m outraged that very few local commentators seem to recognize the precedent we’re setting by allowing this to happen. Sure, there are plenty of tepid condemnations (“While I understand their frustration, I don’t wholeheartedly endorse their actions, even though I sympathize with them.”) and occasional outbursts by overgrown frat boys who have no more understanding of law and order than the protesters they condemn, but disturbingly few powerful voices in San Francisco have had the courage to point out that the terrorist acts committed here last week are unaccpetable, period. I don’t give a good goddamn about whatever “good intentions” the protesters (and their wimpy defenders) may think they have. It bothers me greatly that Willie Brown seems to be the most sensible politician in town this week…
The day before the protests last week, I wrote this rant, and I’m just getting around to posting it today. I still think it holds up pretty well. If you don’t want the long version, a synopsis would include the following:
On the lighter side, the DVD releases of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and the first season of “Futurama” (released yesterday) are quite wonderful and are highly recommended. A sense of humor is a good thing…
I’ll admit that, on some level, I’m considerably more concerned about the protests against the war than with the actual war itself. The self-righteousness and groupthink are becoming a little deafening, at least in San Francisco, where no good (or bad) war goes unpunished. It’s encouraging, though, that our city has at least taken a little break from its four decades of Vietnam War protests in order to focus on something a little more current.
The current trend in protests seems to involve inconveniencing as many people as possible without regard to who these people might be. The idea, I assume, is to draw attention to the issue by forcing people to stop living their lives in peace for a time. It’s a strategy which is doomed to backfire.
Backlash? Backfire?
Take Critical Mass (or “Hypocritcal Mess” as a friend who biked to work for years calls it) for example. Once a month, cyclists take to the streets, snarl traffic, and generally make life miserable for anyone trying to leave downtown San Francisco. A very high proportion of those inconvenienced are the very transit commuters and pedestrians with whom the bike crowd SHOULD be forming coalitions. I’ve talked to dozens of people whose position on the issue of accommodating bicycles has changed because of these demonstrations. To a one, they’ve all become LESS tolerant of cyclists as a result. A result, definitely, if not quite the intended one.
The war protests may have similar results. Aside from the tediousness of the rhetoric, the same old cliches, and the extremely partisan nature of the demonstrations, people are just plain going to get tired of being inconvenienced on a regular basis. And a lot of people — like it or not — are just not sufficiently sophisticated to separate their feelings about the protesters and their feelings about the issue at hand.
Arrogant Self-appointed Guardians…
Every time I hear a protester babbling about how “we just don’t feel life can proceed normally in the midst of this crisis” or whatever such claptrap, I think of how presumptuous it is for them to make that decision about my life for me. It must take a very, ummm, self-assured individual to justify such a level of uncloaked arrogance.
The plan to shut down the Financial District will ultimately present, at best, a mild inconvenience to the powerful ones (all rich people except Hollywood stars are warmongerers, right?) and the large corporations. It may, however, prove a tremendous burden to working people in the restaurants and coffee shops who can’t really afford to take an unpaid day off work because their workplaces are shut down by a peace protest they may or may not care to join. I guess, though, that this qualifies as “collateral damage”.
Again, the level of arraogance shown here is just plain alarming. What right do these people have to impede on other people’s need to earn a living, or to do anything else for that matter? The stock answer is that “the government has no right to affect my life by engaging in war either”. Bullshit. We elected the government to make decisions for us. Who the hell elected you to do anything?
Your right to break the law does not supercede my right not to. Whether you’re blocking an abortion clinic, an intersection, or a federal building, you’re breaking the law, and neither your sense of moral superiority and urgency, nor your “good intentions” can change that fact. You’re illegally infringing upon the rights of others who are legally going about their business. And if you have the gall to suggest it’s OK for you to do it and not for someone with whom you disagree, you’re the lowest form of hypocrite.
Terrorists. Period…
Last but not least, there’s the black bloc, a collection of self-described “anarchists” who feel that the war is a spiffy excuse for trashing businesses and personal property. They’re a microscopic minority, but the tepid condemnations by some protest organzers suggest that (a) they will grow in number, and (b) the organizers in question are not entirely opposed to their actions.
They’re nothing less that terrorists and should be prosecuted as such. Enough said.
A Bill of Goods…
Perhaps the most annoying aspect of the peace protests is the set of assumptions made about anyone who does not offer full and complete support. It’s just assumed that anyone who is opposed to the war both will want to participate in demonstrations and will support the entire package, from impeaching Bush to freeing Mumia. Granted, this isn’t a stretch for a group which believes its opinions supercede the rights of an entire city, but how different is this, really, from the right-wing belief that anyone who questions the war or the government is a treasonous coward?
If you’re against the war, at least have the moral conviction to be an individual for peace; don’t hide behind some irrelevant illusion of a “united community” which really doesn’t exist. And feel free to pick and choose among your issues. Don’t assume that as an environmentalist or a homosexual or an artists, you are morally bound to support a whole slate of issues which really have nothing to do with the aforementioned characteristics.
My opinion on the war is irrelevant; this is about protesters who bastardize the concept of “free speech”. I’m speaking my mind. I am not, however, keeping anyone from earning his living. We are fortunate to have the right to free speech in the United States. This right to speech does not, however, come with a related right to disrupt the lives of random strangers in the street.
I worked with the public for many years and frankly, I’ve always been amazed with just how stupid some people can be. I mean really, gut-wrenchingly, pitifully stupid. Like, for example the woman who emailed me today from the supermarket site, telling me she needed her employment information so she could get food stamps. Apparently, she thought my supermarket history site was the official site for whatever store she used to work for, and she mailed me her name, her social security number, and a world of other personal information…
I get stuff like this every week (job applications, complaints about bad service at some store in Pocatello, whatever) from people who just can’t be bothered to read one line which might tell them that they’re contacting the wrong person. And these disclaimers are in very large letters at the top and bottom of EVERY PAGE, not to mention an ever bigger one on the contact page…
I wrote back, politely even, stating that I couldn’t help her and suggesting she might want to be a bit more careful about who she provided with such sensitive information. All the while, I was thinking that her utter cluelessness and lack of any discernible attention span (reading comprehension? sense of context?) might have a lot to do with why she’s applying for food stamps right now. I was nice, however, and didn’t share this opinion with her because I figured she had enough trouble already…
More “idiot of the week” awards: