Regardless, I thought of that exchange between O'Rourke and his liberal friend yesterday while driving down College Ave after I spotted a decent sized protest at a street corner in a sporting goods store parking lot. They were protesting BP. The whole affair was pretty damn silly. For starters, it didn't accomplish a damn thing other than give the protesters a very lame reason to feel good about themselves - they were doing something! Which was on a very technical level, very true. They were also breathing, sweating (it was very hot out), and standing. Surprisingly, none of these actions did anything to clean up the gulf coast or stop the oil leak.
Besides the big anti-oil company sign that was tied to a large, old, gas guzzling truck the other thing I found odd was the sign that said "Honk if you want a clean ocean!" The sign wasn't really strange, what was strange was who actually honked. Immediately after seeing that sign I heard the car next to me honk. I looked, and I kid you not - it was a Ford Expedition. It was as if this driver meant to say "hey quit spilling that oil in the ocean - put it in my tank. I'm just burning through this shit!"
I also loved the stereotypical college kid in a tie dye shirt at the end of the protest line. It brought to memory another great quote from P.J O'Rourke:
"Earnestness is stupidity sent to college."
Not that all protest and protesters are stupid. The Civil Rights protest in the 60's actually got something done.
Charlton Heston - A crazy gun toting conservative who didn't hate minorities?
The difference between the Civil Rights movement and the hippies protesting BP in Fort Collins is that the Civil Rights movement went to places where what they were protesting was happening. White only restaurants, stores, Washington D.C, and let the people there know they weren't going to take it. They actually got something accomplished too. Protesting in Fort Collins isn't quiet the same thing and as I stated earlier is really just a way to feel for the protesters to feel better about themselves. It's a form of masturbation. A much more useful thing to do would be to actually hop on a bus and go to the affected areas and volunteer to help clean up the mess. Maybe clean up some pelicans or other wildlife. Or send money to clean up operations or groups that help people in the region negatively affected by the spill.
Now I haven't done any of these things, but I'm not standing around with a stupid sign either so I can feel good about myself. And really thats my only beef with this whole protest thing. If you really have a cause you want to contribute to or stand up for, find some useful way to help. If it's politics, become as informed as you can, write your representative, vote, or run for office. If it's oil spills, help clean it up or go without smoking a bowl for a day and donate a few dollars. Whatever you do, don't stand around like an idiot on the corner of Mulberry and College on a hot day so you can pat yourself on the back and say you made a difference because you didn't.
On a lighter note, today's video of the week: The hottest workout girl ever
