YOU CAN GET ANYTHING YOU WANT…

Okay, folks.  I admit it.  I have been kind of an activist in my time.  I have challenged the rationale for war.  I have questioned the foreign policy of the U.S. government when its foreign policy demanded questioning.  Campaigned for social, gender and racial justice.  Worked for and spoken out in favor of change when change was needed.  I have protested in the streets when I thought it warranted.  I have not been as dedicated or consistent as others, but when there was a cause that I considered just and with which I could get involved in some way, I did.   At times (many times) I have been lazy, centered on my own stuff, ambivalent about speaking out.  But I have always tried to keep informed of what is going on in the world and contribute what little grains of sand I can.   

And yes, I was once even arrested.

Thrown in jail.

Had my day in court.

"Page 16 Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, Indiana, Sunday, December 14, 1986 Protesters Arrested At Trident Launch GROTON, Conn. (UPI) About 250 anti-nuclear protesters demonstrated Saturday despite sub-zero wind chills as the USS Tennessee — the nation's ninth Trident submarine — was launched. About 50 of the protesters — some of whom were lying on the cold streets — were arrested on minor charges while the ship was being launched before 1,143 spectators at the Electric Boat shipyards, Groton police said. The $1.5 billion Tennessee is the first Trident built to carry the multi-warhead Trident 2 missile, also called the D-5, which is to be deployed by the end of the decade. The demonstrators said they were protesting against the Trident program and in support of a number of demonstrations across the nation Saturday against U.S. policies in Central America. "This is the first Trident in a series aimed at creating a fleet which carries missiles accurate enough and powerful enough to destroy every single Soviet missile in silo," said Joan Cavanagh, a spokeswoman for the Coalition To Stop Trident. "The creation of this first strike weapons system exponentially increases the threat of nuclear war because it provides an incentive for each side to start a nuclear exchange in a situation of heightened international tensions," she said in a statement".

If I remember correctly, I met the group of people organizing the protest at a gathering in the Weston Priory in Vermont, a community of Benedictine Monks renowned for their dedication to peace and social justice, especially in Latin America, as well as their contribution of liturgical music within the Catholic Church.  The organizers were part of the “Plowshares” movement that had been protesting nuclear proliferation for the past decade.  The December action at the Electric Boat shipyard in Groton, manufacturer of the Trident Nuclear Submarine, was another in a long series of protests aimed at the site.  In preparation for the protest, volunteers were provided training in non-violent resistance.  With the humor and humanity typical of the movement, many of the protestors were to dress in Santa Claus and Santa’s Helper outfits, handing out “gifts” consisting of copies of the book “The Hundredth Monkey” - a fable citing the importance of reaching a “critical mass” among people made aware of the dangers of nuclear proliferation.  An underlying objective of the peaceful protest, during which the doors into the main administrative office of the plant were to be temporarily blocked, was to introduce into the legal system a defense based on the argument that committing a crime (civil disobedience) to prevent a much greater crime (nuclear proliferation) was justifiable.

I was scheduled to not directly participate in the protest.  I was a “support” person, there to act as witness and provide logistical support to those who would be arrested.  The protest was well organized, and the police had been notified about the planned action a week prior.  Given the number of actions that had been carried out at the site over the years, everything was like a well-rehearsed play.  The bus loads of demonstrators arrived and took their places, began singing Christmas Carols, handing out the gift books and other information to the plant workers as they entered through the large gates at the end of the parking lot.  The police arrived, and parked two or three vans to the side.  At a given point, a group of about 10 protesters moved to the steps in front of the administrative offices and lay down, blocking the way.  The head of the police detachment moved in and informed the protesters that they were in violation of statute such and such of the civil code and requested that they move.  The protesters declined.  The citation and request was repeated.  The protesters declined once again.  The police chief signaled for one of the vans.  The first group were (urrrgh!) bodily lifted and placed in the van.  Another group of protesters replaced them.  The process played out once again.  More Urrghs as ten more protesters were loaded into the vans.  Just as the last of five groups of protesters were taking their places, I suddenly had the feeling that I needed to do more than observe. I laid down with the others and ended up heading for the Groton Connecticut Police Station to be processed.

Once inside the station, we were led to two large holding cells; women in one, men in the other.  A plain clothes detective came over, looked through the bars, spotted one of the veterans of the protest movement and said “Hey Charley!  You've been here before.  Explain to these others what’s going to happen now.”  After about an hour, we were taken individually into an office where our personal information was collected and each of was assigned a court date a month later.

The court session was, quite honestly, a circus.  The judge had been dealing with these cases for years, was well aware of the desire of the movement to get these cases into the court system in order to argue their defense in terms of the need to stop nuclear proliferation, and he very simply and rapidly called everyone forward, gave a little lecture about what bad little protesters we were, and dismissed the charges.  Gavel!

Soooo.  Like it says in the news clipping - those streets WERE cold so I guess I did my bit for the movement.  I don’t think there was ever a complete elimination of the nuclear weapon stockpile, so maybe I wasn't as effective as I should have been.  Well, maybe there's a silver lining:  we can just nuke Russia over Crimea, Iraq over ISIS, Gaza over Hamas, Mexico over immigration, Afganistan over…

That’ll fix things.