Matthis’ big weekend
Mattis went to Detroit for the US Social Forum and hooked up with flag-burning buddy Elaine Brower this weekend. Their big adventure was to post a banner in an abandoned building with some of the chumps from Geezers For Sitting On Our Hands;
Yeah, he’s afraid of the police, that’s why he stopped to take a group portrait;
Here’s the lame-ass crowd – they took several photos despite the fact that they were so afraid of the cops;
If the Detroit police need the picture to identify the trespassers, I can still blow the original up another 200% to help out. Anything to help out Detroit’s finest. But obviously, Matthis and his friends weren’t all that interested in the social forum that was being held in Detroit, well not as much as they were enamored with the idea of childish, useless pranks. Given that the average age of the trespassers was about 90 years old, I think I can safely say “Grow up, Vets for Peace.” At least act half your age.
Category: Antiwar crowd, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Phony soldiers, Usual Suspects
Wow. I guess now the war will probably end this week.
Fap fap fap.
This is an awareness tactic. It is not intended to influence policy makers, but rather to give the people of Detroit, who are well aware of what their city did in past war efforts, to evaluate the situation.
Moreover, it is direct action and something that can be fun for participants. I cannot tell from the photograph where the placement is and why the 6th floor. I would have opted for a factory near a major highway if one were available since it frames the argument better. I am also curious to know if locals played a major part in the creation of the banner and the planning/ execution. However, the tactic likely acheived its immediate goals and could be considered a successful action.
Detroit hasn’t contributed jack shit to a war effort since Korea, if then. And if you consider that successful, Doc, I’d say you’ve set the bar pretty low.
Hanging a banner is “direct action?” Are billboards direct action too? They’re essentially the same.
I’m sure it was tons of fun for the participants. This is precisely the kind of thing that gets their rocks off, and I’m sure The Man really felt he’d had it stuck to him via this ephemeral action. Care to illustrate precisely what effect it actually had on anything, other than giving Matthis yet another platform to relate his breathless swashbuckling tales to his legions of slackjawed facebook fans, so they might once again line up and verbally fellate him for his “courage”? I really doubt the residents of Detroit need reminding that their city is a modern wasteland.
Sparky a quick google search came up with quite a few military manufacturers in Dtroit. My guess is that Jeeps were built there as well as tank parts, but that stopped in 2005 from BRAC. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/detroit.htm
Scott:
A billboard could be considered dirct action provided that the idividuals in the organization had a substantial part in making it. But usually grass roots organizations lack the funding for billboards as well as the tecnical tools. It also gives a sense of mainstream to the campaign. The banner drop is different because it plays off the collective expereince of the organziation and the target audience. The effectiveness of billboards, banners and posters are very hard gauge which is why I don’t include them in PR plans. Their real value is the energy that is developed in the organzation. Which is why I ask what level of involvement locals have with this action. The fact that we learned about it solely from Mathis leads me to think not much. Again the point is nopt to remind them that “they live in a modern wasteland” but is to remind them where resources are going. Detropits problems are many, but there is a far more blame to go around than anyone gives credit for.
Awesome. So now “courage” is defined as hanging banners out of the windows of buildings? If that’s the case, I know some courageous Girl Scouts who have been protesting the lack of cookie consumption at the local Walmart. Fight the power, girls.
I never siad that there was courage involved here. My analysis is purley tactical.
And you should have read all of St. Matthis’ FB quotes…to which I was referring. Knock yourself out, tactical guy.
My bad claymore. I missed that last one. I have little patience for the mathis Cult O’ Personality (Or lack there of)
Wow. Obviously a dangerous operation. I know they were all relieved to make it out alive. Are they planning a toilet paper rolling ‘mission’ next weekend?
Detoilet has been in a slow death spiral since the ’67 riots… The crap leadership of the city, most recent examples being Kwame “doin’ time” Thugpatrick, the education board bandidos swiping money from the school system that produces +/- 33% HS graduates and the crime rate which ran the productive class out of the city has more to do with Detoilet’s crash than the war ever did.
“a quick google search came up with quite a few military manufacturers in Dtroit. My guess is that Jeeps were built there as well as tank parts, but that stopped in 2005 from BRAC.”
If Matthis and friends had their way, they’d shut ’em down. Because if there is one thing Detroit needs now, it’s less jobs.
“My analysis is purley tactical.”
Tactically, this is probably the laziest possible form of “action” one could engage in, short of bumper stickers (but I bet these folks are big fans of those too). I can’t even justify calling it “direct action.” It’s advertising, nothing more, and advertising is passive and goes unnoticed by 99.94% of consumers. It’s not in anyone’s face. It’s not particularly deep, nor does it say anything everyone doesn’t already know (The economy sucks and wars cost money- no shit). This was more an ego-stroking exercise (IVAW’s specialty) than anything else, as evidenced by the “Look at meeee, look at what I did!” swiftness with which it was posted to facebook.
