Columnist Susan Snyder: Protesters consumed by silence

Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2005 | 8:09 a.m.

As protests go, the one staged Thursday won't make dramatic television footage.

It won't even make any noise.

But organizers of Not One Damn Dime Day hope it will speak volumes when those who don't rejoice in President Bush's inauguration avoid spending money on anything for 24 solid hours.

The event is more of a non-event. There are no picket lines, rallies or speeches. Those would involve spending money on stuff. And the day, the NODDD Web site explains, is so "those who oppose what is happening in our name in Iraq can speak up with a 24-hour national boycott of all forms of consumer spending."

From 12:01 a.m. to midnight Thursday, people who oppose the Bush administration's policies regarding the war in Iraq are urged to avoid buying groceries and gasoline or visiting restaurants or convenience stores.

Even buying an airline ticket online could be off-limits, as credit card purchases count as spending money. (The fact you won't actually pay off that card until 2035 is not the point.)

"The object is simple," organizers say on their site. "Remind people in power that the war in Iraq is immoral and illegal; that they are responsible for starting it and that is it their responsibility to stop it."

In a consumer-driven society, few actions can capture decision-makers' attention like refusing to spend money.

Take the Ruby Tuesday's restaurant chain, for example. When higher-ups responded to the national obesity epidemic by reducing portion sizes in some restaurants, longtime customers rebelled and stopped showing up. Sales fell so sharply that Ruby Tuesday's officials figured it wasn't worth the financial losses.

But it took four months.

So what real difference does a day make? Well, opinions differ among those who posted comments on the site. (For those who don't like typing a swear word, there's a Not One Red Cent Day site as well.)

"I intend to spend as much of my meager salary as my wife will allow. So go ahead with your protest, it'll make the line in the store that much shorter," Derek, of Las Vegas, says.

Karen, of Gardnerville, will be saving her pennies:

"No more helping our terrorist response by falsely bolstering our economy by relentless consumerism. I will NOT support the corporations; I will NOT support the GOP; I will NOT support the religious cults. I will never put down my sword of boycott and resistance until Bush and his neocons are removed from office!"

That's a long time to go without coffee.

Supporters hope a day's lost sales will send a resounding message to Washington. Opponents say it will ruin small businesses.

In reality, it likely will do neither. Still, those who oppose the Bush administration will feel less helpless for a day. And those who support it can do something beyond putting another magnet on their cars.

But many more on both sides will spend time fighting in cyberspace. Whiners, idiots, losers, baby-killers. They drop words like bombs and wait for the other guy to bleed.

"We won! You lost!" wrote Bill, from Maryland.

That's past tense, Mr. Bill.

Who is winning now?

From Keeley L, California: "All I can say is what a sad place this country is in."