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Posts Tagged ‘protests’
September 20th, 2017 at 10:12 am
Ramirez Cartoon: National Anthem Protests
Posted by Print

Below is one of the latest cartoons from two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Ramirez.

View more of Michael Ramirez’s cartoons on CFIF’s website here.

January 28th, 2011 at 2:54 pm
Live Video Feed of Egypt

This may be the one good use of Al Jazeera, right now the most watched, up-to-date video feed of the Egyptian situation.

January 28th, 2011 at 2:31 pm
Mid East Situation Tests Obama’s Foreign Policy Leadership

If drawing a word picture of the increasingly uncivil unrest in the Middle East – and especially Egypt – the image would be dominated by the words “democracy,” “protest,” “youth,” and “change,” among others.  If the on-the-ground reporting and television pictures are to be believed, the one word uniting these themes is “hope.”  Specifically, hope in an end to corrupt government that robs people of wealth and ambition, as well as freedom and justice.

Writers of all stripes are focusing on the importance of President Barak Obama’s administration to ‘get it right’ on its position towards the protests in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Algeria, Lebanon, and Jordan.  To date, Obama’s only foreign policy precedent in this realm is the lack of solidarity he showed towards pro-reform forces in Iran.  Could this week’s much wider conflagration see the implosion of Obama’s claim to be the worldwide symbol of change-hope-youth-democracy-uplift?

The complicating factor in all this is an American strategic interest that supports secular dictators over Islamist radicals.  Continuing that choice makes sense if those are the only options, but the remarkable thing about the protests is that Islamist groups (like Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood) are not (yet) at the forefront of the movements.  Right now, it seems like most people are rebelling against the type of Mafioso government that keeps vast swaths of citizens repressed.

If nothing else, the knowledge and skill required at this level of foreign policy should serve as a warning to any 2012 presidential contenders (including the man likely to want a second term).  In these situations, you only get one chance to make the right decision, so you’d better be prepared.

April 30th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
L.A. May Day Protests Cost Taxpayers

Unfortunately, red flag waving organizations won’t be trying to disrupt local economies by staging walk-outs and marches on a work day.  This year, Communism’s “May Day” celebration falls on a Saturday, meaning that instead of counter-demonstrators shopping en masse to keep business profits high, the only reason to venture outside tomorrow will be to enjoy the virtual shutdown of urban life.

The Los Angeles Police Department is planning for up to 100,000 people to turn the annual march for grievance solidarity into a traffic congesting protest of Arizona’s new immigration law.  One wonders what organizers hope to accomplish since the LAPD has an illegal immigrant policy called Special 40 “which prohibits officers from initiating action against people solely to discover their legal status.”  Moreover, L.A. was the first to proclaim itself a “sanctuary city,” further complicating the logic for protesting another state’s law in a town that totally disagrees with it.

Since the only discernable economic winner in tomorrow’s L.A. area protests is the LAPD police union members who must be activated in order to monitor the participants, maybe this year’s “May Day” is serving a purpose after all: enriching a public employee union on the weekend.

H/T: L.A. Times

August 14th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Speaker Pelosi Was Once a “Fan” of Those “Un-American” Protesters

By now, most people have read — or at least heard about — the USA Today column in which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer labeled the protesters of Obama’s health care plan “Un-American.”   But apparently the Madam Speaker used to be a big fan of those “angry mobs.”

In a January 2006 town hall event, captured in this video being circulated on the web, Pelosi applauded a group of disruptive, anti-war protesters by stating, “your advocacy is very American and very important.”  She went further in stating, “There is nothing more articulate, more eloquent to a member of Congress than the voice of his or her own constituents.”

Pelosi closed by saying “I am a fan of disruptors!”  I guess she is only “a fan” when it’s convenient for her agenda.

August 10th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Hillary: “We are Americans and we have the right to debate and disagree with any Administration.”

The Obama Administration and so-called leaders in Congress have gone to great lengths to portray opponents of  government-run health care in a negative light.

Taxpayers who have turned out in large numbers at town hall meetings across the country have been labeled AstroTurf.   Senator Barbara Boxer has implied the protests are “staged” because the people doing the protesting are “well-dressed.”  And in an op-ed in USA Today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer have gone so far as to call the hard-working Americans who have chosen to exercise their First Amendment rights to peaceably assemble and petition their government… “Un-American!”

So let’s get this straight, when Left of Center organizations and Big Labor Unions pay professional protesters to turn out and support their agenda, that’s the American way.  But when hard-working Americans who are frustrated that their elected officials won’t listen to them speak up in opposition to a major piece of legislation, that’s un-American?

Well, here’s what the mother of government-run health care, Hillary Clinton, had have to say about such criticism of civic participation back in 2003?

 

To a cheering crowd in 2003, Hillary said: “I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration somehow you’re not patriotic. And, we should stand up and say we are Americans and we have the right to debate and disagree with any Administration.”