Apathy Jack writes:

So I went to an anti-Clint Rickards march tonight.

Now, while I do strongly believe in the cause, it really was a reminder as to why I stopped thinking protest could ever actually solve anything.

The first thing my friend PETALS and I saw when we arrived at the massing group was a protestor dressed all in black, wearing a veil over her face. She carried a placard which suggested that someone called Richard’s new post should be in Antarctica. She obviously cares deeply about this issue: deeply enough to dress in mourning clothes; deeply enough to make and carry an angry sign; just not deeply enough to actually know the name of the man she so vehemently hates.

The next thing I noticed was the young socialist-looking chap holding a large sign which boldly proclaimed: COPS RAPE. I asked PETALS what she thought my chances of surviving were if I followed him with a sign saying MAORI STEAL?

I asked her quietly.

I was then handed a leaflet espousing the evils of vivisection. On site for three minutes before someone tries to co-opt the rally for their own special-interest group. Usually it only takes half that amount of time...

The speakers were pretty good – keeping to the issue at hand (although Laila Harre
did keep referring to International Womens Day as International Working Womens
Day and threw in a lot of stuff about unions...).

Then they opened the mic to the public.

The first speaker pointed out that rapists did not come out of a void. No, they were
created by the police. And of course the only way to dismantle the rapist-factory that
is the New Zealand Police Department is to overthrow the corrupt system it defended.
Of course the revolution the speaker assured us was coming should take care of that...

Then someone spoke calmly and rationally about helping women and children who had been abused. Deciding that we couldn’t have that, a woman took the mic and gave a several-minute long spiel about how in the genealogy of the gods, the gods were not men, but rather the sky and the earth. After being shouted down by the crowd who finally got sick of her, the mic was turned off and taken away from her. Another speaker came forward, but halfway through the speech the genealogy-woman attempted to wrestle the mic from her to continue ranting.

Now, here’s the thing: The majority of the people there were not morons. The majority of placards stuck to the point. The majority of speakers got their points across articulately. I know I’m just focussing on the bad stuff. I saw Span there, and she seemed in far higher spirits than I was, so I know it was just me puting my own jaundiced spin on it. But in ten minutes Nightline is going to be on, and what do you think they’re going to show footage of?

It’s people that ruin every revolution, it really is...