Daily Kos asks how best to protest the 2004 GOP convention. Gee, I dunno — how do you best protest a legitimate, legal gathering that’s part of the normal flow of American politics when you yourself rest firmly within the political mainstream?
It’s not the protesting itself that strikes me as wrong. I’m all for protesting at political events. But Kos is someone who participates quite actively in the two party system; he really doesn’t have any business arguing that the Republican side of the process shouldn’t happen. If he just wants to protest the timing of the convention, he ought to be a touch more explicit in his wording. “What do you guys think would be the best way to protest the timing of the convention,” perhaps.
And yeah, I do kind of think it’s a Freudian slip. The Democrats are rolling along with an underdog mentality at the moment, which tends to encourage protesting as a primary means of political expression, which is not so healthy even from a practical standpoint. Gotta stand for something, not just against it.
A fair number of the commenters pointed out the flaws inherent in the question, and I don’t think all of them were right-wingers, so there’s perhaps hope yet.
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