Labor leader Anthony Albanese tweeted his support for people’s democratic right to protest earlier this week. This is what it looked like:

Now, apart from affirming the truism that that Left can’t meme — that has got to be the lamest piece of clip art I’ve ever seen — what struck more than a few people was how hopelessly inconsistent this line of logic is. I mean, what about those protesting outside abortion clinics.

Do they have a right to speak up?

Do they have a right to be heard?

Do they have a right to disagree?

Some will immediately object to any such parallel because it’s inherently judgmental and violent — although nothing like Antifa — but it’s not like those protesting #ExtinctionRebellion don’t make people feel uncomfortable either. As Rita Panahi tweeted:

Now, why they’re covered in ‘blood’ and not drenched in oil I’m not really sure. But could you imagine what the reaction would be if abortion protesters performed a stunt like this? Actually, you don’t have to look too far. Just take a look at the following video posted by the transvestite ‘Blair Black’ on Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

I did a zombie cannibal performance to @iiswhoiis CANNIBAL!!! Trigger warning!!! I do cut a PLASTIC BABY out of a fake pregnant belly… A LOT of FAKE BLOOD. The inspiration for this performance was from a lot of horror movies where a woman got pregnant by and alien, demon, monster, etc and they have to cut the baby out of her before it kills her from the inside.

A post shared by Blair Back (@blair_back) on Oct 28, 2019 at 7:24pm PDT

If Panahi can describe extinction rebellion protestors as being ‘unwell’, what would you call this? And yet, there has been no repercussions politically or by social media. Sadly, what has become clear is that even in a democracy not all protestors are created equal. And ironically, those who speak out the loudest in promoting it are actually the worst in protecting it.

Mark Powell is the Associate Pastor of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church, Strathfield.

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