Starry P--- Not really frustrated. I am doing what I can to have less and less expectations of people, especially when in groups. As a result my frustration level has dropped significantly.
I am not sure which Anon you are making reference to. The Anon I responded to, only repeated a question asked by Sammie; ?i heard her asking "did you see me on montel?"
The other Anon that posted prior to that asked many good questions and seemed genuine. The Holocaust, as an issue, is a most sensitive topic for the Jewish community, but certainly not limited to them. Combine the lack of a clear message; due to its enormity and emotional charge behind the message, the effort is probably less effective.
The fact that the protest takes place surrounding the holocaust museum as an entity is unfortunate. It is also unfortunate to have Mel Sembler in the position he is in. If I had a preference, I would indeed rather approach the protest at a different venue. But that has not been the case thus far. Perhaps that will change, I dunno, will see.
As much as I wish more people had been there, I also am glad our numbers were few. I think that subtlety has a huge impact?although we were less than subtle.
Perhaps a ?Silent? protest could be our next approach?More people, with signs or whatever, but maintaining a ?Respectful Silence?.
People, I think want to hear the story. People, if educated in a calm respectful manner are very receptive to our plight. I think it?s important to understand that although they are receptive to the story and the sensationalistic image they develop in their minds eye, the difficulty would be to penetrate the long-standing ?tough love? mentality. That this fantastic story is coming to them from some punk/thug/druggy and they probably deserved what they went thru. This is a pervasive attitude amongst folks in my parents age bracket. And there were a lot of blue haired old women, one with flamboyant orange hair as well and of course the older/elder men?simply put, it?s a hard sell. A little class goes along way when communicating with some folks.
Hippie---I am not sure I can elaborate more on the Nazi/Straight comparison. Those are not my words and so I cannot lay claim to them. In fact I am not sure that a comparison is necessary. I think that doing so opens up a can of worms that we couldn?t successfully find our way out of. Our story is compelling on its own merits. Our story is complicated enuff as it is, without dragging the holocaust and the Third Reich into it. It to me, sounds like a weak attempt to claim attention to our cause.
Once we explain what happened in Straight, our audience will want to see the correlation tween Straight and the Nazi. Here I suspect we will be floundering because none of us were there to witness it directly. People I think will see thru that and see it for what it is. A poor comparison. Why should we continue to insult their intelligence by drawing this comparison? Especially when we are all experts regarding Straight Inc?as we were their captives. We may know no other story, but we know our story about Straight Inc and what happened to us and to others.
Quite simply, it blurs our story. Perhaps there are comparisons to the Nazi Third Reich and the Holocaust. As I said, I am no expert on the topic. Even if that is the case?Comparing Straight (our story) to the Nazi and the Jewish Holocaust (their story) is most certainly a complicated comparison?and as Eudora mentioned, ?It is an awful lot to put on a poster board.? Simplicity is lost in the comparisons.
Also Hippie---Rather than waiting/hoping the person you replied to in a less than loving manner will stumble across this thread, why not go back to that post in question and explain to them how ya felt?It?s much more direct?just a thought.
The 3rd or 4th Anon whose post began ?since i feel i was asked i will think on this and come up with an answer.................(waiting to be called a sissy fag)?
Incidentally, it?s a shame that you wrote such a powerful post and did so with such hesitancy because you feared an attack from us.
Expecting complete ?unity? from us, as a group is a noble idea and ideals like that are all to often disappointing. You are right in the sense that most of us have never had a place where we could effectively deal with the anger, rage and hostility towards Straight and to what happened to us there. Unfortunately as I mentioned in a pervious post somewhere, we are doing what we were trained to do towards each other. We were not taught ?unity?, we were taught separation and to focus on the differences between us then to harp endlessly on those differences. It would take a lot of work, as a group and as individuals to reach a state where publicly, we can put our disagreements to rest long enuff and be unified in our thoughts and actions.
