{"id":8334,"date":"2026-03-24T11:11:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T16:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/?p=8334"},"modified":"2026-03-27T13:27:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T18:27:02","slug":"rebels-causes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2026\/03\/rebels-causes\/","title":{"rendered":"Rebel with a Load of Causes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-normal-font-size\">An Editor\u2019s Note<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For all my love of words, I&#8217;m lousy at protest signs. Six maybe eight words is perfect. Pickets are a lot like billboards. You&#8217;re driving by, so highway ads need to be sparse for comprehension. That&#8217;s the same with demonstrations, where picketers stand on a sidewalk as cars whiz by. The No Kings 3 planned for March 28 or last October&#8217;s No Kings 2 and June&#8217;s No Kings 1 are the opposite, with walkers passing bystanders, with a further complexity of hundreds marching on all sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My poster for No Kings 1 held 28 words. Friends had to look at it for long moments, while no one else bothered. Learning my lesson for No Kings 2, I walked with my union sisters and brothers just with my fist raised, down Fayetteville&#8217;s Dickson Street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We face so much mishegoss that I don\u2019t know if I can choose what to Sharpie on my board, much less make the phrase clever for Saturday, the third go-round for the No Kings nationwide civil demonstration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Wild One, 1953, What have you got?\" width=\"580\" height=\"435\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Iyq4HZZ4H50?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Scene from <em>The Wild One<\/em> (1953):<br \/>Woman: Hey, Johnny, what are you rebelling against?<br \/>Johnny (Marlon Brando): What&#8217;ve you got?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Starting an unprovoked war with Iran with minimal planning<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mocking longtime allied nations, favoring the despots of countries large and small<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Concealing Epstein files<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Crony, not to mention incompetent, Cabinet and agency leadership choices<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Favoring hocus-pocus over science<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/3HSTalQnws0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Whitewashing historical displays<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I could keep going, huh? That&#8217;s just a few of the national woes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arkansas state officials who are overwhelmingly Trump Republicans ape what&#8217;s been working for Washington, executive orders and appointments, and with manipulative legislators when new laws are needed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Subsidizing private K-12 education with money set for public schools<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patronage appointments of agency leaders and board members<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Buying remote acreage for a huge prison with poor access and no water<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s more where those came from. Further down, local governments throughout Northwest Arkansas, technically nonpartisan, also seem to be taking lessons from the White House at times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The University of Arkansas? Here at essentially the smallest government, the decision makers turn to cowing. They&#8217;re taking the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Path_of_least_resistance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">path of least Resistance<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What would happen if campus leadership heeded Timothy Snyder&#8217;s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/xVK36F5OmjQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">On Tyranny: 20 Lessons from the 20th Century<\/a>. Those include &#8220;Do not obey in advance,&#8221; &#8220;Beware the one-party state,&#8221; &#8220;Believe in truth&#8221; and &#8220;Listen for dangerous words.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Where would we be if they had tried to avoid the awkwardness of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>State leaders persuading U of A executives to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/arkansasadvocate.com\/2026\/01\/25\/uas-withdrawal-of-law-deans-offer-signals-new-reality-for-arkansas-higher-education\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">withdraw an offer<\/a>&nbsp;of Law School deanship, a scholar chosen after a two-year nationwide search<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Staying mum as the governor <a href=\"https:\/\/arkansasadvocate.com\/2026\/03\/11\/sanders-encouraging-all-arkansas-high-schools-to-start-turning-point-usa-youth-club-chapters\/\">endorsed the establishment<\/a> on state campuses Turning Point USA and its high school division Clubs America<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>UA System trustees reversing years of Razorback Athletics sending some revenue to the academic side, demanding a plan with just weeks&#8217; notice for the <a href=\"https:\/\/edition.nwaonline.com\/article\/281479282943296\">university to subsidize athletics<\/a> with millions of dollars<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>University leadership, advised by cautious counsel, continuing to hang hundreds of posters of one translation of the <a href=\"https:\/\/edition.nwaonline.com\/article\/281509347704690\">Ten Commandments<\/a> after a federal judge called the state law encouraging this clearly unconstitutional. Yes, the judge limited the ruling&#8217;s scope to six public school districts, out of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/adedata.arkansas.gov\/ark12\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">236 K-12 districts<\/a>&nbsp;statewide and no mention of higher education the law also covers. Why wouldn&#8217;t a civilian variation of &#8220;Don&#8217;t obey unlawful orders&#8221; apply?