Also, the pro-troops crowd is larger than it has been tonight and is, according to my source, "Looking for a fight". One has been arrested already for ripping signs away from protesters and attempting to tear them up.

As OlyBlog is extremely moderate (usually) compared to the vitriol found in the Olympian's comments, and considering what has been said here over the past few days...I can't say I'm surprised. Sad, but not surprised.

The story about the Stryker soldier, if it holds up to be true, is pretty awesome.

I'd like to see video of the Soldier doing this, because I almost refuse to believe this happened. Just leaving his squad (or platoon; however many people are there) to join the people protesting? No way.

And then you have to consider he was leaving his post to do so.

I know several on the blog are currently in the military or veterans of military service and I could see the story about the soldier holding up.  For all we know his EAOS is near and he's ready to walk.  We also don't know anything about his status within the Army.  I remember my first days in the deck department on an aircraft carrier and recall several sailors continually getting crappy duty.  Fire watch was another area where underperformers were sent.  I would bet the duty at the port isn't much better, if not worse.

And finally, did we honestly believe Watada would be alone?  The Army is huge - we can't expect all soldiers to honor their duty with integrity.

The Police are acting in defense of the city and of the trucks being blocked. The protesters blocking the shipments are engaging in an attack against the trucks and truckers. In essence the protesters are engaging in an assault upon the public order (they are breaching the peace), and the cops are charged with defending that peace. You cannot fault self defense.

Breaking out windows? This is not going to go over well.

Tonight OlyPMR has rewritten Gandhi's rules for civil disobedience.

1. The resister will harbor no anger OlyPMR- The resister will be irrationally pissed off at anyone who disagrees with him.

2. He will suffer the anger of the opponent. OlyPMR- He will never let any comment or provocation go unanswered without a retort or greater provocation.

3. In so doing he will put up with assaults from the opponent, never retaliate; but he will not submit, out of fear of punishment or the like, to any order given in anger. OlyPMR- In doing so he will never put up with assaults from the opponent and will always retaliate but NEVER in a way that requires physical courage or emotional maturity. Such retaliation should preferably be against persons or property which have nothing to do with the resistor or opponent.

4. When any person in authority seeks to arrest a civil resister, he will voluntarily submit to the arrest, and he will not resist the attachment or removal of his own property, if any, when it is sought to be confiscated by authorities. OlyPMR- When a person in authority gives a a resister a lawful order he will ignore the order. He will then be surprised and irrationally angry when the person in authority actually exercises said authority and arrests the resister.

5. If a civil resister has any property in his possession as a trustee, he will refuse to surrender it, even though in defending it he might lose his life. He will, however, never retaliate. OlyPMR- (The analogy starts to break down a bit but...) The resister will gain revenge against his opponent by attacking the property and freedom of movement of average citizens, businesses and government officials who have nothing to do with the issue at hand. Such attacks will surely bring them to our point of view.

6. Non-retaliation excludes swearing and cursing. OlyPMR- Swearing and cursing are the preferred method of communication with those who disagree with us

7. Therefore a civil resister will never insult his opponent, and therefore also not take part in many of the newly coined cries which are contrary to the spirit of ahimsa (nonviolence). OlyPMR- A resister should insult his opponent whenever possible. We define "nonviolence" like George Bush defines "torture", so all our actions are nonviolent...because we say so. .

8. A civil resister will not salute the Union Jack, nor will he insult it or officials, English or Indian. OlyPMR- US flags, if carried at all MUST be carried upside down or with a gigantic peace symbol in place of stars. Such representations of the Nation's most sacred symbol will demonstrate how much we really really support the troops.

9. In the course of the struggle if anyone insults an official or commits an assault upon him, a civil resister will protect such official or officials from the insult or attack even at the risk of his life. OlyPMR- We will take actions which the vast majority of our community (even those who agree with our motives) believe to be disrespectful and insulting. We will secretly believe most in the community don't have the balls or intelligence to come to our side. Though we will give lip-service to the concept of "honest and open" debate, we have no interest in listening to anyone else's point of view.

Maybe I should refer to the police as "those meddling kids"?

That arrested woman from the Olympian's article, who was released early due to a heart condition, had it right when she referred to her fellow criminals as "little girls"

Please give me a second grace. Please give me a second face. I've fallen far down, the first time around, now I just sit on the ground in your way.
Nick Drake

I am a bit confused here. But trying to be open minded. The military cargo and strykers are coming BACK to Ft Lewis. Not going out. Don't we want our troops and war machines/equipment to come back home? Or does OPMR ideally want to keep it all stalled up at the port? For how long? The civil disobedience actions seem to be aiming to keep all this equipment at the port behind the gates.
I guess I haven't read enough OPMR statements or something, their publications/flyers aren't that widely available in the local area unless you're totally in the know or something. So I'm guessing. I'm guessing they want to keep backing up all this gear until it pressures the Port of Olympia to stop taking shipments. Then other ports will have to take them. Then let me guess-- one by one all these other ports will want to stop taking in this equipment? Until it's all just hanging out on ships in the ocean? For how long? Should it all stay in Iraq instead then?
Are the convoys and the cargo targeted simply because it's been used in Iraq, whether or not it is being sent into battle? Ft Lewis if anything is the main source of all outgoing Ft Lewis troops and military support.

If the "civil" disobedience were against outgoing military support then I think I'd feel much more enthusiastic about the demonstrating and civil disobedience and chaos. The only way I participated last night was by picking up a garbage can, and its contents, spilled down the street from me. Which a radical resister radically dumped on the edge of the fucking street (not even to obstruct anything) for un-radical me to be reasonably disgruntled about. Even I won't be won over with the "symbol" of a trash can dumped on the ground. As I was picking it up with a friend and putting the trash back in a crazy woman dozens of feet from me was yelling LEAVE IT DOWN!! LEAVE IT DOWN!! I mean, give me a BREAK

But I digress, this isn't a dumped garbage can. Olympians who have been living here for decades, not just a couple years (ahem) are going to be fucking pissed about all last night's chaos today but I guess they "just don't get it" right? They don't get the news of cop cars attacked (well this one is debatable), A US Bank's windows smashed, trash all over streets, cops having rocks thrown at them, concrete poured on train tracks (um, CAN that derail a train? "hey mr. train engineer, better not take this train anywhere because if you do you're fucked!" fucking A). If you blow off average Olympians for not getting it then my friends, you have strayed so far from the mainstream that you really don't care about what they think or whether or not you're winning them over. Which means it doesn't fly as well when you chant "our" port, "our" streets etc. I mean look, I'm out there, I think 9/11 was an inside job and that martial law could be coming (uh, ya might want to tip them off that you're a "threat") but I'm not going to join a fucking riot in this town because military cargo is coming BACK to the states