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October 26, 2005
Protesting...
How do you win support by flying enemy flags? This is a question for Wendy Oshima who recently hosted a benefit at her home for the “Peace and Justice Center.� It was an auspicious day marking the deaths of over 3000 American's on 9/11, but for Mrs. Oshima it was the perfect time to show her solidarity with nations unfriendly to America. She raised the Cuban flag, Iraq's old flag under Saddam Hussein and a Palestinian flag as her guests arrived and railed on Bush, American foreign policy and all our ills.
Those flags were still up when her bottled-water deliveryman arrived on Oct 4th to make his normal delivery. He paused for a moment, standing in front of her house, looking at this flag display and found himself so upset that he couldn't make his delivery. His son was a soldier in Iraq and it was this family’s belief that anti-American protests only make his son’s job that much more dangerous and difficult.
He left and called Mrs. Oshima later seeking some sort of understanding. Unfortunately, it was Mrs. O’s dinner time so she cut him short, but she was able to explain that a defaced American flag tacked to a tree nearby was done by her 9 year old daughter and it was not actually intended to be part of her enemy flag display. That was only slight consolation to this man, as Mrs. O chose to leave her daughter's flag up with hers anyway, she called the big peace sign and happy faces on the US flag, a form of “art�!
Wendy Oshima has the right to have her display and I would defend that right anytime, this part is not in question. What is in question is her lack of community sensitivity, something liberals are supposed to be so well versed in. But, she gave little consideration for whom she might offend when she raised those flags! She had to know it was going to offend many people; she's not a dumb person, just a little lacking in judgment.
Sure, she had a right to do it, just like a jack booted thug has the right to fly a Nazi flag in front of a Jewish Synagogue or the NAACP, but having a "right" and being "right" are two different things. And when the message is so offensive, as it was to this man and many others in our community, there are usually consequences. In this case, Mrs. O has lost her delivery of bottle water and she’s furious and went to media to vent her anger!
Well, there's a lesson here for the Wendy Oshima’s of this world and that includes her colleagues at the Peace and Justice Center. When you do something that is so absurd and offensive for a political stunt, you lose a certain amount of credibility and there are usually some consequences that follow. In her case this bottle water company chose not to do business with her anymore, as is their right.
There is a huge difference between meaningful, persuasive, political dissent and something that is only repugnant. And apparently Mrs. O just doesn’t get it, nor do her friends at the P & J Ctr. However, if those folks ever wake up and learn this lesson in good judgment, they might also recognize what a wonderful country they live in that provides them the choice to abuse or use their freedoms.
It is indeed ironic that Wendy Oshima, the big political protestor, is now protesting her deliveryman for his political action? It’s even more ironic that the 3 3rd world countries Wendy Oshima holds in such high esteem would likely have her jailed or shot, if she so criticized them on their own soil! Fortunately for her and her band of libs, they are free spout whatever they want and fly enemy flags all day long if that makes them happy, this is still America, not some despotic country like Cuba!
By the way, Oshima is considering suing the bottle water company. It figures, doesn’t it? OK, now it's your turn, any comments on this or anything else is fair game!
Posted by Post Scripts at October 26, 2005 12:26 PM
Comments
I began wondering today at what point common sense and the First Amendment took angry leave of eachother. Of course Ms. Oshima has the right to display anything on her property that she wants, that point is not in dispute, at least by me. But why does she think that she is immune to the consequences of others reaction to her display. Doesn't Mr. Lee's First Amendment rights protect his ability to express his displeasure at her display by not providing her with service. And who's hurt by his refusal anyways? Ms. Oshima, I'm sure, can get more bottled water from another company. I'm sure a giant corporation like Alhambra doesn't care if she stakes dead animals in her front yard. The real "victim" is Mr. Lee who loses one customer for certain, and probably few other morons who see Ms. O as a tragic victim of censorship.
Since I'm ranting about censorship I'd like to wonder about when it became okay for people to play their car stereos so loudly that I can hear their music over mine fifty yards away while sitting at a stop light. And why does that music usually have lyrics that include profanity, references to mistreating women, and racial slurrs that would earn any white person saying them an audience with Jesse Jackson? Is it censorship to tell these people to turn down their music? Is it censorship for the radio stations and recording labels to refuse to play those offensive songs. From my understanding of recent litigation it is. But why? Nobody is telling these artists that they can't play such music (I use the term loosely here), just that it won't be played to what is sure to be a mixed audience (if you want to obtain a random sample of an area poll a traffic light, works great). When did this happen? When can we go back to a little common sense?
Posted by: Jordan Frazer at October 27, 2005 03:58 PM