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>There&#8217;s other duck-and-covers. Complicity is the tails side of the same&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/donald-trump\/us-gold-coin-image-trump-commission-fine-arts-250th-anniversary-rcna264367\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">gold Trump coin<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to the pickets that we No Kings marchers could wave, my best advice is to choose what worries you the most, this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\">\u00a9 2026 Ben S. Pollock<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>This column now slightly revised first was published as &#8220;What&#8217;ve You Got?&#8221; in the March 2026 newsletter of the <a href=\"https:\/\/arkansas965.org\">UA-Fayetteville Education Association \/ Local 965<\/a>, where Ben Pollock serves as vice president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An Editor\u2019s Note For all my love of words, I&#8217;m lousy at protest signs. Six maybe eight words is perfect. Pickets are a lot like billboards. You&#8217;re driving by, so highway ads need to be sparse for comprehension. That&#8217;s the same with demonstrations, where picketers stand on a sidewalk as cars whiz by. The No [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-spin"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Triumph-6T-650cc-Thunderbird-1950-16x9-640x360-1.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":134,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2005\/07\/no-trash-cans-in-london\/","url_meta":{"origin":8334,"position":0},"title":"No trash cans in London","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"July 7, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Copyright 2005 Ben S. Pollock Thursday, July 7, 2005: No need to add excessive verbiage about the London mass-transit attacks. Suffice it to say that America shouldn't forget the Madrid attacks, which have been scarcely mentioned in the news media today. This sort of terrorism has an evening effect. Whether\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News, Spin&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News, Spin","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/news-spin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":349,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2007\/08\/polishing-apples-in-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":8334,"position":1},"title":"Polishing Apples in Arkansas","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"August 31, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the changes planned by the state Department of Education is to increase the teaching of world history by decreasing the time spent on Arkansas state history. The Legislature, however, mandated in 1997 one semester of state history between seventh and 12th grades. (The law and the new plan\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Body, Home, Street&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Body, Home, Street","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/body-home-street\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5843,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2017\/11\/consent-degree\/","url_meta":{"origin":8334,"position":2},"title":"Consent Degree","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"November 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Bullies surround us. Always.\u00a0All of us, 100 percent.\u00a0Accept it, you know it's true, and choose your battles. Making dark jokes helps. Also, they're not always on the prowl. This isn't about bobcats or coyotes. Although like humans, kitty cats and puppy dogs if the predator instinct remains strong and they're\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News, Spin&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News, Spin","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/news-spin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two young antelopes spar or play in front of elephant","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/StockSnap_Y7OQI22I2P-httpsstocksnap.iophotoY7OQI22I2P-683x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":273,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2007\/02\/good-words-to-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":8334,"position":3},"title":"&#8220;Good Words to You&#8221;","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"February 7, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Fishing around for a headline to this, I remembered the above. It's the outcue for the audio column on NPR's Morning Edition that the late poet John Ciardi used to do in the early to mid-1980s. He considered origins, histories and roots of words in them. Posthumously, in 1987, Harper\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Course of Words&quot;","block_context":{"text":"The Course of Words","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/course-of-words\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":338,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2007\/07\/deathly-hallowed-words\/","url_meta":{"origin":8334,"position":4},"title":"Deathly Hallowed Words","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"July 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"You can read here the last, first: He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Course of Words&quot;","block_context":{"text":"The Course of Words","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/course-of-words\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4666,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2013\/12\/dinting-not-daunting\/","url_meta":{"origin":8334,"position":5},"title":"Dinting Not Daunting: Daily Diary for December","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"December 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I lost in \"NaNoWriMo\" this past month. The goal of National Novel Writing Month, held every November, is to craft at least 50,000 words of a new novel (not revising a draft nor picking up an abandoned manuscript) in those 30 days. This was my fourth try, beginning in 2007.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Course of Words&quot;","block_context":{"text":"The Course of Words","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/course-of-words\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8334"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8358,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8334\/revisions\/8358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}