The Duct Tape on Mouth Phenomenon. Explanations?

[Dem Agog]

Today for the first time I saw a photo of a protester with duct tape over her mouth, and I understood what she was trying to say. That picture is this one:



Simple enough, easy to get. A student is protesting the fact that Bennish was disciplined for exercising some free speech in his (sound) opinions of Shrub. Mouth covered. Bennish's name. Got it.

But other photos confuse me. When the Supreme Court was ruling on abortions last month, MSNBC ran one of a girl with duct tape on her mouth that said "LIFE".



Same tape, same word, appeared for the first time (in my recollection) during the whole Terri Schiavo debacle.

What are these people trying to say? I don't get why they'd tape their mouth up and put LIFE on it.



WTF were these particular morons trying to say? That keeping Schiavo in a coma for the rest of her life was good? Or bad?

And why orange?

Finally, here's a cartoon on the subject, that fits about how I feel regarding the stupid duct tape thing.



(Edited to add a diff link to the cartoon, hopefully to clear up the problem with displaying it.)

[MadMaddie]

1. The neocons never have any original ideas...

they steal ours and act like it was their idea...even when they don't understand the meaning....

Your cartoon shows as a Red X in a box.

[mdmc]

2. the veggies and unborn can't talk, lobby, or protest for themselves

so these folks are "doing" it for them. Dig?

[Dem Agog]

4. Hmm...

I see your point, but I still don't get the duct tape thing fully. I must have killed off the brain cell that can figure out the correlation in college.

I think it's a really strange visual, and in the end whenever I see it (except in that first example) I'm more confused then swayed. It just seems to...cheerleaderish or something. "Oooh I've got it! Let's all tape up our mouths and protest!" What, they can't spend the time making a sign that actually says something?

[mdmc]

8. come hate with us!

The sings could never be clever enough.:kick:

[Avalux]

3. They're confused.

Instead of "getting" what tape on the mouth really symbolizes, they tape up their mouths and write "LIFE" without a clue. Sad.

[Cha]

15. That's it...their misunderstanding

of something as basic as a protest is highlighted.

What else aren't they getting?

[Demit]

5. "What To Do With All the Duct Tape You Were Stupid Enough To Buy

To Protect Yourself From a Terrorist Attack And Didn't Because Somebody Pointed Out That If You Were Successful In Sealing Off A Room From Nuclear Fallout You Would Also Eventually Use Up All the Oxygen In the Room And Die Anyway."

[gollygee]

14. ROFL

:D

[moobu2]

6. Just thank goodness

The mental midgets have their ignorant mouths taped up.

I never could understand the symbolism either though.

[lady lib]

7. Until babies start springing forth from the mouths of fundies,

their message will be obscured by the tape being placed in the wrong location.

;)

[CBGLuthier]

9. the nature of the ruling

Wasn't that the ruling that stated no use of rico laws against abortion protestors?

If so, then the duct tape thing makes sense. They were protesting what they percieved as an abridgement of their rights to protest.

[Atman]

10. Ellen Jamesians

without the strength of conviction.

[KansDem]

11. It's weird. They look like Emmett Kelly wannabees.

...sorta.

[paineinthearse]

12. *

[Just Me]

13. They believe they are endowed with the "divine" power to speak,...

,...on behalf of those who can't speak for themselves,...even those who do not exist, at all. They are arrogantly judgmental placing ALL THEIR FAITH in their imperfect human minds,...pretty much ignoring their so-called shakeless belief in God.

It's really weird. I don't understand how they reconcile their persecution with the Bible.