Just two comments:1) Are those two young women behind the banner reading a script? That’s a pretty pathetic protest if it needed a script.2) I really like the completely illogical “U.S. out of Chapel Hill & Carrboro” sign. Chapel Hill’s cool, but I would be fine with Carrboro getting out of the U.S. anytime it felt like it.
Intelligent protest is fine, this however, is anything but that. What is to be gained by brandishing dirty bed sheets with paint on them? I dont know.. maybe I’m missing the point.
I’ve never been one for protests, and they don’t often accomplish anything. But I’m fine with that one, as well as the silent walkout I would have been a part of had I not had to go to Congress (though it’s a legitimate point that more could have been gained by staying and asking tough questions during Q & A; it’s my understanding that no one asked about the illegal NSA wiretapping program or Ashcroft’s request to the interim FBI director before 9/11 that he stop telling him about terrorist plots). What I’m not fine with is the interruptions from audience members, who really couldn’t say anything coherent anyway. I thought Ashcroft handled those surprisingly well; I didn’t expect him to acknowledge them. But he shut them down first by simply stopping and letting them have the floor, then with humor and some good points.
Just two comments:1) Are those two young women behind the banner reading a script? That’s a pretty pathetic protest if it needed a script.2) I really like the completely illogical “U.S. out of Chapel Hill & Carrboro” sign. Chapel Hill’s cool, but I would be fine with Carrboro getting out of the U.S. anytime it felt like it.
Intelligent protest is fine, this however, is anything but that. What is to be gained by brandishing dirty bed sheets with paint on them? I dont know.. maybe I’m missing the point.
I’ve never been one for protests, and they don’t often accomplish anything. But I’m fine with that one, as well as the silent walkout I would have been a part of had I not had to go to Congress (though it’s a legitimate point that more could have been gained by staying and asking tough questions during Q & A; it’s my understanding that no one asked about the illegal NSA wiretapping program or Ashcroft’s request to the interim FBI director before 9/11 that he stop telling him about terrorist plots). What I’m not fine with is the interruptions from audience members, who really couldn’t say anything coherent anyway. I thought Ashcroft handled those surprisingly well; I didn’t expect him to acknowledge them. But he shut them down first by simply stopping and letting them have the floor, then with humor and some good points.