New & Improved Antifa Head Gear

Comrades and comradettes of Antifa -- if you want to crack a suspected fascist's skull, or throw a bottle of urine at a pig while staying safe from those pesky cell phone videographers, then the new and improved Invisibilty Helmet is just what you need!

Get one today and be your stylish and anonymous best as you take to the streets to thump white supremacists, Trump supporters or any innocent bystanders that cross your path.
 

Street Fighting Men

Click image to enlarge

Above is Gustave Doré's The Enigma. It shows a battle field, with dead soldiers scattered in the foreground. Chillingly, mixed with ther soldiers' corpses are also the bodies of a family -- a father, mother, and two children -- embracing each other in death. The battle seems to have moved on, for in the background we see smoke rising from the flames of further conflict.

In the center foreground, as the focus of the painting, are two metaphysical beings: an angel and a sphinx. They stare intently at each other, almost in an embrace. If you look up information on the painting it was done in the aftermath of France losing the Franco-Prussian war and the angel represents France in defeat and the sphinx is posing the unanswerable riddle, "why war?"

Before reading Doré's explanation of the painting, I thought of the two mythical creatures as the prime movers of the conflict. The two forces that were behind the seemingly endless and ever spreading battle. In the middle of that chaos they confront each other, touch each other, as if their arousal by the violence was the purpose of it all.

Well, yeah, I read the painting wrong, but for this post I'll go with the wrong reading. 

I've watched a number of videos of antifa and the hard cases on the alt-right; and by hard cases of the alt-right I don't mean Trump supporters protesting, I mean the type that go to protests intending to punch back at the antifa goons. The videos are ugly, with both sides circling each other like barking dogs working up the courage to lunge in and bite.

Politics and current events aside, at a certain level both groups are just street fighters looking for a brawl. It is what they want to do, and they need each other to do it. They are like the angel and the sphinx in my misreading of Doré's painting, lovingly embracing each other oblivious of the carnage around themselves.

Sadly, we are the carnage. We need to push them all back to the fringe, and not at the focus which they more and more dominate. We will all suffer the longer the thugs run wild. 

Stratfor and Evan Rachel Wood

In this Stratfor article Ben West examines protest as being on the continuum of civil unrest just below insurgency. Using that model, he examines how a successful protest movement can be grown from a small start to a movement that can threaten sitting governments.

Not until very late in the article does he make the distinction between protests in open democratic countries compared to totalitarian ones. I think, since he is principally talking about protest movements against repressive states, that it would have helped the article had he made that point earlier.

As an aside, Commentarama had an entertaining post, How To Stop A Revolution, about the July 4th Occupy protest in Philedelphia getting side-tracked by a Ben and Jerry's ice cream truck handing out free ice cream. It is worth a read.

Back to the Stratfor article, it is excerpted below, with a link to the full article at the end of the excerpt.

Of course protest naturally bring to mind hippies, and so for the article's Hot Stratfor Babe I scoured the multitude of hippy protest movies to find a suitable candidate. After an extensive search, and ponering the matter carefully, I decided that Evan Rachel Wood deserved the honor for her starring role in the movie Across the Universe.

Strictly speaking, I've never actually seen the movie, I've only seen bits and pieces of it when I click through channels so I can't vouch for certain that there is a protest in it. However, from what I've seen it is chock full of Beatles music and knee deep in hippies, so I assume there is a protest in it some where or other.

As for Ms Wood, she started out on television as a child actress and transitioned to movies when she was a teen. Her acting ability is well regarded, so she seems to be making a successful transition to an adult actress as she splits her time between movies and TV.


Protest Movements as Political Strategy
By Ben West, July 6, 2012

Recent protests throughout Sudan are the latest in an ongoing trend of protest movements around the world, from Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Egypt to oil workers in Norway and opposition parties in Thailand. Protests have proved an effective strategy against autocratic regimes, political repression and austerity measures. As with insurgency strategy, protests rely on underlying support from the population rather than on superior weapons. Both insurgency and protests are forms of asymmetric opposition in which the insurgents or protesters cannot succeed by using force to overwhelm the state but must find (or create) and exploit specific weaknesses of the state.

