Rambling Rhodes

A Protester's Protester *

Well, it's time, once again, with the Republican National Convention underway in NYC, to watch repeated loops of frenzied protesters protesting things, which is what protesters are apt to do in this charged political climate.

After watching the drama unfold first at the Democratic National Conventions, and now again this time around, I’ve come to the conclusion that protesting is the in thing to do.

Even though a lot of today’s protesters don’t appear to have any real coherent message, and sometimes they come up with such laughable concepts as the Lysistrata Project (which, contrary to popular belief, has nothing to do with Listerine), I have to give them credit, they’re out there anyway, marching, marching, holding up signs, marching, and, perhaps most importantly, getting on T.V.

Despite the apparent difficulties inherent in being a protester, I can’t stand on the sideline and watch the latest fad pass me by without whipping up my own protest. Therefore, I spent a considerable part of last week carefully orchestrating my own protest movement.

First and foremost, I needed a cause; something so profound that I would be guaranteed to garner a loyal following of like-minded protesters. I considered starting a “Make Ryan Rhodes Rich Beyond His Wildest Dreams” protest movement, but I decided a movement like that would probably only benefit me. No, I needed to organize a protest that could, in the end, help other people as well. That’s just the kind of protester I am.

I briefly flirted with the idea of an “Anti-Junk Mail” movement. All my fellow protesters would strip completely naked, glue junk mail to their bodies, and march through U.S. cities chanting catchy slogans like “We don’t approve of being pre-approved” and “Sweepstakes are the tool of the devil.”

Again, fearing that I would have a tough time rallying a large enough number of protest troopers to my anti-junk mail movement, I decided to dig even further into my protest bag.

Finally, I meticulously crafted a protest certain to bring millions of people within my protest fold. Let it be known today that I am officially establishing the "Anti-Protest Movement." All who join will be asked to work tirelessly to bring an end to the protest web that is spinning its way across our country. We will protest day and night until the last protester throws up his or her hands and surrenders. If you wish to support my fledgling movement, I simply ask that you adhere to the following rules.

First, as a protest protester, you cannot reveal your identity to anyone. To do so will mark you as a protester and, under my movement, all protesters will be protested against.

Secondly, all members are asked to work tirelessly, at risk to their own safety, to not do anything even remotely protest-like. In other words, simply go about your daily routine as if you never even heard about the anti-protest movement. However, you are free to think all the anti-protest thoughts you want. You can even think of the anti-protest signs you won’t be making and the protest gatherings that won’t take place. This is a very tight-lipped movement.

Third, I’ve noticed that every good protest movement has solid lines of communication with its members. But, since all my protest members are anonymous, I ask that no protest protester talk about their non-actions to anyone. This rule coincides closely with the first rule, but it’s so important I thought it should be underscored again.

Finally, I have to mention the difficult area of donations. After all, maintaining a protest movement like this is an expensive pursuit. All I ask is $5 per member, a fee that you obviously cannot pay because to do so would mark you as a protester, and we just can’t have that in an anti-protest movement such as this. We don’t want to be labeled hypocrites after all.

Let me take this moment to thank all of you who have just now joined my anti-protest movement and, judging by your silence, I can only assume there are millions upon millions of you. And thank you for your $5 non-donation. I can assure you that any money I don’t receive won’t be spent on anything even remotely anti-protest in nature.

Of course, I’m sure such a popular protest movement as mine is bound to give rise to copy-cat movements who will no doubt try to steal my thunder.

If that happens, I can only assure you that I will strenuously protest.

*This is a somewhat rewritten column from way back when, and it was also a blog post from March, 2003.

Posted by Ryan at August 30, 2004 12:43 PM