My bad claymore. I missed that last one. I have little patience for the mathis Cult O’ Personality (Or lack there of)
No worries, bubba.
What Mathis would or would not want is not my concern. Nor is it really relvant in respect to the target either. The point is taht the message may resonate because of the collective experience of the target. Whether or not the organization supports war manufacturing, the target sees the reality of wartime economy.
It would be a lazy form of action in they had hired an ad agency to handle this. Whether or not its advertising is a symantic argument. Its an actionbecause they had to create the banner, scout a location and make the drop. Is it a major blow for democracy everywhere? No. Was it the best use of resources? I can’t answer that. Is it completly useless. No. It motivates the base, performs a tactical action and reenforces a strategi c goal.
What the “message” should have asked, being as they were in Detroit, was “how is the democrat economy working for you?”. After all, Detroit is the poster child for democrat-run cities, now. Has been, ever since Soulman Young was elected.
He managed to drive the productive class right out of the city, and judging by the demographic trends, they’re fleeing Wayne county, too.
Oh, and just an aside, HM2. Considering the graduation rate in the DPS, who’d read the banner to them, and explain what it meant? After all, it ain’t Hip-Hop.
Yawn….more racist crap from UpNorth….BTW I lost the bet. I thought it would take you less than an hour to show up.
I could go into all the factors including unions, banking, Republican trade policies that also went into Detroit’s decline. But why bother?
HM2 FMF-SW Ret: I knew somehow Republicans had to be responsible for Detroit’s decline – despite the fact that it’s been decades since a Republican even got near the mayor’s office. Those Republican trade policies you mentioned wouldn’t be the refusal of three Republican presidents in a row to put tariffs on imported cars would it? That’s not a failure of trade policy – it was the failure of the Big Three to put out a competitive product that could beat the rice-burning industry into the ground.
HM2
What racist crap? I wonder what it means when you assign meaning to something UpNorth didn’t say. Republican trade policies? Let’s see, the auto industry floundered in the 80’s and 2000’s. You want party common threads? Democrat Governors in the 80’s (Blanchard) and 2000’s (Granmole) Going back through Cleman Youngs mayoral reign in the 60’s and 70’s Michigan had Republican Governors Romney and Milliken. Then the Big 3 left Detroit for the suburbs and the working class followed them. When Michigan and Detroit were run by Democrats they left the state. Now we are told they will never comeback so let’s lead the world in green technology!
I am referring to the policies that have sent the majority of manufacturing jobs overseas. Within my lifetime we used to build things in this country. If you read what I said it was that there is plenty of blame to go around.
Why don’t you name some of those policies that sent manufacturing jobs overseas. In fact, just name one. It’s been my experience that people who answer blog posts with bumpersticker slogans have bumpersticker deep intellect.
I’m not insulting you – I’m trying to get you to learn something because the problems in this country won’t be fixed until we ALL learn what caused them instead of just tossing around empty rhetoric and supposition.
What killed Detroit’s economy was liberalism and politicians who bought votes with the car industry’s money. “Enough blame to go around” is just letting the liberals off the hook. Do you think those jobs would have gone overseas if Democrat politicians hadn’t taxed the living shit out of industry? Do you think they would left if the unions hadn’t made it too expensive to hire workers? You can answer those questions quietly at your desk, if you’d prefer – but at least answer them for yourself.
Empty Rhetoric and supposition like, “Liberal Bad, Republican Good” or Barrack Obama is the root of all evil?” Seriously, Jonn I also mentioned the unions in the above quip. Enviornmental policies allowing industry to move over seas and pollute other coutnries was the start then Clinton and Nafta nailed the coffin further (I know Clinton is a Democrat.
You have a habit of making very complex problems overly simple. Its funny since reagan was largely protectionist when it came to industry.
So Matthis is deemed courageous for hanging a sign up in an abandoned building or is he courageous for entering an abandoned building in Detroit?
If Matthis took a shit and said it was an act of rebellion, his knob-gobbling facebook fans would call it courageous.
They were so worried about being caught that Elaine Brower even FILMED it as well
http://www.youtube.com/user/elainebrower#p/u/1/FvnOt5SR8TY
You can see Matthis in the window on the far left. No pun intended.
http://www.youtube.com/user/elainebrower#p/u/0/bzLiwjXBH-s
Wanna bet they’ll try and pass this one off as “Iraq Footage?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNAoCeWvWJA
Not even 30 seconds in and already they’re lamenting “this looks as if a tornado or a bomb hit it. Everyone’s gone. It’s eerie and it’s (etc.)”