Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Never Try to Silence a Tuesdayista

[This turned out to be one of my favorite blog posts of 2011. Check out my other 2011 favorite "Scarry Thoughts" blog posts here!]

Rule Number One: Never Try To Silence a Tuesdayista ... it just makes them angry!

I'm grateful to some horticulturalist friends for this bit of insight.

In the tallgrass prairie native to Chicago, there are certain flowers that are very pretty but if you try to cut them down, they just come back ten times as strong.

For instance, this is the delicate goldenrod:


Goldenrod (singular)


And this is what it looks like when you try to cut down the goldenrod to make room for other flowers:


Goldenrod (plural)


Moral of the story: don't try to cut down the goldenrod. It just makes it angry!

The people who are native to Chicago are sort of the same way. They look innocent enough, but whatever you do, don't try to shut them up.

Exhibit A:


"I am a little upset."
Midwestern (singular) protest.


Exhibit B:


"NO WAR!" to the nth power
Midwestern (plural) protest.


Any more questions?

This is true on #AfghanistanTuesday, when people are working to end the war in Afghanistan, or, for that matter, on any day of the week.

Lately, there has been more and more interference with the speech rights of Tuesdayistas and others who oppose U.S. wars and want to express their political views. The result has been that the antiwar voices have come roaring back ten times as strong.

Moral of the story: never try to silence a Tuesdayista. It just makes them angry!

The reason that Chicagoans (and other Tuesdayistas) won't be silenced has something to do with their deep roots. But that's a story for another day ....

PLUS . . . Check out the master list of #AfghanistanTuesday blog posts!


Related posts

People assemble every week -- in growing numbers -- to lift their voices together in opposition to continued U.S. occupation of Afghanistan.


It may get loud . . . .

(See #AfghanistanTuesday - ALL LINKS)





It seems like an appropriate time to remember the protests against NATO in Chicago in the spring of 2012. (What do YOU remember about the NATO protests?)

(See Flashback: Protesting NATO in Chicago - May, 2012





When Chicagoans fully succeed in fully connecting the dots -- especially to the crimes being committed in their name with their tax dollars and the weapons produced by their favored corporate citizen, Boeing -- I think there will be some new and different phone calls taking place . . .

(See What's New in Chicago: Connecting the Dots - US Aid, Boeing Weapons, Gaza Massacre, Chicago Complicity )

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