While it more than fair for folks on the rightward side of things to point out that when folks on the leftward side of things were out of power that they were more supportive of protests than they are now, it it should also be noted that the folks on on the rightward side of things were likewise far less enamored of protesters when they controlled the White House and Congress.
In short: protests tend to be a tool of those in the minority. They rarely are indicative of a position of strength vis-à-vis that which they are protesting, because if they were in a position of strength regarding said issues they wouldn’t have to protest it in the first place. Such actions tend to be the guerrilla warfare of politics: a tool used by a passionate minority in the hopes that dramatic action against entrenched power will result in swaying the mass public in their direction. Protest movements in a democracy are rather unlikely to be creature of the majority, because again, if the views of the protesters were shared by the majority, they simply would have elected leaders to their liking in the first place, making the need for protest to be otherwise moot.
As such, whether we are talking about anti-Iraq War protesters in 2024, the Tea Bag brigades earlier this year or the anti-health care reform/town hall disrupters of the now, they represent minority positions in the overall panoply of American politics. That doesn’t make any of those groups wrong necessarily, but then again passion and willingness to protest doesn’t make them right either. And, I would note, there is a difference between concern/opposition to Obama’s health care reform and people pushing the “death panel” point of view. Just like there is a difference between vast numbers of citizens having concern over the Iraq War and the specific demands of groups like CODEPINK.
I certainly am in favor of the right of citizens to assemble and to protest as they see fit. However, I also think that disrupting meetings and chanting things like “Just Say No!” isn’t especially productive. Regardless, whether it was Cindy Shaheen camping out in front of Bush’s Crawford Ranch, CODEPINK disrupting political events or whatever, I question the broad representativeness of a given group or the efficacy of the actions in question.
Sphere: Related Content
August 9th, 2024 at 4:09 pm
[...] made a passing reference to Sarah Palin’s “death panel” comment earlier today. It was part of a Facebook [...]
August 9th, 2024 at 7:19 pm
Hmmm, I do not recall any (allegedly) serious candidates for the “out” party presidential nomination, or any (allegedly) serious leaders of the congressional party, being visible in support of protests against the Bush administration.
For instance, when Howard Dean said he was the candidate of “the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party” he did not mean he was going to ride the mass wave led by Cindy Sheahan or ANSWER.
Things are different here, and not just because the parties have traded institutional power.
August 9th, 2024 at 7:55 pm
I have been giving that some thought (i.e., the degree to which all of this is different). I touched on it here, but have not come to a final conclusion about all of it. That post was about the birthers and not the current anti-health care reform protests, but they all strike me as linked.
And point taken about Dean, Shaheen, etc. v. the current opposition.