rotten kids

I am back to being annoyed with the protestors who came to town for the inauguration. Apparently a group of them decided to wreak havoc on a neighborhood in DC, smashing windows and spray painting buildings. Most of them were from out of town and most of them were young -- in their early and mid-twenties. According to the Washington Post, "One marcher said the property destruction was done for political purposes to protest businesses and institutions responsible for exploitation and oppression."

Shut up.

A few years ago I attended this training for student activists. A number of the students who were there wanted to plan a building takeover to protest a policy at their school. The trainers asked the students if they had bothered to approach the university administrators to ask them for a meeting to present their ideas. Nope. The students seemed more invested in the act of protesting than in determining the most effective way to achieve their goals.

I have said this already. 91 percent of the people who live in Washington DC voted for John Kerry. The percentage in the neighborhood that was vandalized -- Adams Morgan -- is probably even higher. As DC Council Member Jim Graham said, "Adams Morgan is not associated with the Republican Party. We are not the home of George W. Bush."

There is no strategy being employed here. None. In fact, the protestors did damage to the "cause". The media barely bothered to cover the inauguration protestors, and certainly not with any depth. This is the sh*t that stays in people's minds. This is what gets voices of opposition dismissed.