The folly of “direct action.”
Rumors swirl of the protests turning ugly. The Republican National Convention in New York has the potential to rival the riot-torn Democratic convention in Chicago of 1968.
Rick Perlstein is desperate to teach the Bush bashers and the left-wingers a lesson based on history. Rioting doesn’t work. Direct action without a feasible political goal doesn’t work. After Chicago ‘68, Nixon cruised to an easy victory on a promise of law and order. (*)
Perlstein does not realize he speaks to a stone wall. The whole premise of the Left is to ignore history, and to ignore human nature as well. Telling leftists to learn from history is like teaching a dog to grow leaves. Hence, the Left relies on “the great leader” (Martin Luther King, for example) to give orders from above. Without “the great leader” the Left is little more than an angry, congealed blob that achieves nothing.
Should riots break out in New York, the effect will be just like that of “N30,” the violent anti-WTO Seattle protest. There will be no effect. That which is protested will grind along as before.
All that we can do is stand back in awe at their sanctimony, and hope no one else gets hurt. Already one policeman was beaten.