Topless Protest -- There They Go Again

SF Gate reports:

SACRAMENTO -- Judge tosses a blanket on topless protest
Breasts Not Bombs told nudity not part of free-speech rights

Sacramento -- A federal judge denied on Friday a request from a group of Mendocino women who wanted to protest topless on the grounds of the state Capitol.

U.S. District Judge Garland Burrell said the group made no compelling argument that showing their breasts constitutes free speech.

"Being topless is not inherently expressive" speech, Burrell said. The group, Breasts Not Bombs, had scheduled a protest for noon Monday. The California Highway Patrol threatened to arrest anyone who went topless.

Sherry Glaser, a leader of the group, said the protest may take place without bare breasts.

"All we really have is the power of ourselves," she said. "Our bodies bring attention."

Group members, whose protest on the west steps of the Capitol is intended to contrast the "indecent" initiatives backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on the November ballot with their "natural and decent" breasts, sought a temporary restraining order prohibiting CHP officers from arresting women who protest topless.

Read it here.

What is it with these people? Just when and where did the idea originate that taking off your clothes is an effective way to win political debates. I suspect it was in the "Sixties" when some of these protesters were young and worth looking at. Today, though, all too often they simply reveal the ravages of time on the human form and are unlikely to inspire anything in viewers other than bemused contempt or ridicule.

At least PETA, for all their lunacy, has the sense to prominently feature healthy young female mammals in their nude protests, but even there the response is more likely to be lust than political agreement. Nudity gains attention, but not the kind that is likely to be politically productive.