Policy

A Little Protest Perspective

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Today's Tea Party protests may be having some permitting troubles, but here's a little dose of protest perspective from today's New York Times:

KABUL, Afghanistan — The young women stepped off the bus and moved toward the protest march just beginning on the other side of the street when they were spotted by a mob of men.

"Get out of here, you whores!" the men shouted. "Get out!"…

But the march continued anyway. About 300 Afghan women, facing an angry throng three times larger than their own, walked the streets of the capital on Wednesday to demand that Parliament repeal a new law that introduces a range of Taliban-like restrictions on women, and permits, among other things, marital rape.

Plus this protest, closer to home:

While conservatives are planning nationwide "Tea Parties" protesting taxes—and even same-sex marriage—same-sex couples are planning some tea parties of their own, to protest the government overcharging them. The rationale: because same-sex couples are not recognized by the federal government, they face higher taxes than straight married couples.

Couples around the country will be handing out fliers at post offices educating Americans about this unfairness in the tax code. A group in Boston is even throwing their tax forms into the Boston Harbor.

Protests are scheduled in Wisconsin, Iowa and South Dakota today.

Looks like Glenn Reynolds is right. Tax Day is becoming Protest Day. Not a bad development, all in all.