From: jswitzer@afit.af.mil (Chip Switzer)
Newsgroups: alt.rush-limbaugh,alt.activism.d,alt.politics.elections,alt.politics.bush,alt.politics.clinton,talk.politics.misc
Subject: Re: Walking down to the student center last night
Date: 28 Sep 92 14:36:18 GMT
Organization: Air Force Institute of Technology

hooker@aristotle.ils.mwu.edu ( BOB HOOKER) writes:

>In article <1992Sep25.123734.3353@afit.af.mil>, jswitzer@afit.af.mil (Chip
>Switzer) writes:
>> 
>> hooker@aristotle.ils.mwu.edu ( BOB HOOKER) writes:
>> 
>> >In article <5534@news.duke.edu>, eyc@acpub.duke.edu (EMIL CHUCK) writes:
>> [Abortion stuff deleted]
>> 
>> >Such posters would be more effective then blocking the enterance to a
>> >private property,  envolving underaged children in demonstration and
>> >chaining them to public building,  conspiracy to deny or interefere in the
>> >free exercise of civil rights, etc.
>> 
>> 
>> I am amused by the left's outrage that we conservatives have adopted
>> their very own protest techniques.  Who knows, maybe we'll be shouting
>> down some unwary liberal trying to give a speech next...  But that would
>> be denying him his constitutional rights, wouldn't it?


>1.  My point is not to express the Left outrage at Operation Rescues
>tactics but to restate that they are not working to gain support for their
>cause.  Whether with Left wing or Right wing causes most people like a more
>rational aproach.  

>Remeber the Radical left whcih adopted these types of tactics in the late
>60s and early 70s totally failed to gain it's agenda,  in fact Radicals so
>scared Americans that they helped to turn the balance of power over to
>Nixon. 

>2.  Most Left wing protests I remeber were conducted on public property. 
>For example in the 1960 many civil rights demonstration took place in
>public places that blacks were unconstitutionally forbade to enter.  

In case you are refusing to notice, most OR demonstrations are also on
public property--the street.  This is of course unlike most of the
peace movement's "sit-in" which were indeed on private property or in
a public building where they had no right to be (ie. somebody's office).

>THis type of protest was very different,  and much more constructive, then
>blocking private property.  When Operation Rescue points to the Civil
>Rights movement as validation for what it is doing it forgets this fact.

And you are obviously forgetting some yourself...

>The constitution allows to all people the right to assemble,  but it does
>not gurantee the right to trespass.

Right, like on a military base?  Seems we've had a few trespassers
there.


>In the anti-nuclear and anti-vietnam movement,  often times trespassing was
>used to express a point.  In a free society people must sometimes break the
>laws for what they think is right.   For as much as I dislike Operation
>Rescue I would be musch more alarmed if every member suddenly vanished in
>the middle of the night.  

You start off by saying that the left's protests were done on public
property and OR is trespassing which is the biggest difference between
the two.  Well, OR rarely trespasses, and now you show that the peace
movement did in fact base a great deal of their protests on trespassing.
Is there a point here?

Mine was simply that I hear a lot of complaigning about the tactics
OR uses to demonstrate and these complaints are coming from people
who think it's alright to do these things if it's for *their* cause.
Just more of the same ol' double standard...

-- 

Chip Switzer                            "A witty saying proves nothing." 
jswitzer@afit.af.mil                              -- Voltaire 
Xref: sparky alt.rush-limbaugh:6570 alt.activism.d:3550 talk.abortion:40647