Walter Banks wrote:
> My morning rant. I don't own Nike stock. After running the
> gauntlet of protesters one time more than enough a couple
> years ago I decided to find out if they knew what they
> were talking about.

I've often watched various protests on tv and wondered if the "nuts" were
actually on to something. They certainly don't portray themselves as being of
sound mind. Of course I also wondered if they knew how crazy they appear and
whether they would do something different if they did know.

Then one summer I had a roomate who's girlfriend held an occupation that could
only be described as "professional protestor". She lived in DC with a group of
others in the same profession, sort of a mix between a convent and a bunch of
hippies. They essentially made a living by adding manpower to organized
protests. It didn't really matter what the protest was about (within limits, I
think they were/are a Christian group), they filled in wherever they were
needed. And they weren't just extra bodies, generally they were the really crazy
people, the ones you see the police hauling away on the news.

The thing that I think suprised me the most was her complete ignorance of public
opinion, which seemed odd since protests are ostensibly about swaying public
opinion. The idea that the actions of her group might undermine the credibility
of the cause(s) that they protest for was a completely alien concept to her. I
found that out when I asked if she (or members of her group) realized that they
tend to appear rather ridiculous. Again, clueless.

I still don't know if I should bother paying attention to protesters in general,
but knowing that such a group exists, and gets a lot of business, seriously
undermines their credibility in my eyes.

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