To presume to speak, as novelists once blithely did, for a nation, a city or, especially, a generation is to invite protest and ridicule.
Any event with the national profile of the Oscars invites protests, and Westboro wasn't the only conservative Christian group on the scene.
Yingluck invited protest leaders and political parties to discuss a proposal to delay the general election, which she has called for 2 February, but her opponents snubbed her invitation.
She has invited protest leaders to the presidential office in the capital Brasilia, and even if they did not like what they heard from the president it was a more sophisticated response than confrontation.
Those raids, which invited protest rallies early last week outside local FBI headquarters in both cities, also invited gloating in certain parts.
Best known for his brutal repression of critics, Egyptian-general-turned-president Abdel Fattah al Sisi has invited protesting militant anti-government soccer fans to investigate a 2012 politically loaded soccer brawl in which 72 supporters of storied Cairo club Al Ahli SC died.
And in the tense environment before the Olympics, which China fears could invite uncontrollable protests or blemish its international image, the climate has become noticeably more restrictive.
Mr. Clinton was fully aware that pardoning Mr. Rich, the ex-husband of Denise Rich, a prominent fund-raiser for the Clintons and the Democratic Party, would carry a distinct taint and invite irate protests from federal prosecutors like Mary Jo White in Manhattan.
During past protests we have invited protesters in and offered them juice and pizza," Enchassi said.
One would call this a butchering of common sense, but that might invite a protest by meat cutters.
The "Ghost in the Shell" franchise — including TV series, video games and anime versions — now has a live-action version that's invited some protests.
