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 We MUST Stage Protests - Part One Lisa Thomas, page 1 07/01/01 No, no, no! That is NOT what we're trying to do. We would be pretty naive if such a process even crossed our minds. We protest for the passer-by, for the observer. Most people in this country have almost no idea of what's happened to our democracy. They have little idea of what Bush is doing. The right has not been able to keep hidden that the Bush agenda favors corporations and the wealthy. THAT is about the only weapon we have; that one's out of the bag. But the details are NOT to be learned by watching CNN Headline News. And most people think they are well informed if they watch 30 minutes of news a day and maybe one weekend show. They are living under the assumption that what they hear in those 4 hours a week is fact. WHEN WE VISIBLY PROTEST, we begin to crack that assumption. People already know that some don't think the election was fair, but many dismiss it. Each time, however, they see a demonstration, they are reminded. After enough reminders, their faith in what they are gathering in their 4 hours a week is shaken. It is said (in some forgotten but scholarly journal) that a human has to be exposed to a simple piece of knowledge 17 times before he firmly lodges it into his store. EVERY TIME WE ARE SEEN PROTESTING, especially if we do it in a way that impresses neutral passers-by, we make their simple assumptions a little less comfortable. If we pass out well-written, accurate information, we hit the assumptions with a wider hammer. After a time, the cracks will lead to EXACTLY WHAT WE WANT: Questioning. Because we DO have the truth on our side, once the observers start questioning, we have them. Jim Baker stood on national TV last November and repeated ad nauseum one of the greatest lies in U.S. history. Referring to the recounting of the vote, he gave tired half-smug smiles and said, "We've counted all the votes. Then we've counted them all a second time, then a third. How many time does Mr. Gore want them counted?" People watched Baker, not knowing there is no law against lying on TV, and since "it was on CNN" they took it as the truth. Now, almost 8 months later, very few of them know that it was NOT "Mr. Gore" calling for the re-count. It was Florida law. And according to the results of the Washington Post study, there are 1.52 million votes that HAVE NEVER BEEN RECOUNTED even once! This is the kind of information WE have. It is the kind of weapon the lying Rightwing fears. In the heads of neutrals, the myth is cracked with accurate information such as this. That's the path - from assumption to correct information. They won't get it from the media, and few people read anymore. It's not going to fall from the sky. WE ARE ALL THERE IS. We get the information out there and prevail, or we let it remain buried and we risk losing our democracy forever. AFTER the information has been disbursed, then there is time and people for boycotts and tv discussions. But we must first chip, then crack at the assumptions. And there IS no other way than to stage visible protests. Take it from those of us who protested civil rights in the sixties, the Vietnam lies in the seventies. We MUST visibly protest. Music and the paraphernalia helps, sure, as in the 60s, but the real meat of what we're doing is the same game plan of every speaker from the first one who ever stepped up on a rock to address his tribe to our current protestors: We are GETTING THE ATTENTION of the listeners. Then we are chipping away at his false information by giving him correct information. The need is simple. We must disburse information. To do so we must gather the attention of those to whom we are ready to give it. Lisa Mad Grandparents for Justice 
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