Protest

In colonial times, patriots dumped tea in Boston harbor in protest of unfair taxation by the tyrannical British. In today's Washington, the tyrants are members of the tea party. How ironic. They trumpet their patriotism in the form of intransigence to reduce the scope of government, saving it even if it means destroying it. Their allegiance is pledged to Grover Norquist instead of their oath of office to govern. The real threat posed by these rabid tea party freshmen is their completely clueless disregard in linking the raising of the debt ceiling to their fanatical demands.

A quiet group of about 50 people marched outside the state Division of Correction headquarters last night to protest the removal of inmates serving life sentences from the prerelease program.Carrying signs that read "Rally for Lifers" and "Lifers Need Hope," the group, including about a half-dozen children, staged the protest in Northwest Baltimore.Olinda Moyd, a spokeswoman for the group known as the Maryland Prison Renewal Committee, said the protest was staged because members are appalled by the division's decision last month to temporarily remove lifers from the family-leave and work-release programs.

WASHINGTON - As the war in Iraq drags on, the daily violence mocks the "Mission Accomplished" banner that was a backdrop to President Bush's 2003 post-invasion flight to the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. With the death toll of Americans surpassing 1,700, the most visible reminders to the nation of that cost are the periodic displays of photos of the dead in newspapers and on television. The president's support, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, has plunged from 45 percent of those surveyed in February to only 37 percent.

STUDENTS at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring put out a press release at mid-month announcing that on the day war commenced in Iraq, they would walk out at 1 p.m. The 70-minute demonstration, said the release, "has been organized with the cooperation of school administrators," and "no civil disobedience has been planned." When the students did walk out Thursday, some wearing "What Would Gandhi Do?" T-shirts in the soaking rain, they knew no one would be punished. Administrators were happy, too. They managed to channel anti-war sentiment into a teachable moment, a civics exercise that would have been sacrilege to a Vietnam-era protester.

I have had my disagreements with Keith Olbermann the last few years, but I have been watching in admiration lately as night after night he's covered the Occupy protest movement like no one else in the media. I am surprised that he has not received more praise for getting to this major story before anyone else and understanding the massive sociology of it better than anyone yet. Olbermann understands that Occupy Wall Street is an eruption of the pain millions of Americans are feeling.

ON THE FOURTH of July, 1963, most Baltimore residents were relaxing and having fun. But not everybody was taking a holiday. Some people were busy working to help the struggle for human rights in Baltimore.Around noon that day, about 400 people gathered at the Metropolitan United Methodist Church at 1121 W. Lanvale St. Among those assembled were some of the most respected and widely known clergymen, both local and national, of several faiths, including: the Rev. Joseph Connolly, Monsignor Austin L. Healy, Rabbi Morris Lieberman, the Rev. Chester Wickwire, now chaplain emeritus of the Johns Hopkins University, and the Rev. Marion C. Bascom Sr., then chairman of the local ministerial alliance.

Americans have a long tradition of public protest as an exercise of free speech. But protesters against the Persian Gulf war are sometimes viewed as unpatriotic. We'd like to know what you believe.Are people who protest the war unpatriotic?Is it sometimes patriotic to protest government policy?Do protests against the war hurt the morale of our troops?You can also record a comment that may be used for publication. If you wish to comment, please record your name, address and phone number along with the comment.

About 30 students from a tutoring and advocacy group continued to protest the mayor's proposed budget by pitching tents outside City Hall before deciding late last night to heed a police ultimatum to clear the area. Dozens of high school and college students from the Baltimore Algebra Project have slept on the lawn since Tuesday. City police asked them to leave by 9 p.m. yesterday.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and his group, the Rainbow Commission for Fairness in Athletics, parked themselves outside Oriole Park yesterday and marched.They carried picket signs that said things like: "Fairness Beyond the Field," and "Forty-six years after Jackie Robinson. Twenty-five years after King. One Year after Rodney. Now we have Margie Schott."They chanted: "You watch us play at all events, put us in management."The Rev. Al Sharpton arrived from New York with a bus load of followers.Dancing Harry, a local entertainer who used to perform at Bullet basketball games, wore his gold cape and floppy hat and high-stepped around the perimeter.

So much tea, so little hot water. No, it was a cold rain that soaked the tea bags decorating various umbrellas and handmade signs Wednesday on Annapolis City Dock, one of hundreds of rallies held across the country to protest ... well, it's a pretty long and not entirely agreed-upon list. Taxes, first and foremost, given that this was April 15, the day income taxes were due. President Barack Obama, for another, even though the legislation he signed in February will reduce taxes for most Americans, at least in the short term.