K.I.S.S. and the Protesting at the G20

I warned you in my intro to this blog: while we usually address legal issues, from time to time we get to vent. And this is one of those times. If you prefer to stick to legal issues, please refer to Richard’s excellent post of Friday June 25.

As a person who came of age in the ‘70s, I can appreciate a good protest. Zero in on an issue, come up with a good chant or two, prepare some pithy placards, get as near to the site of the party you are protesting against as is legally permitted, and proceed to peacefully exercise your rights to free speech and congregation. Keep It Simple Stupid.

The protests surrounding the G20 are useless. There are too many issues vying for attention. The protesters’ lack cohesion as to what they actually want to accomplish. The protests are for the most part chaotic. And the apparently inevitable violence just detracts from the message, unless you are an anarchist in which case that is your only goal.

Further it is disingenuous for the "peaceful" protesters to blame a lack of police response for the violence that occurred in Toronto on Saturday when the rioters were being shielded by the crowd; and then declaim a more vigorous police response on Sunday, in which there was little or no bodily injury, as a violation of civil rights which Amnesty International needs to get involved in. Canada and its police forces are not perfect, but the protesting violence is the repugnant cause of any potential overreaction, not per se flaws in the Canadian protections of rights.

If as a protester you naively think (see below as to why you are being naive) that protesting at the G8 and/or G20 meetings will actually accomplish something, go back to basics. And don't let the "Black Bloc" hijack your protest.

And to the G8 and G20: if you really think it necessary to have these meetings when you have already prepared the communiqué about the “agreed principles” – which are rarely effectively acted upon by the participating nations - in advance of the actual meetings, have the frigging meetings in a remote location and stop disrupting urban centres.

End of rant.