Activists deserve praise, not harassment

[teach1st]

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/08/21/Columns/Activists_deserve_pra.shtml

By ROBYN E. BLUMNER, St. Petersburg Times
Published August 21, 2005

We hear the call to "get involved" all the time. From the 1970s-era summons to "Think globally, act locally," to MTV's Rock the Vote, we are told that it is our civic duty to educate ourselves about political issues and become more active citizens. Public officials bemoan the insuperable apathy of the electorate. But they don't really mean it. The greatest burr in an official's side is when a citizen becomes truly informed and starts challenging the status quo. "Gadfly" is pejorative for a reason.

Protesters are greeted with this same contempt. Citizen activists who actually care about an issue enough to stand in a public place, exposed to the elements, with nothing fancier than words on a placard expressing their views, are usually considered rabble-rousing troublemakers, if not a little nutty.

This is how a group of antiwar activists in St. Petersburg has been treated. The group, St. Pete for Peace, has been showing up on most Saturday nights for the past 2 1/2 years to protest on a public sidewalk outside BayWalk, St. Petersburg's popular dining, shopping and entertainment venue. They hold signs denouncing the Iraq war and hand out leaflets to passers-by. These few dozen of our neighbors understand and embody the role of citizen and should be applauded for "acting locally." But the city has reacted as if they are an infestation.

Because BayWalk businesses have complained that the protesters affect their walk-in traffic, all kinds of ideas have been floated to drive away the menace. Under the excuse that pedestrians are endangered by the protesters' presence - the city says there are no traffic-accident statistics to back this up - city officials first considered designating the sidewalk as a "no-protest" zone. After that idea was dropped because it was blatantly unconstitutional, an equally noxious one took its place. Craig Sher, president and CEO of the Sembler Co., the company that owns and manages BayWalk, would like the city to transfer the sidewalk to his group. Once it was put under private control, the protesters could be run off as trespassers. So far, to the credit of City Council members, the city has let the sidewalk remain a place of public protest, but new recommendations are being formulated by city staff to address the pedestrian safety issues, including a fine option of closing the street in front of the disputed sidewalk to cars on busy Friday and Saturday nights. In the meantime, metal barricades have been erected at the site to direct pedestrian traffic.

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[wli]

1. Republicans say otherwise

I'm sure Bushler would put them to death outright. In fact, the DLC is rolling the whole Democratic party over so fast and the population is so apathetic he probably already could without raising much of a fuss.

[Dogmudgeon]

2. I (heart) Robyn Blumner

She's written some fantastic columns. Check out her archive.

The only thing I can think of negative to say about her is that she hasn't answered any of my offers of marriage yet. :(

Oh well ... I'll always have her editorials.

--P!