The Internet, Politics, and Missile Defense

Abstract

One downloadable poster by missile defense¹ activists depicts a smiling George W. Bush with a laughing Paul Martin, the Canadian prime minister. Labeled “Dumb and Dumber,” with reference to the 1994 movie of the same name, an arrow pointing to Bush says “Started missile defense again” and one to Martin stating “He wants Canada to participate …”² A postcard on the same website, with an image of an astronaut floating above earth, is addressed to Paul Martin, and is labeled “Earth to Paul! Keep Weapons Out of Space—Keep Canada Out of Missile Defence.”³ Posters and postcards with variations on these themes are common on activist sites worldwide, and are often preprinted with protest text and addressed directly to the minister responsible for security policy. Activism against missile defense, like many other civil campaigns of this kind, is simultaneously entertaining and deadly serious, and provides an opportunity for social engagement around issues of profound human consequence.