I planned to still be mostly offline but here I am this morning, reading through various comment threads. I have some questions.

Can we all agree to disagree and remain civil? Can we take insults off the table of possibility? Can we lighten up on the judgements? Can we admit that it is very possible that sometimes we don't know what the hell we are talking about?

OlyBlog has more than scooped any other resource recently on the port actions. People are posting eyewitness accounts. Hey folks, this is citizen journalism in action. Why would we want to squelch that?

I'm proud of my fellow docents and of the OlyBlog community.

You may or may not have noticed that I've avoided participating in the blogs on the protests, to a degree.  Let me address why.

Like this statement or not, Olyblog is a place where if you don't support the protestors, you are the opposition.  I witnessed Norm get attacked yesterday because he brought up the point that the protestors weren't doing themselves any favors.  Although I support the right of protest, I'm not particularily impressed with the methodology used by some.  This issue reminds me of when we talk about graffiti.  Either you support it, or you are "anti-art".  You see, I've been one of the people attempting to find free walls for graffiti artists, and yet, cannot support vandalism, no matter which way you rhetorically cut the cake.

Now, I've addressed this in a civil manner.  I'm, in fact, hoping that the folks that are protesting will take to heart what the Norm's and Larry's are saying.  If you want to sway the masses in your direction for support, don't poke them in the eye while doing it.

This is citizen journalism by way of editorial opinion.

Our town made national news yesterday and again today because of the protest.

The Olympia police did their job. Some of the protestors are lucky that pepper spray was the worst thing that the police used against them. It was not a non-violent protest and the police were well within their rights to respond as they did. I would have done the same thing in their shoes. I drove through downtown at one point yesterday, not knowing what was going on. I witnessed someone throw one of The Olympian's racks into the street in front of a car. The woman driving looked terrified. (Terror... interesting.)

Pretty much every single one of those protestors behaved in a confrontational, disrespectful, and aggressive manner. They cursed, threw things, shoved police officers, blocked public roadways both with their bodies and by tossing private property into the streets, and some of them even went so far as to engage civilians who had nothing to do with the situation. I was shocked and saddened by what I saw yesterday. I hope the city brings a case against them and I truly hope that there are convictions this time.

Whether you agree with me or not, yesterday was a sad day for Olympia and I hope that all of you are safe at home with your families right now.

All Freakin' Night was a combination of fun and suck. They did a better job than last year of getting us inside and starting the show at a reasonable hour (last year it was close to 1:00am when they started.)

A portion of the crowd was more obnoxious for a longer sustained period than in the previous two years. I didn't appreciate paying $30 to only hear their [insert insulting adjective] blather, but shouting some very UnOlyBlogish vents during the night was strangely satisfying. Especially when there'd be a moment of shocked silence after my contribution followed by some nervous titters.

Speaking of that last word, ahem, there was a very juvenile short film whose subject...well...believe it or not I do sometimes attempt to be decent and mature here, so if you're curious PM me and I'll bring you abreast of the subject. Anyways, the women in the crowd were laughing, hootering and cheering the loudest in that segment.

We watched The Blob (remake version), some horrible Wolfman vs. Vampire Lady film where I caught up on some sleep, some wierd yet compelling film about a character named Dr. Hichcock, and Fright Night. We left before the fifth movie started (at 8:00am) because we didn't have a sub for The Think Tank.

The Hosts should be more careful about launching projectiles (such as hard candies, DVDs and such) which bounced off our heads, but it was still a fun night.

It's the same old story - Everywhere I go, I get slandered, Libeled, I hear words I never heard in the bible

I disagree with the actions of a few, but I'm not ashamed of my community.

I am a part of what I make this community to be.  I vocally stand against any form of violence on EITHER side.

I note that in The Olympian's comments threads many people have threatened violence to anti-war protestors.  Where is the outrage in that action?  Have there been no instigators from the "other side"?  Where does our daily newspaper contribute to the problem by allowing such dialog? 

I expect no answer.

As to not be accused of lacking civil discourse.

