Misunderstanding Protesting

We have a right in this country to protest, one that's protected in the Constitution.  Of all the rights we have, it's by far the one that's been the most curtailed in the last 30 years.  The founding fathers wanted you to have the right to have your voice heard, regardless if it's a screaming banshee cry or a moment of silence.

How badly has your right to protest been violated?  Many people today will never have their voice heard.  Politicians, by hyper regulating protesting behind false promises of ensuring your rights, have made a mockery of the right to protest, and today, if you wanted to protest either major party's political convention, you'd be relegated to an abandon industrial lot, miles from the venue, where as long as you didn't leave the designated 'protest box,' you could protest below a certain volume level between the hours of 10 AM and 4 PM, on a Sunday.  The founding fathers wouldn't be amused.

When the 99% protests broke out, the politicians, under orders from their big corporate donors, did everything in their power to limit the protests.  From re-designating public parkland, to mandatory curfews, to unreasonable noise and signage ordinances, to outright police harassment, the message the establishment was trying to send was clear:  "Your right to protest exists only when WE say it exists!"

Someone needs to tell them it doesn't work that way...

Many people feel as if they can dictate how others protest.  They fell as if the group or individual wanting to protest needs to talk to the people they disagree with first, to find out what's allowable.  "Your protest is fine, as long as I don't have to see, hear, read or acknowledge it."  That's bull!  When you start trying to limit people's voices, the people get louder and more in your face.

Black Lives Matter knows how to get in your face, as their protests have gotten a tremendous amount of coverage.  I personally feel as if Black Lives Matter has a very legit point, and I've no problem with them sending their message with the occasional highway closure.  Many people, mostly conservatives, feel as if BLM needs to concede, placing their opponents caveats and limits on their protests.  Their argument usually falls into this category:  "As long as you are not in people's way and being quiet, I have no problem, but blocking a public roadway is an OUTRAGE!"

Funny, many of the same people angry at BLM's highway blocking protests are livid at Colin Kaepernick, a back up quarterback for the San Francisco 49'ers, who decided to protest the same systemic injustices BLM has highlighted, by quietly sitting or kneeling during the national anthem at football games.  The anti protest crowd now insist their 'get out of people's way and be quiet' route is no longer enough.  "How dare anyone protest in a way other than how WE allow them to protest!"

Protesting is not for people who agree with you.  Quite the opposite, it's for people who disagree with you, and for the people who are intentionally or unintentionally ignorant to the cause.  The point of a protest is to get attention.  Many people, mostly on the right, don't like the message.  That's the point! If everyone agreed on every issue, or was proactive in trying to address people's problems, there wouldn't be a need for protesting, or at leasts the protests would be a lot smaller.

You want a protest to go away?  Shrug your shoulders, acknowledge the person protesting has the right to protest and go about your life.  If you stopped paying attention to it, they would stop doing it.  As long as you dedicate hours of media, countless print/online stories, and angry social media posts to the protesters, YOU'RE actually doing what THEY want.

Are you upset about that inconvenient truth?  Maybe you could lodge a protest, after all, it's the American way!