You are also totally uncapable of reaping what you sowed and are bitching and moaning about the police DOING THEIR JOBS. Are they supposed to walk up and nicely ask you to put your hands in the handcuffs? No, your stupid asses would run for the hills.

And THEN you go on bitching about the "american empire". The American Empire you seem to dislike so much has a system in place (by the people, for the people), that you're too damn stupid, lazy and slothlike to use. YOU can start getting the laws changed, so that Olympias public services aren't usable by the military.

Why would you rather go stomp around like fools, making a big deal out of non-issues, than use the very system you're trying to attack?

Why? Because you don't know what you're attacking, why you're doing it, or have an education that would allow you to think beyond yourself. You're wasting everyones time, everyones tax money, and everyones patience.

It's jackasses like you who get put up in front of the cameras for the news, it's jackasses like you that totally obliterate any shred of respect the anti-war movement has. STOP IT. You're helping no one, you're just getting your stupid asses driven into the concrete.

What really sickens me is the thought that you might FINALLY use the system to try to sue those police officers.

Call your congressperson daily, call your senators daily, don't vote for someone who endorses this war. Are these actions going to end the war? Probably not, but you have a far better chance in achieving that goal than you do standing in front of a military convoy at our podunk little port. You also are far less likely to get arrested. Start a coalition, get MILITARY people to become members, show our representatives that there are a lot of us that want our boys ( and girls ) pulled out and brought home. As for bringing down Bush...good luck. You've got another few years, might as bite down and bear it. I don't think he's going to be impeached anytime soon, and certainly won't be impeached because people stand in downtown Olympia protesting military shipments.

Yes, the civil rights movement was very important, and hopefully set the stage so that chaos is no longer needed to wake up the american public. You are also talking about very different protests. Please don't compare the two, compare this to vietnam if you like, but civil rights is a very different issue. I would hate to have been that cop that was called to that bus, I would have been fired at the end of the day. :)

Like it or not we've declared war, congress has given the go-ahead. Were they lied to? Probably, but they still gave the word, and nobody in that body seems to want to take it back right now. I'm not saying you shouldn't protest it, speak your feelings, try to get press coverage, invite people to come down, have a friggin tail-gate party down there...but don't do something that's going to get you arrested. Some of the more mainstream people simply look at this and label you "hippy". I had 2 relatives call me today and neither one of them had a nice thing to say about the port. They BOTH also don't agree with us being at war, they BOTH hate Bush with a passion that is probably hard to match. Find something that regular Joe Schmuck from Oly Washington can say, "HEY! That's a great idea, let's throw our hat in the ring for this one." Power in numbers and such. Just my thoughts, anyway, feel free to tear them apart and tell me I'm wrong, but remember, I'm that Joe Schmuck who's never protested a thing.

Can't do that - the city does not own the Port. The Port is a municipal district which is county wide. Everyone in Thurston County is a voter in the Port District. It is run by three white men who are elected to four year terms. Two were re-elected just last year. I took part in that election by supporting candidates of my choosing and voting for them. I also speak out at Port meetings to tell the Commissioners that the use of the Port for shipments of military equipment to Iraq is illegal.

2) (Don't assume I'm pro-Bush)

I only assumed that because you went right for the insults. In my experince that's a pro-war tactic. Move the debate to insults to shut off the discussion. I can see that you realize that's not going to fly here, so I'll try not to assume anything about your politics, but I have to ask - where does your anger come from? Why are you angry with me if you actually agree that we must end the war? If you merely thought I was ineffective, then you would not be so angry - I think... (later in your piece you addressed this - I responded piecemeal)

3) "please don't try to change the subject." (to 2000 and 2004 stolen elections)

I didn't change the subject. I was pointing out that you expect us to use the legal democratic process to change the law. I pointed out that the process you recommend is broken and did not work.

4) "People working on it strategically doesn't equate to standing in the street stopping traffic."

We simply disagree here - I think that direct action, even breaking a law such as tresspassing, is justified to enforce superior laws such as the ones which make agressive war illegal.

5) "I've been to marchs, rallys and protests as well. I've seen absolutely nothing happen from them. Aside from this: Pseudo intellectuals that think they know everything about the world, when they have some of the most narrow-minded thought I've ever seen. They're as bad as the pro-war people that drive by protests and scream out their windows. But you're so deep into it, you're unable to see it."

Wow. That's so narrow minded that I'll just let it stand by itself. If you think this is an argument, you are the one engaging in pseudo-intellectual debate.

