I was a little disappointed in Ed Shultz [sic], who at the end of his talk said, "God bless the troops who are keeping us safe." And I thought, and Daniel later echoed, did he have to say that? Do we have to parrot rightwing memes to set the patriot heart-strings a quiver? With all the gut-wrenching problems that face us and the dire consequences of doing the same old nothing, must we resort to fairy tales and bull---- to inspire the masses? Do we have to create boogeymen who hate us for our freedoms before we get off our asses and do something about global warming, ocean acidification, resource depletion, planet-wide pollution, joblessness, homelessness, increased human suffering and all the rest?
OPOL displayed a deep paranoia about the D.C. police and the possibility the left-wing dissenters would be brutalized or even killed with a missile:
DC is a strange place. One could almost believe that it has more cops than citizens. They are everywhere and ready to swarm at the drop of a hat on anyone who gets out of line. It's the kind of place where you can take a wrong turn and end up in the parking lot of the Pentagon. That happened to us and that place makes me paranoid to the bone. I kept looking over my shoulder for predator drones.
OPOL also missed how street protests used to scare the establishment, but now they are too commonplace, and how the press used to be free:
As our host Wanda mentioned, there is some march or other practically every weekend in DC and it has become old hat for the park police. Limiting access, choking off rebellion, smiting trouble-makers and controlling press coverage is now routine. Aided by a complicit corporate-owned media elite, ignoring and minimizing our protests has become a simple matter. While we once struck fear in their hearts, we barely raise an eyebrow now.
The recommendation: next time, shut DC down.
Teresa Hines Kerry [sic] once told me that if we really wanted to get the government's attention, we should mass on the five bridges leading into DC and shut the city down. I think this is the sort of thing we're going to have to do if we want to have any real impact. Of course they'll freak if we do it and people will be beaten and arrested no doubt. But if we can't face that threat, take that risk and make that sacrifice then we are going to continue to lose. The deck is too thoroughly stacked against us. The only meaningful options left to us, it seems to me, are direct action and wide scale civil disobedience. Without it I fear that we are toast.
[Hat tip: Bob Roberts Fan]