Truthfully, as a former media professional, I'm ashamed of the local media that seems to relish the comments of people that talk about bashing skulls, running over people with cars, shooting them, etc.

I find it amusing that an Olympian employee would take his plea to Olyblog and begin with "insult me if you must...".  How about stepping up to the plate and being a part of the solution?  Shut down the threads where people are threatening others.  Heaven's no!  That might cut into readership demographics, thus the bottom line.

Intellectual dishonesty is a major part of the problem in our community when in comes to the divide.  I'm not excusing the minority of people that have taken advantage of the protests as a venue for "anything goes", but I'm also not excusing the local online newspaper for their part in allowing the flames to be fanned.

Now, this post is neither uncivil nor an insult.  It's just the viewpoint of the writer.

"Olympia protests"

Nothing on the first page that google brought up was "national media".  It would seem that "national media" would show up rather high on the google list.

Again, using my media background as my foundation, I know that the only way national media would get ahold of this story is from a submission by the local media - newspaper, radio and TV.  The New York Times doesn't have a correspondent in Olympia to cover our local events.

Let's get real.  Honesty is the only solution to the challenges that we face in our community.  Some people enjoy pitting one side against the other, as I have personally witnessed.

Our mutual honesty will prevail in unity in our community.

Oh and Gug, the cops aren't in control. As I said before, it's all theater, and the director is far, far offstage.

geez.....I didn't see that in The Olympian or on CNN.

" What a bunch of losers!! We should be honoring the troups coming home. Guys like Whitlock should be strung by his "?" Probably don't have any!
anon. | 11.11.07 - 6:01 am"

Now, this is the type of thing of which I'm speaking.  There is no denying that this was copied and pasted from The Olympian, and this is one of the tame posts.  I selected this one because most everyone in here knows Robert and knows that he is anything but violent, yet this person saying he should be "strung by his ?" (I think most of us are old enough to know what that means)

You see, once we get past the sensationalism and the intellectual dishonesty, the ugly truth comes out.

I'm so ashamed.

We might as well get a few laughs out of this.  While looking for other gems, I came across this one.....LOL

" BTW, "Pat Endorses Rudy";

You're an ass!!!

Hey Olympian..that is a direct personal attack on him/her/it!
jerry | 11.10.07 - 3:15 pm"

I recall......oh, nevermind....LMAO

From the our local daily press release (not calling it a newspaper anymore):

Kelly Bakala of Olympia ended up having a close-up view of the skirmishes, but not by choice. Bakala, who works near the Port of Olympia, said a protester jumped in front of her car, temporarily blocking her from being able to reach the emergency room. She said she'd torn muscles in her shoulder and was in "pretty excruciating pain."

Does anyone else recongnize that name?

She has a hair and skin business and appears to be an LMT.  What gives, Gug?

First -

CITY OF OLYMPIA NEWS RELEASE, NOVEMBER 11, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

STATEMENT FROM OLYMPIA MAYOR MARK FOUTCH ABOUT DEMONSTRATIONS

(Olympia, WA) Over the past few days this community has experienced demonstrations protesting use of the Port of Olympia’s Maritime Terminal by military vehicles and equipment returning from Iraq.

These demonstrations, motivated by disagreement over national policy, have sometimes blocked the movement of local citizens and interrupted the lawful flow of vehicles to and from the Port. While most demonstrators have been respectful of the rights of others and have expressed their views lawfully, a smaller group has persisted in actions that, in the judgment of police officers on the scene, exceed their right to use the public rights-of-way for purposes of political expression.

Earlier, we had this statement posted:

Submitted by Aaron Mason on Sun, 11/11/2007 - 10:22am.

How delightful that he got upset and suddenly revealed himself to be a junior James Dobson. He wrote: "I hope that all of you are safe at home with your families right now." Is it okay with you, Aaron, if I'm safe at home with my lesbian lover? Does it HAVE to be my family? What about people who don't have families, or whose families aren't safe to be around? Any concern for them? Or do you, you know, only care about "people like us"? Wait, don't answer that. Given your performance policing the online comments, I think I already know.