Greenpeace activists scaled Mt. Rushmore today to issue a challenge to President Obama. ""Our brave climbers rappelled down the face of Mt. Rushmore today to issue a challenge to President Obama: If he wants to get his face on this monument, he needs to be a true leader on global warming, not a politician," said one Greenpeace member.
(Kate Davison/PRNewsFoto/Greenpeace/Newscom)Photos (1 of 1)
Greenpeace scales Mt Rushmore - issues challenge to Obama
By Jimmy Orr | 07.08.09
How does President Obama get his head included on Mt. Rushmore? Greenpeace says they’ve figured it out. They just went about it in an interesting (and illegal) way this morning.
Of course, the Constitution allows for the right to peacefully assemble. But when you peacefully assemble in a restricted area on top of a National Memorial, that’s another story.
Something tell us that maybe Greenpeace wasn’t that concerned with the legal ramifications of the stunt they pulled today — a stunt which began with a number of their activists climbing to the top of Mt. Rushmore and then unfurling a whopping 2,300 square-foot banner all the while Twittering and streaming the video live on their website.
What’d they get out of it? A dozen arrests. But also massive media exposure for one of their top issues: global warming (they’re against it).
So early this morning, members of the environmental group climbed atop the 5,700 foot mountain and at exactly 10:00am, unfurled a sign which read, “America honors leaders not politicians: stop global warming.”
The National Park Service disagreed with the addition to the memorial and took it down — although the sign managed to stay up there for a good hour before it was removed.
Challenge to President Obama
At least 12 members of the group have been arrested so far. And as you would probably guess, they’re not issuing apologies. Anything but. They’re throwing down the gauntlet — to President Obama.
“Our brave climbers rappelled down the face of Mt. Rushmore today to issue a challenge to President Obama: If he wants to get his face on this monument, he needs to be a true leader on global warming, not a politician,” writes Mike G on the Greenpeace staff blog.
It’s doubtful that Greenpeace can guarantee the president a place on the memorial regardless of what he does. That makes no difference to Greenpeace. Obama needs to step it up they say.
“We are at a key moment in history when we must challenge our president to take real leadership,” said Carroll Muffet, deputy campaign director for Greenpeace.
“The steps taken so far have been frankly inadequate. If President Obama wants to take his place among the great leaders of history, he must take aggressive measures to combat climate change and prioritize a strong deal in Copenhagen,” she said referring to the upcoming G-8 meeting.
What a stunt
Whatever happens to the arrested members, media consultants are impressed with the stunt. Not the illegality of it. But the level of coordination and the effective implementation of the Internet to get their message out.
Patrick Galvin, a new media consultant at Galvin Communications in Portland, Oregon told The Vote that Greenpeace’s use of social media during and after the stunt was impressive.
“They pulled off a multi-faceted campaign using the most viral form of social media right now, Twitter,” he said. “And they layered that on top of YouTube so people have access to video, Flickr so people have static images and then they updated their Facebook page while it was happening so their friends could then spread the word.”
“The real lesson from an activist standpoint is when you do something big, do it on multiple platforms because it increases awareness and it can spread like wildfire.”
A qualified thumbs up
Galvin said in terms of communicating a message effectively, he’d give it a “nine out of ten.” But the jury is still out he says on whether the overall strategy will work. That’s because Greenpeace broke the law and if any damage to Mt. Rushmore was done, it could be a big negative for the organization.
“If there was any defacement, if that banner whipped a piece of Abraham Lincoln’s nose, then the message will get diluted very quickly,” he said. “I’d give it a qualified thumbs-up.”
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2. RR | 07.09.09
B.S. Throw the book at them.
There are venues for protest.
Dishonoring public monuments isn’t one.
This is like advertising being plastered all over the place… supermarket floors, movie screens between features, ever more intrusive.
Belligerent protests are not effective, are counter-productive.
That monument is historic, Green Peace is belligerent.
They do not go together.
3. Lee Tan | 07.09.09
Way to Go! These brave young women and men are fulfilling Obama’s promise….that change will have to come to Washington!
4. Daniel Tamm | 07.09.09
Greenpeace made it’s point- the government must deal with climate change. Congratulations, climbers. Creative and courageous civil disobedience. Well done. Now the U.S. Attorney’s office should throw the book at them.
5. Howard_T | 07.09.09
Greenpeace and the rest of those who are demanding action to stop global warming are merely demanding that King Canute do something about that annoying tide. The real cause of global warming has not yet been determined, nor is it a certainty that the elimination of 100% of human-produced greenhouse gases will have a corrective effect. The only certainty is that precipitous action taken because of the hysteria of a few (some of whom have a vested interest in proposed solutions to the presumed problem) will result in an economic disaster. I do not dispute that global warming is a fact, but I know that those who study such things generally agree that the earth was once much warmer than it is now. We need fewer Chicken Littles and more study.
6. Ken | 07.09.09
I’m thinking about all the young families with kids who cut a day out of a family vacation to see Mount Rushmore and they get this ****. Perhaps it is a great social studies lesson for the kids. Or, more likely, a terrible dissapointment. Perhaps the folks who oppose Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell should put pink panties on the Statue of Liberty! What other national monuments can we deface and devalue in the name of a cause? When it comes to protesting a perceived wrong - whatever happened to good old immolation? PS. I personally support these causes - but oppose compromising national treasurers to do thus.
7. Mark | 07.16.09
Thanks for getting our hike up behind the faces for our boy scout troop cancelled. We planned this highlight many months ago. I have alot of disappointed boys and adults. There are other ways to get your message out.
8. Patriot | 07.17.09
Hey “Greenpiece”,
If you’re so concerned about global warming, why don’t you actually sit down and do some serious study on the subject instead of following the lead of “Gore-do”.
Why not picket about the global warming on MARS which incidentally is experiencing the same effect. You are WAY off base on this one.
I used to have a modicum of respect for your organization. You simply haven’t learned to “choose your fight”. Too bad!
Oh, and stay the **** off of “My” monument, the one I donated nickles to as a child because I am sure that not one in your organization did so. Go back to your socialist countries and do your work there because it is surely finished here.
9. J Josh | 07.30.09
I have no problem with you guys and your protests,KEEP IT OFF OUR NATIONAL MONUMENTS!!!!! write in in the sky,put posters up in DC ,intercept drive in movies keep it of of the sacred places of our country
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Jimmy Orr has worked in politics for the majority of his professional career working for two U.S. Senators, two Governors and one President. Most recently, Orr served as White House Spokesman and Internet Director for President George W. Bush and Special Advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger for Internet Communications.
David Cook is Washington bureau chief of The Christian Science Monitor and host of the Monitor's newsmaker breakfasts. He was the Monitor's editor from 1994 to 2001. Cook is a graduate of Principia College, served in the U.S. Army, was a Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University, and is a member of the Gridiron Club, Washington's oldest journalistic organization.
1. David Pinsky | 07.08.09
Way to go Greenpeace! I hope this message gets the President’s attention. Hopefully the US will do something to protect our beloved mother Earth. I agree that Congress needs to sign strong climate legislation and get President Obama to go to Copenhagen speaking on our country’s behalf.
If we don’t do something about global warming, what of our children and our children’s children?