PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Steelers Victory Party
by helmet head Monday, Feb. 06, 2006 at 4:36 PM

What if?

Just read in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about how in the Oakland section of our city happy Steeler fans turned over two cars, broke windows, set fires (all small) and turned over trash cans and newspaper boxes.

No big deal. All in good fun. Hey, I got no sympathy for cars. The P-G article describing these activities is entitled, “Jubilant Steelers fans pour out into the cold night.”

Shoot, why the Pittsburgh police even allowed the revelers to dance on one overturned car for twenty minutes!

But what if all this had been an anti-war protest or an anti-military recruitment deal? I recall that the media was angered back in 2003 when on that Super Sunday during a breakaway march from a big anti-war demo, one – repeat one window got broke over at the Marine recruitment center. Some radio jock offered $500 to the person who would turn over the one window-breaking culprit.

On March 20, 2003, the police arrested 122 anti-war demonstrators after one – repeat one newspaper box got set on its side over by Grant Street. The headline for that story in the P-G was, “Pittsburgh protest turns ugly.”

More recently at an anti-recruitment demo dogs and tasers were used on protestors who had not broken a thing – not one thing.

Can you imagine what would happen if anti-war/anti-recruitment demonstrators turned over a car or two? Would they get to dance on the car? Would they be allowed to pose by the overturned car for a photo shoot?

What would happen if anti-war marchers broke a few windows as they marched chanting their slogans? What if these same protestors shouted for more windows to get smashed, like the happy celebrants of the Steeler victory did?

Oh yea, what if everybody who came to a big anti-war demo was drunk off their ass? Cool, but how would the authorities respond to that?

Oh well. Hope that this observation does not violate some norm or code. Hope it does not rain on any Steeler pride celebrations because that is not the intent.

I don’t know but does it seem like there might be some sort of double standard? Just asking.

Oh yea, the Steelers are GREAT! Great team. Great team spirit.