However, protest movements are not as aggressive as insurgencies. Violence is integral to insurgent strategy, but protest movements may be simply a negotiation tactic to extract concessions from a state or a corporation. Strikes are one of the most common forms of protest used to leverage labor resources for higher wages or more benefits. Thousands of protests, such as strikes, occur around the world every week. Most are small and insignificant outside the protesters' community. In order to address the geopolitical importance of protest movements, this analysis will focus on protests intended to create political change.

Sometimes protests can spur insurgencies. In the case of Syria, civilians congregated in the streets and public places to call for political change. As the state's responses became increasingly violent, elements of the movement formed a militia that began a parallel insurgency. As violence escalated in Syria, insurgent tactics eventually replaced protest tactics.

Not all protests evolve into insurgencies, though. Some are repressed by the regime, while others are able to achieve their objectives through other means. The ultimate challenge of analyzing protest movements is to distinguish between movements that could successfully change the order of a country and movements that fizzle after grabbing a few headlines. Stratfor distinguishes the two by looking at the tactics a given group of protesters uses and the strategic imperatives of the state against which the protesters are demonstrating.

Protest Tactics

Protest movements usually start with far fewer resources and far less organization than the established entity against which they are protesting. They are fighting an asymmetric battle against a state that has far more resources to use against protesters. For example, the April 6 movement that was behind Egypt's 2011 protests got its name from April 6, 2008, the day Egyptian authorities clamped down on a fledgling political youth movement with a series of arrests. The Egyptian state was able to end the 2008 protest movement relatively quietly; this is how most protest movements end.

Those groups that do survive must have a fluid yet responsive organizational capability, and they must control the perception of what they -- and their opponents -- stand for.

Organization

Organizing protests becomes increasingly dangerous as the movement becomes more successful. Most authorities will tolerate a certain amount of activism because it is seen as a way to let off steam. They appease the protesters by letting them think that they are making a difference -- as long as the protesters do not pose a threat. But as protest movements grow, authorities will act more aggressively to neutralize the organizers. Sincere protest movements may prove successful if they can survive a round of arrests, a baton charge from the police or a counterprotest from government supporters.

Another element to look for in protest organization is the unity of message. Using the same slogans and carrying mass-produced signs, especially if the protesters are in multiple cities, shows a level of unity that indicates a single organizer, whether that be an individual or a committee. The centralization of a protest movement is key because it means better coordination and swifter decision-making in response to obstacles. And later on, if the protest movement is successful, there is an individual or small group of individuals who can exploit the power generated by the protest movement for political gains.

The level of discipline shown by the members is another important indicator of a movement's organization. It is absolutely critical that a protest movement maintain the moral high ground; otherwise it is too easy for their opponents to smear the protesters as thieves, thugs or hooligans. Once protest movements number in the tens or hundreds of thousands it is impossible for organizers to enforce discipline themselves. However, organizers can recognize the importance of discipline and instill a zero-violence rule across the movement, while relying on grassroots security efforts to enforce it.

Protest movements become successful when large groups of people gather, yet abstain from the obvious power they have to loot, steal or commit other crimes in the chaos of street protests. That abstention shows discipline, and discipline indicates control over what is effectively a civilian army.

Perceptions

In the beginning, protest organizers must overcome the authorities' attempts to disperse the movement as well as the movement's initial lack of legitimacy. Protest movements typically start small and represent a fringe opinion. In order to increase the movement's numbers, organizers have to convince others that their interests are best pursued through protest. One way to do this is to make the smaller demonstrations appear larger in order to convince people that the protests represent the interest of more of a majority.

Read more: Protest Movements as Political Strategy | Stratfor

Consensus via jazz hands

Sorry to have two back to back protest posts, but the above scene from Atlanta is just too silly to pass up commenting about. It records a discussion by the Occupy Atlanta assembly about allowing John Lewis to speak to the group.  Their procedure is to allow somebody to suggest a consensus, and then allow other people to propose "blocks" to the consensus and then thrashing it out from there.

