http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPrint.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200206\NAT20020607a.html

Free Market, Anti-Corporate Protesters Clash in DC
By Marc Morano
CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
June 07, 2002

Washington, DC (CNSNews.com) - First Dallas - now D.C. Free market protesters Thursday stole a page from the left's playbook, taking to the streets of Capitol Hill to disrupt a scheduled protest by anti-corporate environmentalists. Anti-corporate marchers held similar protests at the annual ExxonMobil shareholders meeting in Dallas, Texas last week.

The free market demonstrators outnumbered their opponents three to one and shouted them down outside an Exxon gas station with chants of "You can't carpool in a Yugo" and "It doesn't matter what you say, we are going to drill anyway."

"It's about time. For a lot of years we sat back and let the liberals shout us down," boasted Kay Daly, part of the coalition of conservative groups that marched. She believes defenders of free market capitalism must become more aggressive. "If we are going to take a stand, it's time now to do so. I am glad to see the turnout, she said.

"[The anti corporate protesters] look a little shocked," she added.

The free market organizers included Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), FreeRepublic.com, and the American Land Rights Association. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) coordinated the anti-corporate protests.

Jim Martin of the seniors advocacy group, 60 Plus Association, was jubilant about countering the environmental protests. "It's a great idea to fight the left with some of their own tactics," he said.

Grover Norquist, president of ATR, surveyed the scene and noted, "There are more of us here than there are them. When the left can't turn out enough people at a protest, you know the left is in trouble."

Socially Unconscious?

The anti-corporate protesters quickly denounced the message of the counter demonstrators, labeling them "socially unconscious." Kaleb Berhane, an anti-corporate protester, said, "They are socially unconscious people and they are ignorant of some of the facts and we are trying to educate people."

One marcher, Neal Kemkar, stated, "I think that they're an industry-funded lobby group here in full force today. It shows that they are scared and will continue to deny and deceive the public on every count when it comes to their role in global warming."

Another protester called the free market advocates "misguided."

"Of all the things you can be campaigning on, you are defending one of the world's largest and dirtiest corporations," said Athan Manuel, director of U.S. PIRG's Arctic Wilderness Campaign.

Kemkar attacked ExxonMobil for "continually sabatog[ing] international actions to stop global warming."

The debate raged on for about ninety minutes.

The free marketers held signs saying: "My Car My Choice," "Oil Makes America Great," "Kiss My Gas," "SUVs Need Hugs Too," "Can We Depend on Sadam?" "Greenpeace 99% Fact Free," and "It's My SUV You SOB."

The counter protesters' chants included: "Purge PIRG," "No planet, no jobs" and "[Ralph] Nader is a Nerd," a reference to the former Green Party presidential candidate.

The anti-corporate protesters responded.

"Back the people, not the polluters," they chanted. Their signs included "We Love Caribou," "No Drill No Spill," "Tundra Not Plunda," and "Stay Out of America's Arctic."

Police showed up with sirens blaring to keep the peace during the demonstration, prompting the free marketers to chant "We love the Cops."

SUV: The Symbol of America?

The anti-corporate protesters blamed a host of ills on ExxonMobil Corporation including global warming, habitat destruction, pollution and corruption of the political system.

Kemkar believes the "auto industry lobby" has tried to "make it seem as though SUVs are some symbol of America." Kemkar disputed that claim, stating that SUVs are not in any way more reliable or useful than your standard car."

Manuel criticized the gas consumption of SUVs. "We want to see them cleaned up. We lobbied Congress to make SUVs more fuel efficient," he explained.

Anti-corporate protester Alison Clary called the SUV "definitely a problem" because "we need to start conserving resources now."

But the coalition of conservative marchers would hear none of it.

Daly sat in her mini-van holding a sign that read "SUVs Mean Safety for My Child."

"My child is safer in an SUV and anyone who has traveled with a toddler knows it is pretty tough to get all the stuff you need for a toddler in a Yugo," she said.

Rolando Garcia of the Republican Hispanic Assembly wants to see more plentiful energy supplies. "Cheap energy is the fuel of civilization. We support drilling in the [Arctic National Wildlife Refuge]. Oil drilling makes us energy independent from the Middle East," he explained.

Norquist said the PIRG-sponsored protests "get a lot of money from mandatory fees from campuses."

"It doesn't raise its money voluntarily, it steals from students," he said. "They are just a bunch of left wingers who are always attacking America and economic growth."

As to the charge that Thursday's counter demonstration was "industry funded," Norquist said, "The left used 'corporate' the way some people used to use racial slurs. It doesn't mean anything."

"Being against economic progress, liberty and a wealthier society is some sort of Middle Ages wacko thing to subscribe to, and oddly enough I don't think it is going to do very well in America as a message," Norquist explained.

He summed up the anti-corporate marchers as "a bunch of rich kids who think that other people don't need a second car."

RETURN TO SHAKEDOWN RESPONSE NETWORK TOP PAGE

RETURN TO CENTER FOR THE DEFENSE OF FREE ENTERPRISE HOME PAGE