Oh, say! can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed as the riot police came steaming;
With drawn guns under the stars, fought the perilous fight,
O'er Zuccotti Park we watched protesters start screaming,
In the pepper sprays red glare, nightsticks fly through the air,
By daylight the proof that no protesters left there:
Oh, say! does that first amendment banner still wave
In the land of the free o'er the tents of the brave?
11 comments:
Zuccotti is private property. I wonder if the owner asked for police assistance?
On another note, protesting is one thing. Living in a park is another thing. The same people can protest today. They just can't set up a homestead...
it is like yelling fire. the protestors have rights, but their rights end where the rights of others begin. they "protests" were cauing harm to the people that live near and people that do commerce near the park. Then i suppose there were the people that just wanted to go visit the park...
q
I agree with Q, on the whole. Although I generally like seeing the populace out there protesting (to remind me that I don't live in Syria or Singapore), their rights have got to be balanced against the rights of everyone else. It's a very nebulous shades-of-grey issue for the state to have to adjudicate on, but as long as their actions are proportional and in defence of valid conflicting interests - and not just to flex their muscles - then it would be justifiable. In any case, I think it will definitely be worth looking at how the 'Occupy' sit-ins end on a case-by-case basis.
It seems that either it was co-ordinated with other cities because they all seemed to move together or they were just waiting for the first one to make a move and then copied. Either way, i did smle at the Health & Safety aspect used as the reason. Does seem a bit of a poor excuse and to go in at the dead of night brandishing guns and nightsticks seems over kill.
Yes, I see they also used 'health & safety' as the reason to close St Pauls Cathedral a couple of weeks ago too, which I thought was particularly namby-pamby of them. I've been up there a few times since it all kicked off... so I know that it's only a threat to health and safety if you're not watching where you're going. And if that's the case then you might find the entire city something of a hazard!
It's fair enough if, after they get due process, the protestors eventually get evicted... but it has to be with 'right reason'. They shouldn't just make stuff up because it's messy or inconvenient. Democracy is messy and it can get very inconvenient. That's part of the reason why it's better than the alternatives.
Here's Keith Olbermann's awesome take on the matter...
We just had Obama visit our shores. Lucky us!
Gillard gave him a military base in Darwin and eventual use of our naval ports and airfields.
What did Obama give Australia? SFA.
Now the Chinese, our major trading partner, is angered (as is Indonesia) but no one in the Australian Government cares
one bit!
God damn our British heritage!
A child can't keep blaming his Mum all his life, David. You gotta grow up sometime, cut the old apron strings.
What a brilliant rant by Olbermann, loved that.
I can't see any reason why Obama would want a base in Australia. Most of the other places where they stick a base make some sort of sense but Australia is not under any threat, is too far away from anywhere to intimidate (China, Russia, N Korea etc) and not close enough to launch any attck from. Then why?
Americans want military bases in every country in the world, Lucy. It's part of their plan for global domination.
Australia, like Britain, are just pawns in its game. I think they imagine if they get control of all the sea lanes, they can strangle China's growth.
And if they can get drone bases in most nations, then they can control the air and ground as well.
Did you look at the positions of their military bases I included a few posts back? It's scary!
Big Brother is here!
ha ha ha ha haaaaa,
you are right David G and now Australia is one of our puppets. Move. Move I say. Move when I pull a string or we'll unleash the dogs of hell on Australia... ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaaaaa
q
The comment above this really does show that Americans are insane!
Someone should put them out of their misery, stop them creating misery for the rest of the world's people!
Yeah David,
That obvious joke designed to inact your hatred of Americans proves that ALL AMERICANS are insane... and it proves that you competely sane.
q
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