The Uses and Limits of Non-Violence

The Rev. Al Sharpton yesterday (5/6) actually pulled off a thoroughly peaceful and effective protest of the Sean Bell case, where 50 police bullets were shot at Bell and others outside a Queens club. The police were acquitted last week.
Just as I had weighed in (bring the war home ...etc) on the possibility of a new form of non-violent protest at the NRA building, Sharpton's group blocked bridges and tunnels out of Manhattan.
It brought traffic to a stand-still in a lot of places at once.
Naturally everyone who was simply trying to commute in vehicles hated Sharpton. But if you want to make a point in this car-worshiping culture, you need to get in the faces behind the windshield glass. If only someone a little less of a grandstanding charlatan than Sharpton (who has never been elected anything, even dog-catcher) had led it.
Interesting, though, some of the quotes from those witnessing the trial. They wouldn't riot and torch their own neighborhoods in protest. Instead, some said, civil rights groups would have smaller demonstrations, but over a long period, so that the Sean Bell case wouldn't be forgotten.
All of which leads to the conundrum of media coverage. I haven't seen the tabloids today, while the Times put pictures on the front page of the metro section and didn't play the story until page B3. You can bet that if there were rioting, it would make the front page.
As PJ O'Rourke noted, violence is interesting. But it's also a trap. I just started a book called "RADS," about the 1970 bombing of the Army Math Research Center at the University of Wisconsin.
The blast was the largest home-made bomb in recent history except Oklahoma City. Though it was done at 3:30 am on a Saturday during the summer, a post-doctoral student was killed, while over 20 buildings around it were damaged. It turned most people against such anti-Vietnam violent acts, and sent the four planners into hiding in Canada. One is still at large, believe it or not.
It's frustrating, because one of my fantasies is to drive-by and "air-out" the NRA offices (ghetto-speak for driving by and riddling the place with bullet-holes). See how they like dozens of rounds filling the place where they work on defending cases just like theirs. I'll bet they can dish it out, but they can't take it. Either that or let Robocop take over security.
As for blocking I-66 next to their offices, raise your hand if you want to sit in on a major interstate. But there has to be a way, like having a car in each lane slow way down beforehand then come to a complete stop.
In the meantime, I have a message for the NRA. "Yo, yo office look a little stuffy. Someone need to air it out."

I'm glad that J. Edgar Hoover is dead or I could get in trouble. But words are not bombs. Most of the time, they're more effective.

Comrade Dave