BLOG: Protesting Is Fun...And Frequently Absurd

From Tara:

I can't claim extensive protest experience.  I marched in an anti-war parade in 5-degree temperatures in February of 2003.  It was powerful and moving and, above all, fun.  I was with people who thought like me, and we were speaking out.  We were motivated enough to bundle up and walk in the freezing Minneapolis streets, and the march got a great deal of press attention.  We were also part of a larger movement, and we knew that numbers mattered.

But I have been an activist for years, directing my energies to campaigns and issue advocacy in other ways than through handmade signs and my physical presence in a crowd. I like it that way, because protests also attract weirdos (I use the term in a completely bipartisan way). And when protests attract weirdos, weirdos attract media attention. And then the message can so easily be distorted or diluted or made to appear silly or stupid.

TruTV has a list and photo gallery of 17 stupid things that protesters sometimes do--but shouldn't do.  Like show up topless.  Or carrying a weapon.  It's all there: planking, Hitler mustaches, body paint, poorly-edited signs, and puppets.