What makes the process seem pretty ridiculous is they overcome the problem of amplification for the speakers by having the crowd repeat what they say so that all can hear. The result is something like this:

Bob: Hi, my name is Bob
Crowd: Hi, my name is Bob
Bob: I am here to propose
Crowd: I am here to propose
Bob: that we form a consensus
Crowd: that we form a consensus
Bob: to allow John Lewis to speak
Crowd: to allow John Lewis to speak

It is all very earnest in a daft sort of a way, but it ends up being unintentionally funny, not to mention faintly creepy, because it sounds like some sort of a banal liturgy. Plus, watching John Lewis trying to disguise the "WTF???" expression on his face through the whole process adds another layer of humor to the proceedings.

To add to the goofiness of the assembly the participants are admonished not to applaud because it might prevent somebody next to them from hearing all of the chanted speechifying. Instead they're supposed to silently raise their hands and wiggle their fingers to show approval. The result is you have this broken speak a phrase followed by it being chanted all the time with a sea of wiggling jazz hands in the foreground.  

(HT, commenter BevfromNYC from the Commentarama post Occupy Wall Street...sort of - Part II)

Not exactly storming the Bastille

A zombie takes a break from Occupying to chow down on some pizza

One of the odder stories out of the Days of Rage/Occupy Wall Street protest was Saturday's attempt to storm the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. The demonstrators tried to enter the museum with placards and banners, were told those were not allowed, got in a scuffle with the guards and ended up getting pepper sprayed.

Early reports didn't say why the museum had been targeted. Later it was reported that yet another protest group, this one calling itself Rage Against the Machine, was attempting to protest an exhibit about drone aircraft at the museum. The new name is irrelevant, it is clear to one and all that this group is just another facet of Days of Rage/Occupy Wall Street.

It has been entertaining watching the media trying to spin the protests as as something new and wondrous under the sun and as a spontaneous eruption of the grief of the average American. To buy that is to ignore that obvious -- that these are just boilerplate leftist protests. 

Gateway Pundit has video from the Smithsonian protest. If you watch it you've seen it all before, the combination of geriatric old hippies and student anarchists with a leavening of unionistas chanting "shame, shame, shame" and "the whole world is watching" as they try to occupy a public space. It is the same template as Wisconsin earlier this spring. In fact, the woman who got pepper sprayed at the Smithsonian today was from Madison, Wisconsin.

One of the problems they face is that, no matter how many times they duck the questions about what they stand for, they can't conceal just how incoherent their message is. If you're mad at the Wall Street bailout shouldn't you be mad at the President and Party that delivered it? If you're oppressed by crony capitalism shouldn't the name Solyndra appear on your signs? In the name of social justice shouldn't the hundreds of Mexican casualties from stimulus funded guns be decried?

Of course, none of that is on the tips of their tongues. Instead, when asked you get a litany of bad student loans, foreclosures and their unemployment running out. Something tells me the so-called 99% are protesting to get me to get a second job to pay for their fiscal stupidity.

It is October, the Unions will spend their money but the weather will still turn. In a few weeks the crowds will dribble away from Zuccotti Park until only the bums and dead-ender protesters are the ones still there. It won't matter. It will only mean that the moveable feast has moved on.

Finally, here's a sickening thought to end this post -- when Jimmy Carter lost he was put to pasture because he had no constituency left, but if Obama loses he'll still be a political entity because of these nincompoops. Just imagine all the fun and games that will lead to.
  

The moveable feast

Things have quited down in Wisconsin (photo by Althouse)

In the spring Madison, Wisconsin was the epicenter of left/progressive protesting. As you can see in the picture above, taken from the post Late Saturday morning, at the Capitol at Ann Althouse's blog, things have quieted down considerably in Madison. Tourists have returned to the Capitol rotunda while the drums, chanting and protest signs have moved on.

The Wisconsin protests started as Union protest over Gov. Walker's plan to limit their ability to collective bargain. As I've mentioned several times, the problem the Unions had was they didn't have enough boots on the ground to sustain a protest. To compensate for that they opened their ranks to any and all progressive causes to swell their numbers.

