If a tree falls in the forest. . .

An attorney at a Washington D.C. law firm (not mine) told me that her firm is closed for inauguration day, but a number of attorneys plan to work anyway as a protest against another Bush term. To me, this raises an interesting philosophical question: can behavior that is indistinguishable from ordinary conduct (I’ll be working part of that day too) be a protest if those against whom it is directed (a) don’t know about it; (b) can’t be affected by it, even indirectly; and (c) would have no reason to be other than indifferent about the behavior even if they knew of it?