I confess I'm more than a little irritated by way "mainstream" media is covering the right-wing protests demanding that governors "open up" their states to additional viral infection. Horror of horrors -- "conservative leaders and groups" have been "quietly working to nurture protests and apply political and legal pressure ..."
Well, yeah, there's an organized right wing in this country with rich sponsors and tentacles that run all the way through the White House. And yes, gun nuts, and domestic Nazis, and white supremacists, and deluded libertarians live within networks that can be mobilized to protest. That's how protests happen -- through organization. No protest springs full blown from an accidental coalescence of isolated individuals. Somebody organizes the event. Organized protest is not a conspiracy -- it is manifestation of collective organization, however much I may think a particular instance is bullshit.
These are bullshit of course. They have nothing like majority support. Most of us are still more scared of dying from a virus than not being able to get our hair cut. And, consequently, we think our governors who have closed things down are on the right track.
If the media want to cover organized protests, how about paying attention to protesters who have tried to comply with social distancing rules while making their point? There's been creativity among these activists. Here are folks in San Francisco demanding that vulnerable unhoused people receive the option of testing and be moved by city government into our empty hotels.
Or there is this: Israeli citizens carefully keeping social distance while standing up against Premier Benjamin Netanyahu's attempt to cement impunity for his corruption. Organizers carefully marked out separated spaces for each participant. Now that's doing the work of responsible protest in this novel moment!
Well, yeah, there's an organized right wing in this country with rich sponsors and tentacles that run all the way through the White House. And yes, gun nuts, and domestic Nazis, and white supremacists, and deluded libertarians live within networks that can be mobilized to protest. That's how protests happen -- through organization. No protest springs full blown from an accidental coalescence of isolated individuals. Somebody organizes the event. Organized protest is not a conspiracy -- it is manifestation of collective organization, however much I may think a particular instance is bullshit.
These are bullshit of course. They have nothing like majority support. Most of us are still more scared of dying from a virus than not being able to get our hair cut. And, consequently, we think our governors who have closed things down are on the right track.
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| Brooke Anderson photo |
Or there is this: Israeli citizens carefully keeping social distance while standing up against Premier Benjamin Netanyahu's attempt to cement impunity for his corruption. Organizers carefully marked out separated spaces for each participant. Now that's doing the work of responsible protest in this novel moment!
 |
| Haaretz photo by drone |
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