Warriors on the side of the righteous!

nepa wrote

Isn't that what a doctor at an abortion clinic is doing also?  Should we ban Pro-lifers from protesting at abortion clinics because Pro-Choicers think the doctors are just trying to live meaningful lives?

This is a solid argument. I'm pretty damn liberal and an absolutist on individual freedom and a women's right to an abortion. I don't think it would be right for someone trying to enter an abortion clinic to be physically barred from entry by demonstrators. Nor workers at the clinic, either. I guess that would be considered a physical assault to stop someone, but I gotta imagine what happened on that bridge wasn't legal either.

I also don't think this stunt is good PR for the environmental movement. Yes, it is a peaceful protest. But this doesn't strike me as MLK style civil disobedience. And ultimately, I think this just gives those that support pro-environment initiatives a bad name. It makes environmentalists look like a bunch of crazy wackos. It feeds the flames of the far right. It isn't effective at achieving long term goals and may even be detrimental in the court of public opinion.

Coach Z wrote

Would you prefer to get our oil from a country in Iran that calls us the great satan?  Would you rather trust a U.S. Based company to responsibly drill for energy compared to Chinese or Russian companies that will get thier oil regardless of the consequences?

Energy independence is what this country needs not making crappy deals with a country that supports terrorism and can't be trusted with nukes

I would suggest that if we can make hostile countries dependant on international trade, then they would be less hostile to us.  Iran can be absolutely hostile towards us because it has nothing to lose in the process. Economic connectedness might mean less conflict or potential conflict. I'd prefer we get oil from whichever method has the lowest risk of significant disaster to important natural resources and habitat.

nepa wrote

Isn't that what a doctor at an abortion clinic is doing also?  Should we ban Pro-lifers from protesting at abortion clinics because Pro-Choicers think the doctors are just trying to live meaningful lives?

there is a buffer zone around planned parenthood so the organization can go about it's business.  free speech has limits.  only a naive person thinks there are no bounds on political speech.

The act depicted in the original post falls under Expressive conduct.  Expressive conduct, also called "symbolic speech" or "speech acts", is nonverbal conduct that intends to communicate a message.

Grayned v. The City of Rockford (1972) summarized the time, place, manner concept: "The crucial question is whether the manner of expression is basically incompatible with the normal activity of a particular place at a particular time.

Many totalitarian or dictatorships need a demon to blame their troubles on, this is used to control the minds of the population. Even if we got them hooked on something we provide, if they are controlled by a dictator and the conditions for the people are poor, they might still blame their troubles on us.