Many Avenues of Protest
by Douglas Herman
January 31, 2003

On Saturday I stepped onto the busy street corner in my neighborhood with my sign held embarrassingly low. "USAF Veteran For Peace/ Fight For Your Right To Drive Or Stand Up for Your Right To Peace". The horns honked and I waved. Derisive jeers greeted my wave and a few catcalls and gestures followed. I hadn’t hoped to change the world, only to change a few motorists perceptions of reality and maybe change a few minds that Saturday.

How effective are we street protesters, I wondered? What other avenues are open to us? Earlier that day I had been reading the very funny book, "Downsize This!" by the Michael Moore. Mike is the mayor of Righteous Indignation. He’s the head Indignant in that nation. Moore printed phone numbers or addresses of minor tyrants or major scoundrels in his book. One chapter even included a nationwide list of Secret Service agents. How useful an entire booklet would be, frequently updated, of names, phone numbers and addresses of Power Brokers. Granted, these powerful people have harried secretaries but after only a hundred calls or cards or Emails the system does begin to show some strain. Remember, it took a zillion grains of sand to wear down the Grand Canyon over eons of time, and, yes, Dick Cheney at Vice.president@whitehouse.gov is looking rather worn down in two short years.

First let me say, if you have access to a computer with internet connections you have access to the world. Type three or four key words into a good search engine like Google and you’ll find almost anything. Need Bill Gates home address? Type in "Unofficial Bill Gates" on www.google.com and presto you have more than enough information to locate Bill. How ironic that even the richest man in the world—a reclusive, billionaire computer geek—can’t escape the intrusiveness of his own creation.

Need to write or call the White House? George, our resident regent can be reached by email at president@whitehouse.gov , or telephone at 1-202-456-6213. Leave a message for Martin Sheen with George, who’ll be taking calls until his regime changes in 2004.

How about your friendly Congressman, always ready to listen to a constituent? I spoke with Jim Ennes, at www.USSLiberty.org who served aboard the Liberty when it came under attack by Israeli fighter planes in 1967. He said Arizona Senator John McCain, former Navy flyer, was frosty to their plea for justice but, as an old veteran, I intend to inundate John with calls and cards at 241 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington DC 20510 until I get through to his conscience. I know John’s got one in there somewhere.

You too have the power of a senator’s ear, however deaf and dumb they may seem to the general public. Inundate yours with precise postcards (they’re all afraid of anthrax-laden envelopes) but please, no death threats. That will only bring out those aforementioned Secret Service agents. You may find your senator at www.senate.gov. You can find addresses and phone numbers on this easily navigated site and, who knows, you may speak to the Great Oz himself. Some Congressmen are quite accessible once you get them out from behind the curtain.

Colin Powell may or may not be the most upright citizen in this administration of hawks. Hard to tell. Beneath that uniform may live a very decent man or just another brick in the wall, as Pink Floyd would say.

I wrote to Colin at State Dept., 2201 C Street NW, Washington DC 20520 or you may call him at 1-202-647-4000 or fax at 202-261-8577. The website is www.state.gov. Before the last election most pundits believed Colin Powell would have handily defeated either "W" or Gore for President. Now, if this war becomes a tragic fact, he may be damaged by his proximity to it. Write him a few heartfelt words; I believe he has a conscience.

Should we besiege the Religious Right, a group of people who are rarely religious and seldom right? Rush Limbaugh is at Rush@eibnet.com. EIB, by the way, stands for "Excellence in broadcasting", another oxymoron.

Fax Rush at 1-212-563-9166 but I found his phone, 1-800-282-2882, to be busy a lot. Maybe he’s rushing those Christian soldiers off to war. Pat Robertson, another whisperer to heads of states, is at 1-757-226-7000, and when you call you will get the switchboard for CBN. You may leave a message for Pat. I asked the quintessential question: "What Would Jesus Do?" I doubt Jesus would bomb Baghdad but maybe Pat can read His mind on such matters.

Jerry Falwell is at www.falwell.com or you can call 1-434-582-7618. Email Jerry personally at Jerry@falwell.com and ask him a godly question.

I like to believe the best in people and maybe Jerry is wrestling with his soul about war with Baghdad, like Biblical Paul wrestled with his on the way to Damascus. Of course Paul wasn’t going to bomb Damascus so what kind of Christian was he by American standards? Probably not worthy of the Religious Right.

Powerful people lurk everywhere. You may find the editor of any national newspaper by typing in the name of the paper on www.google.com. Then scroll down into you find "Contact Us". Don’t hesitate to write to foreign papers; www.antiwar.com lists editorials from many international newspapers and you can find the editorial page with a little searching. These newspapers actually may print a letter or essay from you, seeking a foreigner’s perspective outside the propaganda mainstream.

Do you remember that phrase: "Think globally, Act locally"? A powerful movement begins in your own neck of the woods. Join other people of like mind or find an organization like www.MoveOn.org and contribute your time and talents. Go to meetings; stand up and speak; then act.

Henry David Thoreau knew something about protest and human nature. He wrote: "There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil, to one who is striking at the root". If you cannot yet strike then by all means hack!

Quotes are good, by the way, and you may find one right for you at www.brainyquotes.com Find the one that fits and write it on a postcard to your Congressman or President’s secretary. Then add your own thoughts. After several hundred postcards arrive that harried secretary is gonna dump them all prominently on our public servant’s desk! Who knows, you may actually change his mind.

Douglas Herman, freelance journalist, former USAF veteran and current Alaska fisherman is working on a book to be published by Viking.