This had the effect of diluting the Union's message. Gradually, especially as Union participation began to fade, the other fringe groups began to dominate the messaging more and more. This led to such blunders as the Zombie Protest at the Special Olympics Ceremony and the Protest Armada.

In short, as the number of protesters dwindled all that was left was that hard core of strange-looking protest zealots who incessantly tilt at their favorite political and social windmills. This no doubt did damage to the Union cause because the Madison protests have been branded as Union protests in the public's mind. Thus, whether they like it or not, the Unions can only partially untangle themselves from the message of the crazies.

With Wisconsin now quiet, the protest enthusiasts have moved on to their "Occupy Wall Street" protests. The message of these protests is amazingly inchoate. Beyond anti-Wall Street slogans and romanticizing the Arab Spring, there is no message attached to these protests.  BevfromNYC at Commentarama describes them as follows: 

What exactly these Grandchildren of the '60's are protesting is not clear. Signs run the gamut of "F**k Wall Street" to "Four Day Work Week". They know that something is wrong, but they are not exactly clear on what. For the past two weeks, they have beaten drums, shouted indecipherable chants, and refused to go away.  To their great credit, they have managed to organized themselves like any good commune with a food distribution area, recycling area, first aid area, and a public P.R. Liaison area equipped with a gasoline-powered generator to keep protesters' laptops and smartphones powered up to post on Facebook and tweet each moment.   And it has been reported that people from all over the country are calling local area fast food joints to have pizzas delivered to the protesters as a show of support.

Visits from seasoned liberal protest icons such as Michael Moore and Susan Sarandon have shown up with their P.R. machines in tow as well. Ms. Sarandon showed up in her chauffeured-driven limousine to "educate herself" on her way to the airport to fly to Europe on her private jet for a vacation. 

...

Though she didn't "personally lose any money", she [Sarandon] is advocating what I interpret as a more physically forceful brand of protest because we shouldn't let "our Arab brothers and sisters" better us. Fortunately is was reported that many of these kids didn't have a clue as to who she was, but she did give them some sage advice - focus the protest on one topic, and register to vote. Actually she has a point - this protest lacks any real focus which is why they probably can't focus on any solutions either. They know something is wrong because someone is making lots of money and it's not them. But, as one protester responded when asked what his solution to "greed on Wall Street" might be by saying "I don't know? I'm only 23 years old, why are you asking ME that? What a stupid question." Let's hope he is not currently registered to vote.

In terms of this post, of particular interest is her post's closing sentence:

But a more disturbing devolpment threatens the peaceful and naive nature of this protest. Local and national union organizers have decided to join in to lend muscle and considerable financial support to this vague cause. Already the Transit Workers Union members have shown up with the SEIU and AFL-CIO to follow next week. Expect the numbers to grow and the violence to increase as a result.

I find this astonishing. The "Occupy Wall Street" protests have been spectacular failures so far. Their messages have been simplistic when not completely incoherent, and the effect the effects the protests have had has been little more than mild annoyance.

In Wisconsin the other progressive groups were brought in as auxiliaries to bolster the Union numbers. At the "Occupy Wall Street" protests the Unions are apparently coming in to ride on the coattails of a protest nobody seems to be taking seriously.  Can you imagine Jimmy Hoffa connecting the Teamsters to such a hodgepodge of idiotic far left causes?

Why would Unions diminish themselves like that?

There has been reports that the Union treasuries are barren, the Wall Street Journal has reported that in fact they are deeply in debt. I'll say it again, with their membership declining, and the dues that go along with it evaporating, Unions are increasingly bit players. Their need in Wisconsin to bring in other progressive groups to bolster their numbers has now flipped to them having to join with dubious progressive causes in New York to gain relevance and visibility (and I suspect some of it is following Obama's marching orders to try to demonize Wall Street).

The Unions are foundering and their need to join with every progressive loon that comes down the pike is only going to amplify their public relations problem and hasten their decline.