With marching orders from Federal Government (Homeland Security) Police Forces in cities across America stepped forward using fear tactics, and out right brutality tried to crush the "Occupy Movement" here in America. Tear gas, rubber bullets, billy clubs and percussion bombs were the call of the day as camps were ransacked, protesters forcefully evicted, many of them wrongfully arrested for doing nothing more than exercising their "First Amendment" right to freedom of speech, their right to demand redress. Local ordinances and laws meant to control or coral society used to supersede our federally protected rights.Sure, local government succeeded in evicting these protesters from parks across the land, but as the shutting down of major ports on the west coast this week have shown, these cities, their police intimidation tactics have failed in crushing, even killing the Occupy Movement. The paper of our nation's capital, the Washington Post, reported on the success of the movement, stated for all of our elected officials to see the undeniable fact that protesters were successful in shutting down various ports including shipping terminals in Oakland, California, Portland, Oregon and Longview, Washington. The timing of these actions could not have been more perfect as Time Magazine this week announced that Protesters" were their choice for "Person of the Year".
America is becoming a powder keg, the tactics of local police departments (under orders from local government) are driving protesters to take steps to protect themselves, yet the press wants to use these attempts at self protection and paint them and the protesters here in America as militant actions, and militant groups. What is one supposed to do when they believe in their cause, and find themselves faced with overwhelming force...police on horses swinging billy clubs, police in riot gear shooting tear gas, rubber bullets and god knows what else into the crowd of peaceful protesters.
It has been reported that some of this weeks protests did not remain peaceful, news sources reporting that some protesters threw bags of paint, lighted flares and debris at the police who were attacking them...asking the obvious question here, what did the police hurl at these PEACEFUL PROTESTERS? More importantly, where is our Armed Forces? Are they not charged with protecting the rights (Freedom of Speech) of American Citizens? We applauded the Egyptian Military early this year when they protected citizens against "Local Policemen Gone Wild" yet are content watching our own policemen here in America use those same out of control tactics, are content to let the press put out government orchestrated propaganda, rather than accurately reporting ALL SIDES OF THIS IMPORTANT STORY.
The Vietnam War protests were a grassroots movement that fermented and grew over a period of years, finally reaching maturity during the 1968 Presidential Elections. The same dissatisfaction that fed that movement has been growing here in America since 2007 when, under George W. Bush and the Republicans our economy crashed. Four years now have passed, four years where 7.5 million illegal aliens have been allowed to keep their jobs and depress American lower and middle class wages. Four years where the one percent have grown ever richer while 16 million Americans remain under employed or out of work as jobs continue to be shipped overseas. Four years where America allows China to flood our nation with cheap inferior goods while our factories continue to close. Four years since Main Street taxes were used to bail out Wall Street fat cats while average citizens lost their homes or saw their mortgages under water after the real estate market collapsed.
Anger is rising like the wave of a Tsunami, and more and more citizens are saying enough as Washington DC goes about politics as usual. Local police can try to stamp out protesters, but Time Magazine's person of the year choice says it all. The Occupy Movement is growing, becoming stronger, and the 2012 Elections may be remembered for something other than who our next president will be.
