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| -Land of the Free |
| Summer Soldiers |
| 2017-05-01 |
| [TheZman] Street protests and street theater are largely useless as political tactics in the modern age. A century ago, a gaggle of prim-faced scolds marching through the middle of town, demanding the end of alcohol, not only got people’s attention, it changed their minds about the issue. The street protests projected strength and suggested that the numbers on the side of the marchers were larger than assumed. The men in charge responded by giving women the franchise and banning alcohol. The downward spiral started soon after. Today, people know that the street protest is a made for TV event and that the “protesters” are often paid to show up and make noise. Alternatively, it is assumed that the true believers are batshit crazy and best ignored. In other words, it’s just another TV show in an age where we are awash in TV shows. For the most part, the street protest is for weak losers desperate for attention. The only impact they have on the larger public is to confirm that the “movement” is impotent and can be ignored. That does not mean street theater is entirely worthless. The alt-right showing up at Berkeley to beat up the Antifa losers was entertaining and it did scare the people in charge of the place. So much so they moved heaven and earth to block Ann Coulter’s speech last week. Make no mistake, the reason the school went to all this trouble is they feared a bunch of dudes in home made battle gear beating the hell out of the Potemkin Protesters the Left now hires to do their protesting for them. A replay would be embarrassing. Berkeley is the epicenter of West Coast progressive lunacy so for the true believers at the center of the hive to feel this uncertain is suggestive. They have been in charge for so long they just take it for granted. The narrative says they are the ones in the street fighting the man. When the roles are flipped and they are suddenly the man, their go to move is to shut it all down. They have no choice, as to do otherwise would mean facing up to the reality of their situation and that’s never going to happen with true believers. The real lesson, the one most useful to the alt-right, is seeing the controlled opposition confirm what many have been pointing out for years now. As soon as things got a little tough, the College Republicans folded their tents and blamed the “extremists” of the alt-right. The Young American Foundation, a Conservative Inc. racket to recruit college students, made a show of “defending free speech” but made sure they did not offer any material support. It was just another way to raise money for their racket. More at the link |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #5 Good read |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2017-05-01 20:40 |
| #4 Just a variant on Reality TV. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2017-05-01 12:15 |
| #3 The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country...and the Winter Soldier. As z-man said, these riots on TV are just another competing TV program. People are satiated and weary of this. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2017-05-01 09:59 |
| #2 The most effective pieces of street theater have been those in which some of the protesters got hauled off to the hospital or the morgue: Selma, Kent State, etc. Putting on black masks and forming a mob to threaten Heather McDonald and Ann Coulter puts the left in the Bull Connor position. That doesn't draw a lot of sympathy. Even that young "lady" who ate a fist for the cause a couple of weeks ago got more of a "What a maroon!" reaction. |
| Posted by: Matt 2017-05-01 09:49 |
| #1 His writing style is extremely... pleasant. My favorite phrase was "Geriatric hairballs" from back in the GD those hippies argument. |
| Posted by: newc 2017-05-01 01:17 |