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| Fifth Column |
| "Bum-Rushing the Bulldozers" -- "peace advocates" storm Caterpillar sales office |
| 2004-03-29 |
| by Justin Berton, East Bay Express. EFL. Hat tip: LGF. The reporter treats the Cult of St. Pancake with all the respect it deserves . . . . Like many subversive plots, this one began at a cafe. Beneath a hot sun last week, about forty activists met outside a Starbucks in a San Leandro strip mall, their base camp, before heading toward their true target a few blocks away: the local Caterpillar tractor sales office. The group, Jewish Voice for In front of Peterson Tractor Co., a big green lawn welcomed its visitors. A shining bulldozer with the CAT logo was on display out front, its scoop proudly in the ready-to-plunge position. ". . . like a Zionist vulture feasting on the corpse of Palestinian dreams . . . ." The protest group’s videographer ran onto the grass and stopped behind the machine to get a shot of the activists passing the bulldozer in the background. "It looks so, like, symbolic, y’know." A few tractor salesmen, who were roaming the lot in short-sleeved shirts and ties, watched the line of people pass them by. The videographer hurried for another shot at the front of the line to get the protesters as they entered the office. The square building’s interior was cool from the air conditioning. The lead protesters passed the receptionist’s desk and surrounded the square cubicle station directly behind her, which housed about six file clerks, mostly middle-aged women who wore sensible clothes and had framed pictures of their children on their desks, but were now crowded by strangers reading Jewish prayers and holding lit candles. One clerk stood dumbfounded, a brown file in her right hand dangling at her side, and her mouth gaping open as if thinking: Why do these people have a problem with me? I don’t even work for Caterpillar. A few men in suits and ties came out to the front, then walked back down the hallway and closed their doors. For a few seconds, the activists just stood there. One positioned a large cardboard poster of a smiling Rachel Corrie on the receptionist’s desk. Others decided the candles might set off the fire alarms, and yelled to everyone to blow them out, which merely caused a plume of smoke to waft through the office. Finally, a short man in a yellow oxford shirt appeared and asked the lead organizer to direct his minions to leave the building. The man would identify himself only as a controller, and he pointed out that business was being disturbed. "Caterpillar bulldozers disturb Palestinian lives every day," one protester countered, to applause. "Oh, okay then, I guess you’ve got me there. Stay as long as you like." The lead organizer read his demands aloud. He likened Caterpillar bulldozers to weapons of mass destruction and considered the company culpable in Corrie’s death, then held the company’s shareholders and employees all but responsible for the devastation taking place a hemisphere away. One clerk turned up the volume on her radio. The organizer spoke louder. "In addition, we demand world peace, a Palestinian state, a pony for Christmas, $100 gift certificates to International House of pancakes, . . . ." The workers inside the cubicle believed they were the victims of a misdirected effort. They believed right. One woman said to her colleague, "This isn’t going to help one bit, I tell you that much." Her colleague nodded in agreement, with a look of such bitterness that it seemed as if she’d been forever turned off to the activists’ cause, as if personally insulted by their righteous implications. Why do these people have a problem with me? I don’t even work for Caterpillar. The protesters believed they’d scored a good one. As they exited the office, just ahead of two arriving police officers, they were pumped up with pride. "Did you see that? I Spoke Truth To Power! I Stuck It To The Man, man! I am one kick-ass revolutionary vanguard of the proletariat!" They’d established that yes, this was a serious campaign, and they left with the hope that the yellow-shirted controller would tell his boss all about his uncomfortable afternoon, who would tell his supplier, who would tell his boss, who would tell his, who would tell his. Until one day, Caterpillar stopped selling bulldozers to Israel. . . . and Kubota moved in to fill the vacuum in the market. "Hey, you guys," one female organizer shouted as they left the building, "let’s go back to Starbucks and debrief." "After a hard day of Speaking Truth To Power and Sticking It To The Man, I need a double latte!" |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #18 They sound very proud of themselves. Accomplished nothing, but proud of it. Oh, well. Off to Starbucks! |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-03-29 9:23:54 PM |
