On Civil Disobedience

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Henry David Thoreau wrote an essay in 1849 entitled Resistance to Civil Government that has survived the ages and is today generally known as On Civil Disobedience. It's basic tenant is that the individual has a solemn duty to do what is right, even if that is in conflict with the law. Thoreau pointed out that while the majority may rule by virtue of their numbers, there is nothing that guarantees that a majority will automatically have the virtues of wisdom and justice. Government, regardless of how it came into being, can and does make mistakes - and it can and does work in direct opposition to what is morally and ethically right. Witness the Bush Oil War.

Thoreau felt so deeply in the absolute necessity of civil disobedience, that he went to jail for his beliefs. Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr, both disciples of Henry David Thoreau, also allowed their consciences to lead them to jail.

The world is becoming a rougher stage for those used to garnering respect just for having a title. A couple of days ago I mentioned two shoe throwers: the one in Iraq that launched two shoes at President Bush, and the protester at Cambridge University who threw a shoe at the Premier of China. Those guys probably lacked a background in competitive sports because both missed their targets. (Of course, if they had been student athletes they would have likely learned the fine art of obedience from their coaches.)

Enter the ladies. Yesterday a twenty-five-year old woman lobbed a shoe at Benny Dagan, the Israeli Ambassador to Sweden, as he was speaking at Stockholm University. She and a male companion had issues with what they saw as the militaristic policies of Israel. The lady managed to hit her target in the chest. (Score one for the women!) As she was being arrested, the young lady asked police to please return her red Nike! (Her male friend launched two books at the speaker, but he, alas, missed.) Both were later released without the broken bones or cigarette burns that would have been standard fare in an Iraqi prison.

But those were just simple flying objects aimed at public gas bags. No harm, no real foul - other than minor deflation of a few egos. None took aim at the most sacred of holy cows - property.

So enter Tim DeChristopher with his plan to mess with the Bush administration's rush to lease scenic lands in Utah for oil exploration before the new administration could move in and save what should continue to be our public heritage. The 27-year-old University of Utah student showed up at the auction for the leases and significantly ran up all of the bids, even though he had no money. He actually won several of the bids. The government got all red-faced and blustery, but the ballsy student was not contrite. He said he was prepared to go to jail for his actions. (Apparently many who were forced to bid more than they wanted would like to rebid, but they are afraid that if they allow their expensive properties go back on the auction block, the Obama administration will halt the sales. So, if they keep their ill-gotten gains, it will be at the inflated prices.) Poor, babies!

Way to go, Mr. DeChristopher! Thoreau, Gandhi, and King would all be proud - and that ain't bad company to be keeping! You have preserved some of America's scenic wilderness, and the oil is still there if our grandchildren truly need it. Your service to our nation is appreciated beyond measure - at least by me!

Civil Disobedience in Size Ten

by Pa Rock
Cultural Commentator

George Bush was making his Grand Farewell Tour of the Middle East on December 14th of the year just past, when the relevancy of his entire presidency and foreign policy was knocked into a cocked hat by a couple of flying shoes. He was in the middle of a large press conference in Iraq when an angry Iraqi journalist named Muntadir al-Zaidi loosed a barrage of hostile Iraqi verbiage that declared Mr. Bush to be a dog, and then he let fly with one of his shoes - and then the other. Our President, surprisingly agile - possibly due to his cheerleader training at Yale - managed to successfully duck the flying footwear. In an effort to recover some of his dignity, the President joked that he thought the shoes were a size ten.

The incident resulted in al-Zaidi becoming a hero throughout the Middle East in general and Iraq in particular (with shoe sales of that particular model going through the roof!), quickly disproving the CIA and Blackwater claims that we are generally seen as liberators by the people of Iraq. The famous shoe-thrower has been in jail since the incident where reports indicate that he may be recovering from broken bones and cigarette burns. A trial date is pending which could result in him being subjected to some serious punishment. Clearly Iraqi officials do not view al-Zaidi with the same adulation as do the common folk of their country!

Jump forward a couple of weeks to an orphanage in Tikrit, Iraq, the hometown of Sadam Hussein. The reason the orphanage exists is due to the abundance of war orphans. It is understandable that the city might be somewhat hostile to the country that they view as responsible for the deaths of their favorite son and the parents of the orphans.

An Iraqi sculptor by the name of Laith al-Amiri managed to raise $5,000 to build an outdoor sculpture at the orphanage. Some of the orphans even helped with the project. The result was a giant shoe sculpture on a large concrete base. The statue measured over 11 feet in height, over 8 feet in length, and was nearly 5 feet wide. The shoe itself (sitting atop the concrete base) was the size of an Iraqi sofa. It was made of fiberglass covered in copper. In a nod to the environment, not a hot George Bush priority, the giant shoe doubled as a planter for a big green bush. Iraqi government officials quickly ordered the big shoe's removal - the will of the people be damned! So much for freedom of speech - and all that jazz!

Jump across Europe and the English Channel to Great Britain. Chinese Premier Wen Jiaboa was speaking at Cambridge University last week when an audience member blew a whistle and shouted: "How can the university prostitute itself with this dictator? How can you listen to him unchallenged?" Whereupon, he took aim and threw his shoe at the premier, missing his mark. He, too, was arrested and remains in jail.

So where do fair-minded people come down on this particular type of protest? Do we label it assault or attempted assault and demand a criminal penalty? Or do we go to the other extreme and declare it a harmless act of civil disobedience? Never mind Jesus - what would Henry David Thoreau do?

My thoughts on the subject are evolving, but I feel the need to give fair warning that the older I get, the meaner I get - and I wear a size ten!

The Freshet by Henry David Thoreau

Tis now the twenty-third of March,
And this warm sun takes out the starch
Of winter's pinafore - Methinks
The very pasture gladly drinks
A health to spring, and while it sips
It faintly smacks a myriad lips.

A stir is on the Wooster hills,
And Nobscot too the valley fills,
Where scarce you'd dip an acorn cup,
In summer when the sun is up,
Now you'll find no cup at all,
But in its place a waterfall.

The river swelleth more and more,
Like some sweet influence stealing o'er
The passive town; and for a while
Each tussock makes a tiny isle,
Where on some friendly Ararat
Resteth the weary water rat.

Our village shows a rural Venice,
Its broad lagoons where yonder fen is;
Far lovlier that the bay of Naples,
That placid cove amid the maples;
And in my neighbor's field of corn
I recognise the Golden Horn.

Here nature taught from year to year,
When only red men came to hear.
Methinks 'twas in this school of art
Venice and Naples learned their part,
But still their mistress, to my mind,
Her young disciples leaves behind.