The current debate over the war in Afghanistan is profoundly important and deeply serious.  I see merit on both sides (and all those in-between) — from those who see victory as essential, even if it requires significant additional boots on the ground, to those who object to the war and want to see the U.S. pull out as quickly and expeditiously as possible. (And for the record, my sympathies trend more toward the former than the latter.)

Yesterday, those believing most strongly in ending the war held a protest outside the White House.  I respect their efforts and recognize the sincerity of their position — even if I don’t agree with it. But somebody has to explain to these folks that mimes and tamborines not the most efficacious approach to demonstrating the seriousness of their cause.

This was The Washington Post’s coverage, for crying out loud.  Imagine what Fox will do with this.

Yes, this was one guy.  And the protest’s organizers can’t (necessarily) be responsible for the foolishness of one individual.  But if you look at the Post’s full set of photos, many involve other protesters playing dress-up.

This is not a uniquely liberal phenomenon.  There were idiots at the 9/12 tea party protests as well.  And much as was the case yesterday, the media focused on the nuttiest folks in the crowd.

So is the media to blame for this?  Well, certainly they play a role.  But our coarsened culture, where everyone is encouraged to make a fool of themselves in order to get their 15 seconds of fame, doesn’t help either.

Take a moment to compare the nonsense above (as well as any collection of photos from 9/12) and compare it to this:

Sure, this isn’t entirely fair.  But the genius of King and the other civil rights movement leaders was in recognizing that dignity and seriousness were an important part of their message.  If they didn’t look like they should be taken seriously, they wouldn’t be taken seriously.  That’s why almost every photo of civil rights demonstrators shows them in business attire.

Somewhere along the way, grassroots movements forgot that, as both George Lakoff and Frank Luntz have noted, accurate messaging is the key to successful advocacy.  Posters showing Obama as The Joker or Hitler and mimes performing street theatre simply don’t convey the gravity that issues like health care reform and Afghanistan merit.  They also do nothing to advance the ideas behind the idiotic presentation.

I’m not sure what to do about this problem, but I think that until we can find a way to ensure that the nature of our protests match the seriousness of our debates, it’s going to be awfully difficult to get out of the mess we’re in.

Photo of mime:  Sarah Voisin, The Washington Post, used under the doctrine of fair use.

Photo of 1964 March on Washington:  Life Magazine, via Google Photo, with permission to use for non-commercial purposes.

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