Bear with me here.
There is an episode of The West Wing that was written in response to 9/11. It's an incredibly fair, honest episode. It isn't anti anyone. But there was a bit that reminded me of the tactics we're seeing, albeit in a far more extreme way. And it gave me hope that TRAs have shown their hand too soon. And how we will win.
Even the suffragettes got the vote in what is thought be many to have been recognition for their actions in WW1 And to shut them up when they objected to losing all the jobs back to the returning soldiers.
Here is a transcript to the relevant bit:
GIRL 1 You know a lot about terrorism?
SAM I dabble.
GIRL 1 What are you struck by most?
SAM It's 100% failure rate.
GIRL 1 Really?
SAM Not only do terrorists always fail at what they're after, they pretty much always succeed in strengthening whatever it is they're against.
BOY 1 What about the IRA?
SAM The Brits are still there. The Protestants are still there. Basque extremists have been staging terrorist attacks in Spain for decades with no result. Left Wing Red Brigades from the 60s and 70s, from the Bader-Meinhoff gang in Germany to the Weatherman in the U.S. have tried to take over capitalism. You tell me. How's capitalism doing?
BOY 2 What about non-violent protest?
SAM What about it?
BOY 2 Well, it worked for Gandhi.
SAM Yeah, it did. Who else did it work for?
BOY 1 The Civil Rights Movement.
SAM That's right.
GIRL 1 Yeah, but weren't we terrorists at the Boston Tea Party?
SAM Nobody got hurt at the Boston Tea Party. The only people that got hurt was some fancy boys who didn't have anything to wash down their crumpets with. We jumped out from behind bushes, while the British came down the road in their bright red jackets, but never has a war been so courteously declared. It was on parchment with calligraphy and "Your highness, we beseech you on this day in Philadelphia to bite me, if you please."
GIRL 1 Can I go back to what you were saying at the beginning?
SAM Yeah.
GIRL 1 About it being 100% ineffective.
SAM Yeah.
GIRL 1 They're still doing it anyway.
SAM Yeah.
GIRL 1 They're not frustrated by the failure?
SAM No.
GIRL 1 Well, what do you call a soceity that has to just live everyday with the idea that the pizza place you're eating in can just blow up without any warning?
SAM Israel.
Whatever you think of the politics it's worth watching that episode. It's a stand alone - you don't need to know the characters involved. It's called "ISAAC AND ISHMAEL".