MLK AND GANDHI ARE DEAD & SO'S SERIOUS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE :

Cities share protester files : Police departments call practice proactive (Sean Kelly, March 13, 2002, Denver Post)

"We're not necessarily out there watching them. We're out there protecting everyone," said Sgt. Chris Ehalt, head of Aurora's intelligence division. "If you want to be in a public forum, if you want to draw attention, why be afraid of people knowing who you are?"

Say what you want about the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi, at least when they set out to change their societies through civil disobedience they were serious about it. They understood that in a decent society you can shame people into changing a morally bankrupt system by being willing to go to jail for your beliefs and making everyone face up to the injustice of your punishment. That so few of today's protestors are willing to be treated like criminals suggests that they realize how little support there is for their various lunatic causes and that society at large is unlikely to view their punishment as unjust. Posted by Orrin Judd at March 27, 2002 8:47 PM