bill stoddard wrote chuck murcko wrote heh ten years ago saying the exact same words was most definitely not parroting the party line it was even less so thirty years ago my story remains the same take it or leave it i ve said the same words to white supremacists as to suburban leftist punks as to homeys as to french irish etc etc i don t have to agree with anything you say i am obligated to defend to the death your right to say it i don t give a rat s ass where you say it even in france i don t care where the political pendulum has swung currently chuck i had to laugh at rumsfield yesterday when he was heckled by protestors he said something like they couldn t do that in iraq meanwhile from what i could tell the protestors were being arrested owen trying to shoutdown a speaker or being loud and rowdy while someone else is trying to speak in the vernacular getting in their face is rude and disrespectful and persistently getting in someones face is assault a criminal offense if these people have something to say they can say it with signs or get their own venue and here is something else to chew on these protesters are not interested in changing anyones mind about what rumsfield is saying how likely are you to change someone s mind by being rude and disrespectful to them is this how to win friends and influence people either these folks are social misfits who have no understanding of human interactions else they would try more constructive means to get their message across or they are just out to get their rocks off regardless of how it affects other people and that is immoral at best and downright evil at worst bill polite and respectful protest is acceptable then no dumping tea in the harbour or anything like that i think the primary purpose of loud and rowdy protests is to get on television and that the tactics can be justified as a reaction to a systematic removal of alternative viewpoints from that medium on the other hand it was a priceless tv moment there was nothing resembling assault and the protestors were not in anybody s face at least in my understanding of the vernacular and no being rude and disrespectful is not the way to influence politicians but the standard way of using lobbyists and writing checks is beyond many of us owen 