Tag Archives: guns

March for Our Lives is Still Marching

Posted on June 11, 2022 by David S. Meyer

They’re back. Teens in Parkland, Florida, who had survived the horrific Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting in 2018, initially organized around the slogan, “Never Again.” They vowed to make sure no other kids would have to live with the loss … Continue reading →

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Celebrities talk about guns

Posted on June 8, 2022 by David S. Meyer

Matthew McConaughey’s brief speech about the horrors of the last (at this writing) school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, made for a two-day story–at least. People will keep talking and taking pictures and arguing about the movie star’s take. Of course, … Continue reading →

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Sports are a platform for politics

Posted on June 6, 2022 by David S. Meyer

Long ago, I helped organize a demonstration that drew about 10,000 people. Although all of the key organizers, who spent months in meetings and outreach efforts, viewed the turnout as success, I couldn’t help but think about the 33,000 people … Continue reading →

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Dilemmas and Dynamics of Escalation (5)

Posted on May 27, 2022 by David S. Meyer

Crisis provokes escalation. Escalation can mean more people engaging in action, taking on an approach that is new for them. It can mean some people taking on more aggressive, disruptive, or risky actions. The tragic school shooting at the Robb … Continue reading →

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Rittenhouse and more: verdicts versus signals

Posted on November 22, 2021 by David S. Meyer

Courts decide cases, not causes. On the surface, the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha was only about a kid with an assault weapon who killed two men and maimed another. The jury, considering two weeks of testimony, videotapes, lawyers’ … Continue reading →

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Cesar Chavez Day, 2021

Posted on March 31, 2021 by David S. Meyer

Commemoration of Cesar Chavez Day is an annual ritual in California–and in Politics Outdoors. It’s interesting to revisit last year’s post in particular, as it came in the early stages of a lock down which still (sort of) continues. It’s … Continue reading →

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Conservative protest in the pre-post-Trump era

Posted on January 5, 2021 by David S. Meyer

Streams of disappointed Trump supporters are spilling into Washington, DC, partly in response to the president’s enthusiastic invitation. Expect to see devotees of QAnon mixed in with some social conservatives, white nationalists, gun rights enthusiasts, and fans of reality television. … Continue reading →

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An athletes’ boycott is a strike for racial justice.

Posted on August 26, 2020 by David S. Meyer

It’s not like the racial justice protests stopped; they just stopped getting as much attention, particularly if activists were disciplined and not destructive. And racialized police violence certainly didn’t stop, as the taped police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, … Continue reading →

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Are the Open-Up protests winning? What does winning mean? COVID-19

Posted on May 7, 2020 by David S. Meyer

Dramatic, often confrontational, protests by small groups to “open up” seem to be working. The protests certainly haven’t enjoyed the support of most Americans. A substantial majority of Americans oppose a quick lifting of restrictions on public life and are … Continue reading →

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It’s the guns, COVID-19

Posted on May 1, 2020 by David S. Meyer

Guns aren’t the only way to threaten public safety, as open up protesters screaming into the faces of masked police officers surely know. The police are wearing masks to avoid the possibility of infecting other people. Those medical masks are … Continue reading →

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