Fayetteville on March 19, 2005

April 10, 2005 | Michael T. Heaney

[MichaelTHeaney]

Thanks to all who have posted responses to my inquiry.

I'll respond to some of the questions that have been raised.

1. bmwcycle asked me to state who I am, honestly. I received my Ph.D. in Political Science and Public Policy from the University of Chicago in 2004. I have a one-year postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University for 2004-05 in the Institution for Social and Policy Studies. In August 2005, I will join the faculty of the Department of Political Science at the University of Florida as an Assistant Professor of Political Science. My area of specialization is "interest group politics."

2. tgslTakoma asks why I didn't talk to Free Republic people during the rally. Actually, I did. I conducted about 5 short interviews with members of your group. I also spent some time listening to your bull-horn speakers, and have some pretty good audio of it. Now I'm following up.

3. Alia asked if I am working from a research grant. My postdoctoral fellowship is paid directly out of the Yale endowment. It covers my salary, office space, and includes a research budget of $3,500. The results of my research will most likely be presented this summer at the annual conference of the American Political Science Association or the American Sociological Association. With any luck, it will also result in the publication of an academic article, though it is impossible to say where at this point.

4. A couple of people said that I am interested in collecting names to give to other side. I'm not interested in names, but in organizational tactics and messages.

5. On the question of CODE PINK, I do understand why you don't like this group. But my question is really why you are attacking them IN PARTICULAR. I can imagine that there are lots of groups that you don't like that you could attack. But why FOCUS on them, give that you could have focused on lots of others too.

Thanks again for the attention and interest. I've appreciated the reponses/postings.

Sincerely,

Michael T. Heaney

[upchuck]

Mike, if your "research" is so important to you, why didn't you visit us in person on the 19th? We could have called the Fayetteville LEOs and inwardly smiled as they hauled your leftist ass back across the street where it belonged.

Go interview a pinko, ok?

[Allosaurs_r_us]

"I don't believe he's simply interested in how we decided it was Code Pink's day in the barrel. I believe he wants to get names and then do some "research" for the other side."

 

Although I would like to give this guy the benefit of the doubt, I just finished reading a paper he has co-published with Fabio Rojas, on the protest of the RNC in NY last year.  Rojas is another political scientist. It does look and smell like genuine research, (it is a thoroughly boring piece) but he only polls and researches lefties. Why? Looks to me like he is guilty by association. His name sure as hell turns up allot in this type of research, and I have yet to find any conservative affiliations or like minded research.

 

The thing pretty much looks like it is meant to give these organizations help in recruiting, and to further the education of their members. If it is not meant to be used for that, it certainly could be. Did he attempt to survey protests at the DNC? It does not appear that way, so how accurate can his research be and for what purpose was it done?

 

Looks like his overall findings were that protesters were there because they hated Bush, not because they supported Kerry. So what do you suppose it cost for him to "survey" protesters to find out what I could have told him for free.

 

Looks to me like he thoroughly enjoys hanging out with the tin foil hat crowd.

 

 

[Alia]

Michael, I wish you well on this and your future professorship. I went to Fayetteville to show my support for the troops AND THEIR MISSION in response to a group organizing a protest of the mission of the troops but claiming to "support" the troops. I support the troops privately in a myriad of ways. But having lost some very dear pals between Afghanistan and Iraq -- I most heartily resent the misinformation being spread massively, via mass protest, by such orgs as Code Pink.

In essence, the Code Pink/International Answer coalitions support troops who disagree with what they've signed up, enlisted, to do. These are few in number. And, that the reason these few military dissenters are speaking up and out? Outside of "personality" reasons; it's political. It's all about elections, ultimately. Liberals groups like Code Pink and International Answer hate America; but only like America when their own "votes" win in majority. When they don't win -- they vilify any who don't agree with them.

Ergo, I saw the Code Pink/International Answer "anti-war" protest as nothing more than an insidious means to protest President Bush. History has shown clearly, that in the past, particularly during the Clinton Presidency, that the same groups NOT ONCE protested bombing factories, our troops in Africa -- NOT ONCE.

Ergo, the protests by Code Pink/Intnl Answer are about politics. but not the troops. But only how these liberal groups can use the troops, to "persuade" a political agenda and possibly, policy.

I was there to support the troops. And support their mission. I agree with the war on terror -- I'm older I've watched the terrorism grow through the past 35 years. I support the President and Admin policies.

