Tag Archives: demonstration

Tax day protests, 2012

Posted on April 16, 2012 by David S. Meyer

Watch who takes to the streets tomorrow, the day federal taxes are due.    Tax day is a predictable occasion for protest.  Indeed, the Tea Party protests in April 2009 were the first visible signs of that powerful movement emerging. In … Continue reading →

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Occupy at the Rose Bowl

Posted on December 31, 2011 by David S. Meyer

A march looks a lot like a parade with demands. Occupy the Rose Parade will present a presence–with floats–at the 123rd Tournament of Roses Parade on Monday morning in Pasadena. The parade, patriotic and explicitly non-political, allows cause groups to … Continue reading →

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A Smaller Tea Party

Posted on April 2, 2011 by David S. Meyer

Thursday’s Tea Party rally drew crowds described as “sparse,” with estimates clustering around 200 people.  Slate‘s David Weigel says that there were four reporters for every demonstrator, and that other journalists were poaching his interviews, trying to find someone to … Continue reading →

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On Wisconsin: After Defeat, Activists Pick New Arenas

Posted on March 12, 2011 by David S. Meyer

When a door closes, start trying the windows.  A defeat in Wisconsin has spurred a new wave of activism, and advocates have turned their attention beyond the state senate. In the United States, when activists lose a battle in one … Continue reading →

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Roe v. Wade commemorations

Posted on January 25, 2011 by David S. Meyer

Visitors to Washington, DC can choose either an anti-abortion or abortion rights demonstration this week. The March for Life started with a rally on the National Mall, then activists marched to the Supreme Court to protest Roe v. Wade, praying … Continue reading →

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The Uses of History

Posted on November 6, 2010 by David S. Meyer

It’s not that those who don’t know history are condemned to repeat it.  Rather, those who don’t know about the past become victims of the waves of enthusiasm perpetrated by others.  History provides context for the present; it’s not that … Continue reading →

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Billions for Civility?

Posted on November 1, 2010 by David S. Meyer

Stephen Colbert proclaimed that Comedy Central’s weekend rally drew 6 billion participants.  He may believe this; he is not to be believed.  (In the same way, Rep. Michele Bachmann’s estimate of one million at Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally shouldn’t … Continue reading →

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Strikes in France

Posted on October 21, 2010 by David S. Meyer

French citizens are taking to the streets in response to large cuts in social spending, most notably, an increase in the retirement age from 60 to 62.  Nicolas Sarkozy, like leaders in most of Europe, has pressed for these cuts … Continue reading →

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A March is not a Movement

Posted on October 19, 2010 by David S. Meyer

Fifteen years after the Million Man March, it’s hard to find any kind of substantial effect.  At The Root, Jon Jeter writes that Black community is more divided than it was in 1995, and that, as a group, Black men … Continue reading →

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The Numbers Trap

Posted on October 4, 2010 by David S. Meyer

Well, yes, size matters, but it’s not the only thing. Large labor unions, the NAACP, and hundreds of other groups from the center to the left of American politics, staged their demonstration, a March for One Nation Working Together, Saturday.  … Continue reading →

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