Source: rawstory.com
This poignant photograph above from the University of California at Davis over the past weekend speaks volumes. It shows the loathsome and deplorable treatment that many Occupy protesters are now receiving in cities across the country. What I am wondering is why are they being singled out for brutal tactics when the Tea Party protests were far more disruptive and dangerous?
Occupy Wall Street and similar groups are peaceful protesters that are making political statements about social and economic injustice through non-violent means. They have been accosted, beaten, roughed-up, jailed, and pepper-sprayed for doing nothing other that occupy space. Meanwhile, Tea Party protesters quite often disrupted public meetings and forums held by elected officials and some openly carried weapons to outdoor events, but they got handled with kid gloves. Sorry for my French folks, but this is hypocritical bullshit with a capital B.
The right to peaceful assembly is embedded in our Constitution. The Occupy movement has been using such peaceful means to protest the social and economic injustices that are rampant in our plutocratic America. It was the Tea Party, not Occupy, that used disruptive and aggressive means to achieve their goals – the Tea Party are the ones who should have faced charges and jail time, not the Occupy movement.
What makes me the most disappointed is the federal government has not stood up for the Occupy movement. Why isn’t the Justice Department hauling mayors and police departments into court? Why isn’t President Obama strongly speaking out against the treatment of the Occupy movement? It was many of the participants in the Occupy movement of today who helped bring about President Obama’s election victory in 2008. Sadly, as a result they may very well abandon him during the 2012 election campaign in the same manner that his administration has apparently abandoned them in their time of need.
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Panethos 