Lastly, I support ardently the liberation of Afghanis and Iraqis from the harsh boots of tyranny, dictatorship and the longpasts of a war-torn people via tribalism. Such tribalism has encouraged the growth of an evil and an axis of evil. We were attacked on 9-11 (and many times before); and America stood up to it.

If you disagree with this Presidency. If you disagree with the WOT. You will be inclined to support a "love the human soldier" but "hate his mission". It's duplicitous. And because it's not really about soldiers; it's about showcasing "soldiers who disagree with the President, and the WOT and America's role in it all". It's using the soldiers for a party-politics agenda.

Contrarywise, had we NOT been attacked and this President had ordered our troops to Afghanistan and Iraq -- these liberal groups would have a much stronger hand. But the fact is... we were visciously attacked, innocents murdered. Soldiers ordered to do the jobs THEY VOLUNTARILY ENLISTED FOR and to do. The first responses by liberals after 9-11 was? "America deserved to be attacked". 3,000 innocent people going about their business "deserved to die" because of the post-modernist (liberal) view of America as an imperialistic force in the world?????

Let me put this another way, in re dissenting troops who posit at these Code Pink/International Answer protests: I can hear them. I can read their stories. I haven't an ounce of respect for them nor do I find them credible people I would want to have in my company/near me/around me.

You go to buy a house. No one has forced you to. You buy a beautiful house. You lose your job. You sue the morgage company because you can no longer make the mortgage payments. In the liberal viewpoint, it is indeed governments' fault the buyer lost their job. But, it is never credited to the government that the buyer had even the means to purchase the house, in the first place.

This analogy perfect illustrates the liberal strategic policy agenda. Keep the matters separated, depending upon who's in power.

The soldiers I support were being "used" behind their backs and the soldiers whose KIA bands I wear were being "used" behind their backs by the protestors; my wee counterprotest was a "not on my watch" position.

[AppyPappy]

NC Peace & Justice Coalition: Housing Board
... Contact: Michael Heaney michael.t.heaney@yale.edu 202-236-3369. Dates Needed :
April 1-2. Number of People : 1. Other Comments ...
www.ncpeacejustice.org/article.php?id=49 - 11k - Cached - Similar pages
-----

Dumb question: When did Yale move to NC?

[AppyPappy]

Not only that, Code Pink is tied to terroristic anarchist groups(ie Black Flag) that use violence against those who oppose them. The Protest Warriors can tell you more about that.

[rrrod]

Well said.......now he can put on his mao jacket and converse with Castro over what to do next.

[MichaelTHeaney]

Thanks again to everyone for your continued helpful comments.

I think the criticism that I have focused only left- oriented protests to date is a fair one. Surely, I should pay more attention to groups like Free Republic, which is, indeed, what I am trying to do today.

However, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. First, protest is mostly a thing of the left, and is much less a thing of the right. Anti-abortion protests is the obvious major excepction. And there is a reasonable amount of work by other scholars that is taking up this topic.

Second, I didn't survey protesters at the DNC largely because I didn't think of the idea unitl shortly before the RNC. That would have been a great project, though, to have been able to compare the two. However, two things to keep in mind. First, the protests at the DNC were much smaller than those at the RNC. Second, if I had surveyed protesters at the DNC, most of the protests came from the LEFT. Yes, most of the protests against the DNC were from groups saying the DNC wasn't left enough.

Third, my doctoral dissertation on health policy does interview the left and the right fairly evenly. I've interviewed people from the National Right to Life Committee, the Christian Coalition, Americans for Tax Reform, the Chamber of Commerce, etc., in addition to left-leaning groups.

Michael

[Tax-chick]

I'm not even sure what the agenda is. Stop by for "What's with casserole, again?" if you're ever in the East-of-Charlotte area!

[TaxRelief]

Gee, I'd like you to contact me so that I can get some details about any future plans you may all have. (This way I can be ready to counter them.) Thanks in advance.

[TaxRelief]

I can assure you that anyone who speaks to you as a FReeper, is not a FReeper.

[TaxRelief]

I can assure you and Kristinn this person is not legit. He is just trying a new way to get inside our camp.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

I trust your judgment.

[MeekOneGOP]

[Conspiracy Guy]

Why should I talk to you?

[Conspiracy Guy]

Hat a crappy tie.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Hat = What

[Finger Monkey]

Grrrrrrr.

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

Looks to me like he thoroughly enjoys hanging out with the tin foil hat crowd.

>img src="http://zapatopi.net/afdb/afdbhead.jpg">

ALL YOUR TIN FOIL HATS ARE BELONGS TO US!

[Hi Heels]