Patriotic Dissent

Two distinctly American landmarks were blessed by some very well-planned demonstrations this week.

Twenty-six AIDS activists were arrested in the Capitol Building's rotunda this morning is a protest over President Obama's refusal to lift a ban on needle exchanges, something he promised to do during his campaign.

By 10:45, police had arrested 11 men and 15 women. Police spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said they would all be charged with unlawful assembly and disorderly conduct, loud and boisterous. Schneider said the protesters bound themselves together with plastic chains. They then became “really noisy,” she added, and officers decided that they should be arrested. Those arrested are being transported to a processing facility at 67 K St. SW. The activists, who come from a coalition of groups, could be heard yelling “clean needles save lives” as they were being handcuffed. Eustacia Smith, a volunteer with Health Global Access Project, said Obama had made a “number of promises” on AIDS funding and so far had not delivered. Those arrested come from several groups, including Health GAP, Housing Works, DC Fights Back and ACT UP Philadelphia.

Greenpeace hung a banner over Mount Rushmore.
The 65-foot by 35-foot banner — which read "America Honors Leaders, Not Politicians: Stop Global Warming" — was hung to the immediate right of Lincoln at about 10 a.m. local time, said Patty Rooney, a spokeswoman for the National Park Service's Midwest Regional Office. She said an undetermined number of people were taken into custody following the incident. Daniel Kessler, a spokesman for Greenpeace, said 11 people were detained, but it was not clear how many of them were Greenpeace employees. No injuries were reported. Park workers are trying to remove the banner, Rooney said, but strong winds have complicated the process. "It is not down yet," she said shortly before noon. She said park workers will assess damage to the 5,725-foot mountain once the banner is down.

And in relentless online beverage protest department, My Facebook pal Aaron got a good bit of appeasement from RockStar "Energy" (i.e. noxious caffeine and sugar) Drink. They tossed some cash their way and said they don't hate the gays, even though the father of the owner is psychotic twit Micheal "Savage" Wiener.

For dessert? Candy. Not.
See's Candy prefers to close its Union Square shoppe rather than comply with San Francisco's LGBT-inclusive employee practices. Buh-bye, fundie chocos. Go make some other city fatter.

It's so tough to boycott things you'd never consume anyway. I'd go protest, but doing it in front of a candy store?

As Greenpeace's Michael Crocker, said, "There are times when you have to break the law to do what's right."

Or even what some would call stupid. Whatever it takes.