An Article by Swampy

Getting Arrested 101: The Left's Strong Preference for Making Trouble
Posted Sep 28, 2006

"Like all the people in this tent and all the people on the stage, I have a strong preference for trouble-making.” So said a prominent participant at Code Pink and NOW “Women for Peace” Day at their encampment deceptively named “Camp Democracy” on the National Mall last week. The day included music, movies, speeches, panels and an appearance by leftist Howard Zinn.
I’ve sat in on a number of leftist conferences and this one seemed rather normal at first sight. There was a mock cemetery, using the deaths of our service members as political leverage against President Bush and the war. Quite typical. The tents were hung with anti-Bush banners and signs. Nothing new. Then came the “non-violence training.”
At first, the “non-violence” workshop seemed to be rather Ghandi-esque and benevolent, but I soon learned that the essence of “non-violent resistance” is not the actual sit-ins or protests themselves but the goal of getting arrested. Now, the organizers recognize that not everyone is keen on getting arrested but encouraged participants to reach out to those individuals anyway because you need a “support group” to help you be arrested “effectively.” You know, people you can count on to feed your cat while you are in jail, publicize your imprisonment, and so on.
Now any normal person would wonder, how does getting arrested help a cause? Evidently, it’s the left’s best hope for outreach and recruitment. Participants were encouraged to use their jail time to reach out to cellmates and the lawyers and judges in the court system and help persuade them to join their left-wing cause. The leaders explained that there are millions of people in jail in America and that activating them for their cause would be very powerful.
What’s another advantage in recruiting criminals? They aren’t afraid to break the law, which is exactly what these leftist activists are designing their movement to do.
Multiple participants gleefully identified themselves as “troublemakers” and proclaimed their goal of “taking the revolution to the streets.” Sound socialist? That’s because they are; and proudly, too. One panelist wore a shirt comparing the infamous hammer and sickle (the same that murdered millions upon millions) in shape to the dove universally recognized as the symbol of peace. That irony is deafening. Another panelist heralded that Americans should emulate the “revolution of the people that was Cuba” as democracy in America is dead because of the Supreme Court’s involvement in Bush’s election. By any traditional definition, that is treasonous.
Yes, America’s leftist leaders are out to cause serious trouble for us all. Col. Ann Wright, a former Army officer and diplomat who resigned her position in the Foreign Service because of her opposition to the war said, to wild cheers and applause, “We need people getting arrested. We need trouble-makers ... just voting in November is not enough!”
Even more worrisome is their acknowledgement of the need to appear normal and to outreach, even beyond those prisons, to the average Joe. Noted a panelist, “We need to think about the guy in the pick-up truck and not humiliate them or alienate them.”
Now why would they need to worry about alienating normal, American, pick-up-driving guys? Because their agenda and tactics are extreme enough that the average American would indeed find them distasteful and want nothing to do with them.
The wolf is wise to this and so he hides his true self with sheep’s clothing, appearing benevolent and normal to the other sheep in order to advantage of them. And we all know how the story ends for the unsuspecting sheep.
Let us not be fooled.

Miss Daugherty is program officer at the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute.
This article was first published in Human Events Online.