Dissent vs. destruction

An important point is getting lost in all this reporting on the protest march, and it's bothering me.

It's a law of journalism that no one cares that the 300th plane landed safely. That's what I tell people who complain to we journalists: "Why can't you write more good news?" 

Because you wouldn't be reading this blog if the headline were "300th plane lands at airport without incident."

Don't get me wrong -- we've got to report that 283 people were arrested on charges related to hurling bricks and rocks at store and car windows, puncturing car tires and otherwise unlawful acts. (We don't know details and will leave that to authorities as well as lawyers; it's important that the Minnesota chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has been on hand to assist arrestees.)

If these folks did what police are saying, it's wrong. But as someone who watched the 10,000-plus protesters walk peacefully through city streets for more than two hours, I've got to remind folks: Only .0283 percent of march participants were arrested.

That's less than 3 percent of the marchers who were caught up in anything but peaceful dissent. 

You wouldn't guess that from the photos and headlines.

Most held signs or chanted slogans aimed at getting out of Iraq and holding President Bush and his administration accountable; within that category, there was every demographic from veterans for peace to gardeners for peace. Others wanted attention for different issues, many of which demonstrators tried to tie to the war -- from vegetarianism to the Ethiopian occupation of Somalia to the mother of all foreign affairs issues, Israel and Palestine.

Protesters came on foot while others rode the bus, drove cars and vans from out of state, pedaled bikes and even roller-skated through the event. Signs ran the gamut, from those sloppily scratched onto a ripped cardboard placard to elaborately papier-mache masks that were likenesses of Vice President Dick Cheney and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. 

The rhythmic drumbeat of one group that appeared toward the end of the march was hard not to feel, creating a fun and festive atmosphere that pulled on some of us who carefully walked the sidelines observing the march. I distinctly recall thinking, "This feels fun, but I am reporting and I'm not a protester, so I shouldn't enjoy the drumbeat too much."

Which is a little ridiculous until you think about how important neutrality is in reporting -- a point Tucker Carlson and others made during a Monday morning breakfast panel.

So while I wasn't jumping in to dance with the pink flower-festooned Code Pink ladies -- or helping a handful of war supporters and an anti-Obama protester wave their flags --  I was observing, and, as a freedom-of-the-press-loving-journalist, appreciating, both groups' ability to dissent. I am sure that parade marchers who have moved here from repressive countries -- or just places where the press is less free -- enjoyed the ability to exercise free speech and the freedom to assemble.   

And that's what just over 97 percent of protesters in St. Paul were doing today -- dissenting without incident.

Not a headline, but worth noting amid the negative reports about anarchy.