Editorial from the Eastside Journal, page A10, 8/16/2000 :



Privileged protesters turn mean, violent

Protesters are out in force in Los Angeles this week, just as they were in Philadelphia two weeks ago. There, one of them, a 54-year-old Virginia woman, told the Associated Press: "We just don't like Republicans and what the ruling class stands for." We suspect some of that attitude is found on L.A. streets, too.

Let's assume for a moment that Americans can be divided into classes that way. What, then, do we make of a protesting class that does the following in Philadelphia and Los Angeles?

o Pulls a wire across a road, apparently to knock policement off their motorcycles, probably injuring them and possibly killing them.

o Throws rocks at police and fires steel balls from slingshots at them.

o Stops and surounds a bus, paints slogans on it and terrifies the passengers.

o Strikes passing policemen with their fists, beats one over the head with a bike and sends at least a half-dozen officers to the hospital.

o Smashes the windows and slashes the tires of police automobiles.



o Blocks streets and brings rush-hour traffic to a halt.

We're all in favor of peaceful protest, but hundreds of those demonstrating during these two national conventions are mean and violent. It's hard to escape the sense that these conventions are just an excuse for some people to cause pain and feel important.

As for the nonsense about ruling classes, it is worth noting that, according to AP, many of the protesters are white college students. These are not oppressed masses taking to the streets as the only means of getting themselves heard, but some of the most extraordinarily privileged human beings in the whole of history. And what some are doing is giving evidence that they have little respect for anything but their own delight in disregarding the rules of the civilization that afforded them their privileges.

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Contextual note : the Eastside Journal serves the affluent suburbs to the east of Seattle (Bellevue, Mercer Island, Redmond, etc). I just thought I'd pass this on so everyone here can see how Bill Gates' local paper is spinning things.

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