Reservation Indians

Coyote has seen this play before, and it isn't a good one.

It seems that the different groups protesting the DNC are not in complete agreement.  Obama has turned too far to the right, so he and his supporters have lost their way.  They have accommodated too much.  Some say Recreate68 is too welcoming to Obama supporters.  They have accommodated too much.  And some say, maybe, Unconventional Denver has worked too closely with Recreate68.  They have accommodated too much.  I guess there is agreement.  Everybody has accommodated too much.

Same old play, just different actors.

Throughout human history, whenever there is an occupying force, those who oppose it can't agree on how much to accommodate, and how much to resist.  The classic example is the indigenous peoples of America.  When confined to an area by the U.S. army, those who accommodated were called Reservation Indians.  Those who didn't want to be Reservation Indians disagreed among themselves about how much to negotiate with the United States, and how much to fight.  Many times different tribes could not work together to form a unified plan of resistance.  Same play.  Only Coyote has noticed that nobody ever seems to realize they are in a play.

Many Americans  believe the Bush Administration has felt like an occupying force of shallowness, thoughtlessness, recklessness, and even lawlessness.  And now those in Denver opposed to this occupation can't agree on how much to accommodate, and how much to resist. Each tribe suspects the other tribe just doesn't get it, or worse, has sold out.

Is there no way out of this age old drama?

Wise Coyote has an idea.  Lets change the script.  Occupying forces are the least likely to change, so a new drama will have to come from the protesters.  How about this for an idea? Instead of protesting, how about if all opposed to the occupation became the front line of Denver's convention hospitality committee.  How about if the protesters made sure the police had plenty of water and sunscreen, made sure busses ran and intersections remained open, and insured that every delegate and visitor to Denver had the best possible time they could have.  And in this new drama of, lets call it "resistant hospitality," maybe the message of deep frustration and a deep desire for change would really be heard.  Maybe the tribes wouldn't fight with each other.  Maybe the world would change.

Or not.  Coyote doesn't know for sure.  But a totally different play would surely shake things up. People would notice.  Coyote reminds us, the play is the thing, in which we catch the conscience of the nation.

CoyoteJ