Sound Politics Public Blog: U.S. Soldiers-Defending your right to hate them publicly

March 08, 2008

U.S. Soldiers-Defending your right to hate them publicly

Another hat-tip to Orbusmax.Com for being on top of, well, everything 'round these parts, including this abomination:

Fort Lewis officials are alerting soldiers and their families to avoid the Tacoma Mall between noon and 5:30 p.m. March 15 because of a planned anti-war protest at the commercial center of Pierce County.
Mall officials are preparing accordingly.

Local protest groups have announced their intention to "shutdown" the Tacoma Mall, specifically the military recruiting station in the commerical tower located on the north side of the property. The building does not fall under mall management.

Calls for protest claim the groups want to "make it impossible for business as usual to continue as the Iraq War approaches its fifth year."

"We are aware of their intentions to protest," the mall's Marketing Director Sarah Bonds said. "We do not allow potests [sic] on our property."

The mall plans to notify protesters of that policy when they arrive and take other measures as needed, she said, noting that the mall will be meeting with police and security officers to develop detailed plans to handle the protest in the coming days.

Military officials warn that protesters plan on distributing anti-war and anti-military literature as well as confront local recruiters or interact with soldiers, family members and civilians who appear to be military affiliated.

Recent protests against the war at the Port of Olympia have been marked by increased levels of violence, the military alert reports.

(emphasis mine)

Gotta love those anti-war protesters: obnoxious, rude, and sometimes violent. Has anyone ever noticed the irony of the fact that while many war protesters say they're against violence they use it themselves (remember the Port of Olympia protests?).

I'm all for free speech. Yes, these people have a right to picket and say whatever they want, but at the Tacoma Mall...on a Saturday? They're just going to make more people than usual hate them. They'll get mowed over by irritated teenagers who just want to spend their allowances on some Hot Topic paraphernalia and Cinnabons, and a couple may even end up with a leftover Cinnabon or two plastered on their faces.

All funniness aside, locally-stationed troops and their families shouldn't have to fear going to the Mall on a Saturday afternoon because of protesters. Ideally, military men and women should be able to walk past the picketers with no harm done. They might even get a little shout of thanks: "HEY! THANKS FOR PROTECTING OUR FREEDOM TO HATE YOU PUBLICLY! YOU ROCK!"

Unfortunately, however, if these protesters are anything like the ones from the Port of Olympia shenanigans (I'll bet you they're one and the same), then these soldiers have reason to fear for their safety. And you know what? Anti-war protesters like these will tell you 'til they're blue in the face that they're not against the troops--they're just against the war! Well, here's a newsflash for you: when you violently, obnoxiously, and unintelligently protest and block military recruiting centers, you are sending a message of hatred toward current and prospective military.