I am not trying to be fatalistic, but those are realities that we cannot deny. I personally applaud you for your optimistic post and the encouragement you bring to the discussion.
Frank Discussion--- Yeah, I agree. Same as with the Nazi comparisons, it would probably be in our best interest to negate the political component, regarding Straight, at least in the very beginning. The focus again becomes blurred, and attention is taken away from the ?story? and focus comes to the political crap?which in and of itself can go on for ever?leaving our story in the dust.
Anon who suggested that we block traffic at the event. Pughleeze! I am a grown ass man, and fortunately most of us here are also grown ass adults. To simply taunt the cops by blocking traffic, so maybe three cars can read the signs before we would be carted off to jail?that is just plain foolish. It would be at that time the police show up in force and it becomes a ?story?. Think about it?that kinda story is counterproductive, especially at that particular venue, with that particular audience. The spin on that would be footage of one of use being thrown into a wagon a taken to Orient Road.
Meanwhile the News Desk at channels 8,9,10 & 13 or the editors of the Tampa Tribune and the Saint Petersburg Times rake us over the coals and make us look like mindless, thoughtless idiots with the audacity to protest the Holocaust Museum. And that means we lost our focus, so our audience and target miss the point and we followed some inane drone?s idea to block traffic. It?s truly tragic to see someone so unencumbered with insight as to suggest blocking traffic.
Maybe it?s just ?Dark Humor??I hope so. Maybe it?s just a compulsive need to attack at some perceived threat?I hope not.
Saturday morning, yesterday, I saw a Walgreens store beginning it?s construction. There was a rather large sign on the corner, in a conspicuous place, that said something to the effect of ?Another quality build of the Sembler Group?
A simple boycott of Walgreens is only one small attempt at bringing attention to Mel Sembler and his exploits. Walgreens is a commercial endeavor (an unfortunate target some will say) The Holocaust Museum is a humanitarian endeavor (a most unfortunate target to hit Sembler). I would almost betcha that some of those old cronies have money invested in Walgreens and probably most have financial ties to Sembler. The fact that Mel Sembler has intimate ties with the Holocaust Museum is a secondary issue?collateral damage.
Interrupt the financial status quo. It?s another attention getter, then allow knowledge of Sembler?s past discretions (at best) unfurl naturally.
Mel is the target; the jewish community is not.
When I previously said, ?what would you suggest, that would improve our efforts. What words of encouragement can you add that will help?
I was genuinely asking.
Not unlike the Anon who wrote in hesitation in fear of being assaulted with insults. I believe they are written with the expressed intent of hurting someone. Sadly, they are effective. The end result is pain.
I know how to do that, I suspect 100% of us know how to strike and counter strike against each other. I was hoping that there was an outside chance that this idea would not deteriorate into a squabble. I apologize for my involvement into that very same thing?Strike & Counter Strike.
At the heart of it all, I want to say again, publicly, my experience with Straight Inc. I want to say it clearly, respectfully and with as much surgical precision as I am capable of. What was done to us was wrong, and should never have happened, or happened since.
Yet, it still does. Mel Sembler, well, he is the one who gladly takes responsibility for this experiment, this abusive debacle he called/calls ?treatment?. In the name of that ?treatment? he destroyed thousands of lives and families. He exploited the tendency of some to farm out their children to Military School or some other Boarding School?who never had a drug problem to begin with?He endorsed the scare tactic into parents who also had their vulnerability exploited.
But as has been said, that?s a lot to put on a poster board?Perhaps a dedicated web site to Mel Sembler, exclusively to Mel Sembler.
Then the sign only need is one with a dot COM address. But again, simplicity I believe is and will prove to be the key in maintaining public interest.
Thanks for reading this far?I began writing last night but was too pissed off to concentrate (shitty day at work and all) I had hoped much of my agitation would have subsided this morning after sleeping on it. But as I re-read everything?the beast can still be seen?maybe a day of creating will do me some good?maybe a xanax and a hootie whilst creating will do me even more good?let this rest for a while.
