Keep tea out of the river

Opinion

Discussion

April 14, 2009

— Logansport Pharos-Tribune The Kokomo Tribune Tue Apr 14, 2009, 11:29 PM EDT

Organizers of a Lafayette tax protest really ought to rethink their plans to dump tea bags into the Wabash River.

We understand that they want to make their voices heard, and they have every right to do that.

But do they really need to foul the water in the process?

Wednesday’s protest is one of numerous demonstrations planned across the state and nation to pay homage to the Boston Tea Party staged by American colonists in 1773.

Organizers say they’re objecting to excessive government spending. Those involved in similar protests across the country have been particularly upset by provisions of the economic stimulus plan. Some see it as benefiting those whose actions precipitated this crisis while putting an added burden on those who were trying to live by the rules.

They’re also protesting the government bureaucracy that might make a portion of their protest illegal.

“Tea is going in the river, regardless,” said Jared Fagan, one of the Lafayette protest organizers. “The amount of hoops you have to go through for this to happen is part of what we’re protesting.”

We understand the sentiment, but in this case, the bureaucrats would appear to be right. At best, throwing tea bags into the river amounts to littering, and a representative of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management says it might do real harm, endangering aquatic life by depleting the water of oxygen.

The act might also be a violation of state environmental regulations, which could result in a fine.

Worse yet, the whole thing would be pointless.

The protesters in 1773 were making a statement by dumping tea into Boston Harbor. They were objecting to taxation without representation, saying they’d rather go without tea than pay what they considered to be an unjust tax.

The episode enraged the British and galvanized the colonists. Historians see it as one of the key events leading up to the American Revolution, and it has frequently been cited as an inspiration for subsequent protests.

But the protest in Lafayette gains nothing from an act of littering. The protesters send no greater message by endangering the lives of fish.

They can make any point they want simply by holding signs and using their voices. They might even drink some tea.

But they ought to leave the river out of it.

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