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August 30, 2005
Lisa Fithian: Hard-Core Fanatic, Sheehan Puppeteer
Posted by Dave Blount at August 30, 2005 8:16 AM
In an interesting piece on NRO, Byron York sheds further light not only on how profoundly contrived the Cindy Sheehan phenomenon is, but on who does the contriving. He notes that when Sheehan's website passes around the hat, donors are request to contact Lisa Fithian.
Fithian is a big-time, profession agitator. In York's words:
Fithian is a legendary organizer who operates in the world of anti-globalism anarchists, antiwar protesters, and union activists; an advocate of aggressive "direct action" demonstrations, she protested the first Gulf war, played an important role in the violent shutdown of Seattle during the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting, was a key planner in protests at the Republican and Democratic national conventions in 2000 and 2004, and organized demonstrations at trade meetings in Washington, D.C., Prague, and Genoa.
By the way, Sheehan handlers Code Pink were also involved in the anticapitalism riots in Seattle.
Although reporters have discretely failed to notice, Fithian has been a part of the Crawford Carnival since its very inception.
"I came the first day and helped her [Sheehan] set up the initial encampment," Fithian admits. She's been in Crawford pretty much continually ever since.
To give an idea of Fithian's character, York refers to a November 2003 profile in New York Times Magazine — hardly hostile territory for left-wing activists.
"You don't go to Fithian when you want to carry a placard," said the Gray Lady. "You go to her when you want to make sure there are enough bolt cutters to go around."
Violence, nonviolence, what's the difference? There isn't one, according to Fithian:
Nonviolence is a strategy. Civil disobedience is a tactic. Direct action is a strategy. Throwing rocks is a tactic.
Her hostility to our civilization is not something she hides under a bushel:
I guess my biggest thing is that as people who are trying to create a new world, I do believe we have to dismantle or transform the old order to do that. I just fundamentally don't believe it will ever serve our interests as it's currently constructed.
"Dismantle or transform the old order" sounds innocuous enough to some — but probably not to Russians, who will remember the millions who were deliberately starved or died in gulags when Lisa Fithian types helped dismantle the old order and were then able to seize control of their country.
With thanks to V the K.
