March 6, 2008
Rude Wake-Up Planned for Georgetown (and Jack Evans)
If you live on any of Georgetown's quiet tree-lined streets, this weekend might be a good time to take an impromptu out-of-town vacation.
In response to the D.C. Council's tabling of a bill that would place limitations on the use of amplification for demonstrations in residential neighborhoods, activists are planning to take to the streets of Georgetown this weekend to make a point -- and make it loudly. According to an email we received, the activists will gather early Saturday and Sunday morning near the home of Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who moved to table the bill, and partake in an "amplified lecture series" on the need for the proposed legislation.
The legislation was initially provoked by the struggles of Ward 6 resident David Klavitter, who for years has attempted to silence amplified proselytizers who loudly expressed themselves near his H Street NE home. Legislation introduced by Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) would have placed limits on the use of amplification in residential areas, though the proposal was tabled after concern was expressed by labor unions and civil liberties groups.
The activists plan on meeting at 6:45 a.m. both days at the corner of 30th and P streets and proceeding to demonstrate from 7 to 9 a.m. If you're thinking of joining the ruckus but are afraid of getting busted by the law, fear not -- police have been notified and will be offering "full protection for the [amplified] group both days."
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oh sweet, i'm there. i can think of a lot of things i want to tell mr. evans...
Will Jack Evans even BE there? If I knew protestors would be outside my place at 7 am, I'd leave.
Is there a church nearby so I can doublepark, too?
This is a brilliant citizen activist protest.
Read Cary Silvermans, candidate for Ward 2, discuss this issue.
They need to also start showing up unannounced. That way it's even more jarring.
I love this! Except that Klavitter & Co. should target all the other Council members who voted down the bill, but not let them know ahead of time when they will be targeting their homes.
And I'm sure Klavitter's group will not be spouting the hateful crap the Black Israelites group is regularly ranting about.
But aren't these protestors just proving themselves wrong? If this is a brilliant citizen activist protest, wouldn't it be disallowed had the bill been passed? Isn't this kind of like shooting a councilmember for not supporting a ban on shooting people?
Um, that's kind of the point.
"Isn't this kind of like shooting a councilmember for not supporting a ban on shooting people?"
A silly analogy, but yeah, it is.. but so what? The point is to show how enacting the legislation would raise the quality of life. In your analogy, if a councilmember thinks that shooting people should be legal, maybe he'll have a different opinion after getting shot himself.
Um, that's kind of the point.
If Jack's out vacationing, then i'm sure some of his neighbors will still provide a full report.
I THINK THIS PROTEST IS A GOOD IDEA, I WILL BE TYPING IN ALL-CAPS TO SHOW MY SUPPORT.
(technically I'd need a fontsize tag to amplify my message, but whatev)
"The point is to show how enacting the legislation would raise the quality of life."
But my point is more that aren't they demonstrating the beauty of free speech in action only to argue that others should not be able to express themselves in the same manner? If you're truly opposed to a protest like this, is it moral to use its tactics to prevent others from using its tactics?
I don't this this is a moral issue or question.
Let's not confuse free speech with free AMPLIFIED speech. As I understand it, Klavitter's group objects to amplification, not free speech. There is are many decibels of difference there.
He and his neighbors have all my sympathy. I would hate to start every one of my weekends with amplified anything, especially if my Friday night was good.
This is a partial list of the music used to bring down Noriega back in 1989. Is amplified music also protected? There's nothing like Judas Priest at 7am!