| #17 TiVo bad mojo. I'd never reactivate it except for Formula 1, Nasacar, and the Tour de Frog. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-03-29 7:56:26 PM |
| #16 Flagg: Broadsword to Danny Boy... Broadsword to Danny Boy... my dog has fleas, over. |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-03-29 6:15:47 PM |
| #15 Assault of the Kapos. But hey, they will die last. |
| Posted by: VRWconspiracy 2004-03-29 5:45:11 PM |
| #14 Damn no invite? You'd didn't send it to Flagg at DIA I hope? I'm not DIA, nor CID. Mum's the word. Tho I hate missing a good time. Send missives under the codename "Jowls". |
| Posted by: Col Flagg 2004-03-29 5:29:50 PM |
| #13 A few Mates and I all drank ourselves silly on the 16th of March, to celebrate Caterpillar D9 day. Of course we had a picture of Rachel in attendance, which ended up beer soaked and incinerated in the BBQ pit. It was kinda sad though, many gallons of innocent beer, along with quite a few pounds of hog and chicken gave their lives so that we could make merriment and honor the great and wonderful D9 equalizer. God Bless Bull Dozers, female pubic hair, and Wholesome, refreshing, recreational, icey-cold hydraulic sandwiches! |
| Posted by: Bodyguard 2004-03-29 3:04:07 PM |
| #12 Maybe we should demonstrate at Starbucks for allowing these asshats to foment their plans on the chain's premises. Makes as much sense. |
| Posted by: Sofia 2004-03-29 2:35:18 PM |
| #11 Why they weren't arrested for trespassing? One positioned a large cardboard poster of a smiling Rachel Corrie on the receptionist’s desk. No one set it on fire? That's what St. Pancake would have done. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-03-29 1:35:08 PM |
| #10 I once visited a machine shop a small NC town called Winterville to get some plates manufactures for a Sakamura HBP-100. The shop foreman showed me a bunch of parts they were making for Cat. I highly doubt that those clowns on their little field trip from Social Ethics 120 would be well received by the machinists at Winterville Machine. If they taped the confrontation, maybe one of the guys taking a film course could add some "BAM" and "ZAP" graphics like the old Batman TV show. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-03-29 1:24:15 PM |
| #9 Saw a news flash on a local station of demonstrators climbing local trees ... seems we have a catapillar infestation and the protestors are attempting to hold the crawly things accountable for their actions agains the Palestinians. |
| Posted by: Highlander 2004-03-29 1:10:35 PM |
| #8 Oh no, not Weapons of Mass Construction! Hey Mike, the Zionist vulture line was definitely worth the price of admission. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2004-03-29 12:44:50 PM |
| #7 Once more, the loonie liberal left displays its blind ignorance to everything reasonable and sensible. The only thing that particular dealership had in common with Caterpillar sales to Israel is a franchise agreement with the Caterpillar company, and MAYBE a vague memory on the part of one or two of the employees of Rachel Corrie being killed by a bulldozer. Most of the employees probably felt sorry for St. Pancake, until this bunch of fruitcakes came in and distrupted the entire office. What a bunch of total losers. These people must have been "education" majors |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-03-29 12:39:10 PM |
| #6 BH: Thanks for the kind words. There's some Windex in the cabinet under the sink. |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-03-29 12:35:35 PM |
| #5 What if the bulldozers used by the IDF are made by Komatsu? These protestors plan on finding the nearest Komatsu office and conducting their worthless little show there too? |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-03-29 12:17:01 PM |
| #4 Eloquence, thy name is muck. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2004-03-29 12:08:53 PM |
| #3 Great comments, Mike! I sprayed coffee at the Zionist vulture line! |
| Posted by: BH 2004-03-29 12:01:38 PM |
| #2 Uhhh, people who stand in the way of dozers kill themselves. Bye Rachel, you shrieking hate-filled skank |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-03-29 11:39:13 AM |
| #1 buldozer not kill people. people kill people. |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2004-03-29 11:35:03 AM |