6) "You've been an activist for 22 years? Why have you not seen that you've accomplished nothing with this protest at the port?"

Because we have accomplished some important things - for one, a huge meeting about the policy questions was held in response to the gate getting cut and somewhere around 275-325 people came out to that meeting to have a say before their Port Commission. For another, we have made operations at the Port an issue of discussion where they would hardly be mentioned if we did not resist them. For another, we have demonstrated that we're not just talking about it but doing something. I know we have, and will, make mistakes. But I'd rather be making new mistakes and learning new lessons than making old mistakes and failing to learn from them. I know you disagree - you can't see how this could be progress. But I really don't believe you're looking to be proven wrong on that. I don't see you listening very much, I mostly see you insisting that we don't hear you correctly. What you may not realize is that any activist with pro war parents has grown up hearing this. We also hear it in corporate media. So don't think this is new or novel for me. It is not. I have had this exact conversation so many times I have lost count.

7) "As I've said before, I am against the war."

First I've read of it. Your post (to which I responded) did not indicate this in my readings.

8) "However, I realize that we can't pull out of it. Doing that would create a power vacuum that could lead to someone thats just as every bit bad as a few different Middle Eastern leaders have been villified to be."

You watch too much television if you're going to reapeat that to me. That logic is false. It's like saying I should not stop raping a woman until she has an orgasm. It's disgusting logic, and I've used an equally disgusting analogy to illustrate it. Tell me why it is our job (as a nation) to decide who a 'good' leader in Iraq would be. Your assumption is implicitly imperialist - the notion that we SHOULD rule, and the only question is how we should rule. We disagree on that point. I stand against Empire. Your words defend Empire. Please reconsider.

9) "What I've seen of you, is not someone out there trying to fight against the war. I see someone so desperate for attention that they're throwing themselves in front of the police, and acting in a way that they KNOW before hand will generate a certain kind of response, simply in hope that the afformentioned response will be picture worthy. I see someone doing it for their own wants and desires."

WOW. Again, many assumptions. If your assumptions were correct, why did I get arrested, alone, at 3:15 AM? Off Camera. No Media. No witnesses other than security and police officers. I'm someone who uses notoriety to be sure, but your assumption that this is my actual motivation is simply your way to dismiss my arguments.

10) "I'm someone that knows real police brutality. I have a picture from a friend that was doing nothing but standing on the sidelines taking pictures, of a Seattle Police Officer kicking him in the head for no reason other than he was there. THAT was police manhandling."

I'm someone who has interviewed grown men who have been raped by fellow police officers. Welcome to the club.

11) "I'm someone that, as I said before, has marched against the war. Been in protests against it. Took photo's of the police bike running into that lady (who's name escapes me at the moment) a few years ago in front of the Capitol Building."

Thank you for being there. I was not there that day. I was at work. The lady's name is Lynn Stockwell. She went to the city and we worked together with the Ad Hoc Committee on Police Accountability for about a year and a half. Then we got a shiney new Police Chief Forum out of the deal, which will meet 9 times this year for two hours each session, with the Chief setting the agenda. I don't call that accountability.

12) "They signed a contract, freely, with the government that for the next few years of their lives, they would do as ordered without question. They did that freely as an American Citizen, and by God, I support them fully."

That contract puts them under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which requires that they disobey illegal orders. I expect them to do just that and I will support the ones who do that.

13) "I'm trying to say that your attempts at protesting are totally misguided, Drew. If anything, your actions are furthering the goals of the same people that started this war, that you're so against."

I don't see it that way, and I challenge you to see it differently. I don't see what you're doing, and I frankly don't take much interest in it because it is not my mission to critique your actions. But I will defend my own actions against publically stated misconceptions. Please don't take it as an attack on your being, or your intent. I condemn the sin, never the sinner.

14) "You're attacking and villifying the people that are doing their jobs, as ordered. You AREN'T going after the people that started this war."

That's not true at all. We're not attacking any soldiers - we're stopping military VEHICLES. We're speaking to soldiers who have a duty to disobey illegal orders. We're also calling for impeachment of Bush and Cheney for domestic spying and violations of the separation of powers, illegal and agressive war, torture, etc. But we're not binding our hands to the law made by these same entities. We're fully aware that the system of control is NEVER going to make effective protest LEGAL. Every history of social change in this country shows that people had to break small laws on a massive scale to tip the scales of justice toward protecting their rights.

15) "I do respect, however, that you are excercising your right to speak out how you see fit. I just hope you aren't suprised by someone speaking out back against you."

Not at all. Hope you don't mind me making mincemeat of your arguments.