Military ship leaves Port of Olympia, protests end peacefully

[WhiteTara]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Anti_war_Protest.html
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- A ship carrying military gear bound for Iraq pulled away from this Puget Sound port Wednesday evening after a week of protests in which more than three dozen people were arrested.

At least 100 protesters chanted "Stop that boat!" as the 950-foot cargo ship pulled away from a dock at the Port of Olympia.

No protest boats were evident on the water, but armed Coast Guard vessels were standing by to intercept any boats that wandered into the area. There were no arrests.

The demonstrators also staged a brief "die-in" - lying on the ground to illustrate their opposition to the war in Iraq.

"We know we're not going to stop that boat," said Emmeline Hedenburg, 32, who was sprawled out on rocks along the beach. "We're just here to say, on the record, no to cultural imperialism."
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[keopeli]

1. I love this type of protest

It's impact is purely psychological and non-violent.

[shadowknows69]

2. and ultimately useless

[keopeli]

3. It's impact is minor, maybe even negligible, but

the people who pour themselves into this type of protest are so interesting. They're a lot of fun to be with in general and they're usually very knowledgable.

So, when I see this type of protest, it perks my ears as I'm sure it does many others. Hence, the small impact their statement makes.

[Warren Stupidity]

4. I disagree.

To the extent that it gets ANY publicity, good bad or indifferent, it has an effect. Protests break through media imposed conformity, disturbing normalcy with the information that people disagree with the party line.

[shadowknows69]

5. I do agree with you

Just feeling down. I've got those "my government is a dictatorship" blues.

[Warren Stupidity]

6. Just remember that the dictatorships fall

when the people just refuse to listen or obey any more.

[gratuitous]

7. Let the record show not all of us were good Americans . . .

Some of us went to jail, some of us protested in the streets, some of us challenged the administration line. Our major media didn't cover it, and ignored egregious infringements of constitutional rights, but some of us were not good Americans, falling in line behind a bloodthirsty and corrupt imperialistic administration that shouldn't have had delusions of adequacy, let alone delusions of grandeur.