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Today, at 9:00am, I participated in my first sit-in as part of the Occupation Project. It was actually somewhat underwhelming. Before I signed up, I was half-expecting Bull Connor waiting with the firehoses and attack dogs, but once I actually got in, there was none of that.
For one thing, my sit-in wasn't an actual act of civil disobedience. It was actually one of those acts that seem so dirty to those not familiar with politics - lobbying. Civil disobedience is actually a smaller part of the Occupation Project - a few volunteers will conduct an actual civil-disobedience protest maybe once a week or so. They'll stay after being asked to leave, the cops will come, and usually they'll be arrested, booked, charged with misdemeanor trespassing, then let out on bail. Usually, though sometimes an ambitious DA or a nasty cop may decide to make an example of someone. But my first sit-in wasn't a disobedient act - it was simple lobbying.
When I walked into Senator Salazar's office, the staffer there was friendly - we shook hands and introduced ourselves, and had a brief chat on the Occupation Project, and I brought up my views on Iraq - defund the war and get the troops out now, and on Iran - do not attack, pass legislation forbidding Bush from taking military action against Iran, on pain of impeachment and removal from office. Then we sat at their conference table for a while, and the staffer went back to her work. As I left, I gave the staffer a letter to Ken Salazar, and some literature explaining that defunding the war is not abandoning the troops (there's enough money from last year's appropriation to pay for a safe, orderly withdrawl) and explaining why attacking Iran is a terrible idea.
Yep, underwhelming. But still important. Congressmen know that a few people lobbying in their offices, or even getting arrested in their offices represent thousands and thousands of people who didn't take time to visit, but think exactly the same way. A strong enough campaign will turn the fence-sitters and put an end to the bloodshed.
This Saturday, I'll do another training session, this one aimed towards actual civil disobedience. Maybe in a week or two, I'll be one of the volunteers that actually gets arrested. I'll admit it. It's hard to screw up the courage to do something like this. I've never been arrested in my entire life, and I've never seen the inside of a jail cell before, and I'm concerned that being arrested will have implications when I apply for work and such. Of course, if an employer will turn me away after I honestly tell them I got arrested for civil disobedience, I'm not sure I'd want to work for him.
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