(You've Got) Another Thing Coming - Judas Priest
Blue Collar Man - Styx
Danger Zone - Kenny Loggins
Dead Man's Party - Oingo Boingo
Don't Look Back - Boston
Electric Spanking of War Babies - Funkadelic
Heaven's On Fire - Kiss
If I Had A Rocket Launcher - Bruce Cockburn
In My Time of Dying - Led Zeppelin
Iron Man - Black Sabbath
Judgment Day - Whitesnake
Jungle Love - Steve Miller
No More Mister Nice Guy - Alice Cooper
Paradise City - Guns & Roses
Panama - Van Halen
Paranoid - Black Sabbath
Refugee - Tom Petty
Renegade - Styx
Run Like Hell - Pink Floyd
The Party's Over - Journey
This Means War - Joan Jett
Wanted Dead or Alive - Bon Jovi
Wanted Man - Ratt
War Pigs - Black Sabbath
We're Not Gonna Take It - Twisted Sister
You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC
Your Time is Gonna Come - Led Zeppelin
No, it probably isn't "moral", but I don't really see why that matters. I don't think they're demonstrating the beauty of free speech. More like the ugliness of electrically amplified speech in residential neighborhoods.
Targeting the Council Members who tabled/opposed this makes the exact point. Even if the politicians are not there, their neighbors will be pissed.
Do this for a month(s) and the laws will be changed to favor the residents/taxpayers very quickly.
It is amazing that the Council would favor the monied unions over taxpayer/residents on this issue.
The fact that he didn't shoot himself after listening to Kenny Loggins is a testament to Noriega's fortitude.
I'll contribute my Grand Funk Railroad tape it'll help the cause.
The Crazed Street Preacher at Eastern Market is much easier on the ears these days. His new equipment is louder but doesn't distort as much. Doesn't seem to win any more souls, though.
The only reason this is an issue is because White people want the Black people on H Street to shut up. They are upset with the content of the speech and they are using the volume as a means of getting to the content. To me that's a blatant constitutional violation.
I don't agree with the content either has it caused any accidents on the street? Fights? I live near H Street NE and I haven't seen any of that due to the group's presence.
City politicians believe this is an "issue" because they want to attract more Whites and White-patronized business to that part of the Hill.
is there some kind of a godwin's law-type award that we can give badtzmaru for parachuting into a conversation and firebombing it with "the race card"?
because if there isn't, i propose we call it the badtzmaru award...
Well if you hadn't noticed, the group being targeted on H Street are the Black Hebrew Israelites. They have all sorts of interesting things to say about Whites, Jews, Arabs, etc..
badtzmaru -- i know very well who is making the noise at 8th and H.
the white people in the neighborhood would be bitching just as loudly if the klan was set up on the corner. it's not a race thing in the way you're making it out to be, though race is an integral part of this story.
it's all about what's reasonable. it's already established that you can't shout "fire!" in a crowded theater, so the law allows for speech to be limited, in a way. broadcasting anything towards a residential area, no matter what the content, isn't reasonable.
Dear badtz,
Mind if I come down to your place some morning with my megaphone? I've got all sorts of interesting things to say about how apes evolved from men.
yr pal,
Dr. Zaius
Dear Badtzmaru: You sicken me.
Sincerely,
Resident of 10th & K St, NE.
We can call it the badtzmaru award, or just being an ignorant ass. Either one works for me.
Badtzmaru,
There are similar situations elsewhere around town, beyond H St, NE where this has been a problem.
Knock off the amplified protests in residential zones and call it a day.
Maybe the suburbs are more suitable for a lot of you.
Hopefully, they will stop the drumming rat people downtown as well. Their verbal yelling and chanting is bad enough (not to mention the actual theft they commit). But when the unions pay these homeless people to drum incessantly, that is just too much. And they aren't even paying those homeless drummers union-scale wages or benefits.
I'd like to see a few people show up at these union bosses homes at 4am with airhorns and drums.
Shove even more of their hypocrisy down their throats.
Jack Evans lives 2 blocks away from 30th and P. Couldn't you rally a little closer to his house?
Jack Evans lives 2 blocks away from 30th and P. Couldn't you rally a little closer to his house?
Badtzmaru, I live near there too and although I've never seen fisticuffs, I have definitely seen people (the other "Black people on H Street") very upset by the effigy lynchings, and when they call MLK Jr. the n-word. That is beside the point, though, as the proposed legislation wouldn't stop them from doing anything -- just doing it less loudly.