ddoubleez

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THE ARREST OF PROTESTERS
Wednesday, October 3, 2007

by Jim Hightower

If you just can’t bring yourself to believe that our government authorities would even think of suppressing the legitimate protests of peaceful demonstrators – look at the record of court cases recently coming out of New York.

You might recall media reports from the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York, when 1,100 people were arrested in one day during anti-war demonstrations. Most media pundits joined the authorities in praising the police for stopping these “dangerous troublemakers.” But the city now faces 605 lawsuits from people contending they were merely exercising their right to free speech and assembly – making no trouble at all.

And now, based on witnesses and numerous videos taken of the demonstrations and arrests, protestors are winning their cases. It turns out that police were making mass arrests of innocent people – then making up arrest reports charging people with crimes they did not commit.

Take the example of two guys and a young woman who were videoed trying to string a banner onto the New York public library. “You can’t hang signs [there],” an officer told them, and they immediately took it down. “You can hold it, but you can’t hang it,” the officer said. So, they did. Two seconds later, as the two men held the banner on the stairs of the library, other police moved in and arrested them.

When the police filed their arrest complaint, they charged the three young people with “obstructing the entire intersection so no cars or pedestrians could pass through.” The woman was also charged with refusal to obey a police order and leading a parade through the intersection without a permit – even though the video clearly showed that she had never left the library steps.

It’s not the demonstrators who are out of control, it’s the authorities. And they’re not merely cracking down on a few people – they’re trampling the Constitutional rights of all of us.

yellowfish

from the news i hear about the USA, the only thing i can see in your future is a police state
sorry guys i know there will be many folk who will call me a fool or tell me i dont know what im talking about, but its just what i see
everyone in authority seems to be lying from right at the top and down to the bottom and that is bad news

ddoubleez

You are no fool, we are on the edge of a collapse. Unfortunately, with the global economy, we have forced onto other nations, we will be taking everyone down with us....

There are very few people that argue that the lifestyle we live is sustainable and WE HAVE KNOWN for sometime, the question was never 'if', it was 'when?'...

1) We have a dept that we can no longer make the interest payments on as a government.

2) We have the largest travel infrastructure, ever, and have extended ourselves to the point that we can no longer maintain our roads.

3) Our government passes laws to induce corruption.

4) We have an unsustainable prison system that is growing exponentially.

5) Our education system is getting worse as time goes by, we used to produce the worlds scientists and engineers, but now we can't even keep entry level schools open.

5) Infanticide is on the rise. Health-care is on the decline.... We have worse life expectancy rates of some 3rd world countries.

6) We defunded welfare, because we can no longer afford to take care of the disadvantaged.

7) We have rolled back standards that protect the environment, and the environment provides us with resources to sustain our economy.

8) We have launched multi-theater campaigns in order to secure energy, and no longer have the ability to defend ourselves.
This list can go on and on.......

kawligia

Our Constitutional rights are always in danger of being trampled on. The existence of the Constitution is not enough to ensure our rights and freedoms...

Which is why the 2nd Amendment is the most important of all. God forbid, but there may come a time when we will need to fight to keep, or to regain, our rights.

FattyJJ

Unfortunately, with companies like Blackwater who are immune to government laws, fighting back will be a losing battle. Look at the couple who refused to pay their taxes, that are not mandated by law. The government infultrated them by posing as supporters and then arresting them. Our lawmakers get more corrupt every term, and the corporations that own them are in charge of our country.

-We rent our land from the government, regardless of if you have paid for it, they keep taxing it.
-We rent our auto's, same situation
-Our media is controlled by the governemt, and geared to lie to us

I hate living in America right now. So glad I got out of the Marines when I could.

___________________________________________

fmb

Why, oh why, did I just know DDzs was involved in this post?? Irregardless, he is right. I believe history will show the last time individual rights were trampled upon to this extent was the Civil War; the offending president was Abraham Lincoln. He authorized locking up news editors and others protesting the war; many were held without trial until the wars end. I know us Southern folks have a general disregard for those from NY city, but many of her citizens were held because of their support for the South. Unfortunately, this isn't something easily located in the average school history book...

I've said this many times, and will say it again: I agree we need to fight the radicalization of Islam and the threat this radicalization poses to the world; however, our country is doing a piss poor job of leading, and implementing, the fight. We had better come up with a REAL game plan, or this is going to implode on us.