Frank Watson: The Right to Protest

We in America not only have a right to protest, we have a long standing tradition. The Boston Tea Party was essentially a protest against British tax laws. Admittedly, it got a bit out of hand, went beyond “peaceful”, and destroyed some valuable property, (the tea). This early protest had a goal. The objective of the protesters was to convince the British crown to change their tax policy toward the American Colonies. Although the protesters became icons of freedom, they didn’t actually achieve their goal. The British crown retaliated with harsh reprisals and even higher taxes.

The anti-war protests of the 1960s were more successful.

I spent much of the “peace movement” in Viet Nam, and although I understood the rationale of the protesters, I didn’t approve.

I was fully aware of the SEATO treaty and had no doubt that our presence in Southeast Asia was not only lawful but was the proper response to counter the spread of Communism.

At times I took the protests personally.

I was doing my duty and was portrayed as the bad guy.

They did, however, have a goal: they wanted our government to stop the war.

As I reflect back on that period, I come to the conclusion that the objective of the American military and the objective of the protesters were one and the same.

We differed only in our methods.

I thought we should end the war by military victory, while they were for ending it by capitulation.

Although I disagreed with their methods, I supported their right to present their argument to the American people.

The protesters were successful in their mission to mobilize public opinion against the war, and I came home from the war to an ungrateful and, at times, hostile nation.

As a professional soldier I defended their right to disagree.

I would still defend that right today.

The protests against the outcome of the recent election, however, are different in many regards.

These protesters have no objective.

There is no possible, positive outcome.

The election is over.

Trump won.

You can scream, “Trump is not my president,” all you want to, but, come January, he will be president of all of us.

No laws were broken.

He was elected in accordance with our Constitution, and no amount of crying in the streets is going to change that.

Without a goal, these protests fall into the same category as flag burning.

They protest against the same Constitution that guarantees their right to protest.

It isn’t logical.

Soldiers who fought for the flag are insulted when some misguided radical burns it.

American soldiers swear an oath to defend the Constitution and are insulted by those who trash it.

We take great pride in the peaceful transition of political regimes. These protests are an attack on the process by which our government elects our leaders. They are an attack on the very cornerstone of democracy. I hate to think that America has come to the point that elections are routinely followed by group tantrums of those who didn’t like the outcome. I defend your right to protest, but I condemn this wide spread hissy fit as both destructive and disrespectful to our great nation.

(Frank Watson is a retired school teacher and long-time resident of St. John.)