Harry Veeder wrote:

>Why should ANY sort of protestor be willing to be subject to arrest?
>Is arresting people a legitimate way, in a free and open society, of
>dealing with the conflict between the protestor the those who are the
>subject of prostest.
>
>In the case of anti-war protests, the government is the subject
>of protest so it would be very disturbing and antidemocratic for the
>government to silience the protestors by arresting. But why should
>protestors who are not directing their outrage at the government, but at
>another group in society, be subject to arrest? In other words why should
>private organizations be able have protestors arrested? There seems to be
>a double standard here.
I'm not sure what the "private organizations" are that you refer to. Have
you read "Armies of the Night"? (Or Thoreau, for that matter?) It was
during the march on the Pentagon that NC got arrested. Everyone knew that
arrest was part of the deal, on both sides. Mailer describes the entire
scene as a participant. It was civil disobedience, not simply protest,
and the police are portrayed fairly favorably. No persecution.

I've committed civil disobedience on a number of occasions, like blocking
Interstate 5 to protest contra aid, and only someone with a major
misundestanding of what civil disobedience is about would characterize
getting arrested under those circumstances as "persecution." It's part of
the strategy: you get media attention, you clog the system (thus raising
the costs of the war), you get a trial which you can use as a second
platform. (We argued before the judge that, given that Oliver North and
Poindexter had just been slapped on the wrist for far more serious
breaches of the law in connection with the same underlying issue, the
principle of equal protection under law demanded that we get similar
treatment. He smiled and agreed with us!) Most of all, you symbolically
call the system to account for itself. Indeed, only in societies where
there is basic respect for law and order is a concept like civil
disobedience meaningful, and hence even attempted. Try blocking a highway
in Iraq and see what happens.

This thread began with a question whether NC had ever been persecuted for
his beliefs. This has been answered by NC himself on more than one
occasion. His answer is no. Case closed.

Best,

Tresy