No, he was not calling for reinforcements to replace and fortify the peaceful protesters who were pepper sprayed by a coward in a uniform. He was calling for them to help him pass his jobs bill, which will fund construction on what some are calling "Obama's Bridge to Nowhere." And help him get re-elected of course. But the bridge is going to be paid for... by the Wall Street traders who are being protested, and protected by cowards in uniforms. So don't worry, because he's a warrior for the middle class.
Don't get excited about peaceful protesters being pepper sprayed for no reason, or the fact that police are now charging people with "disobeying a lawful order." No, not for violating any actual law or ordinance. Disobeying... an order. When I worked for the Army prosecutor we must have charged dozens of people with "disobeying a lawful order." We would have concluded that under yesterday's circumstances, that charge would not meet the elements of a crime and thrown the charges out. Why? Because even under military law a direct order needs to be issued by someone in a position of authority, a person with the legal authority to issue orders. Not any old police officer. In the military, police are specifically tasked with enforcing actual laws. So in the military, where soldiers willfully accept that they surrender some of their basic civil rights, police are certainly entitled to issue orders, but unless there is some underlying violation or the order was given by a person with the legal authority to give it, a solider cannot be held accountable for disobeying.
In Amerika 2011, civilians are required to OBEY any order that a police officer feels entitled to give. Doesn't need to have a legal basis. Squeamish yet?
It gets worse. These folks are not just some yippies from Brooklyn with nothing better to do. In a previous post I hi-lighted Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders' publication of the names of speculators who drove up oil prices in 2008. A couple weeks ago, Sanders essentially laid out the rallying cry of the protesters in an op-ed in the Washington Post. All this pressure surely is pushing freedom-lovin' politicians to grab Sanders' back, right? Right? Uh, no. Michele Bachmann and other Republicans running for president continue to call for the outright repeal of Dodd-Frank. Well, based on this article in the New York Times, maybe I finally agree with Bachmann (yes, I was smirking when I wrote that). You see, it appears that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has turned from The People's Lion into Wall Street's Lamb. According to the article, some now believe that the rules the CFTC was tasked with enforcing in accordance with Dodd-Frank, will actually wind up favoring speculators.
Amerika 2011: De-fund and eliminate the regulators, because they are protecting and enabling the people they're supposed to regulate (see previous post on SEC corruption) [note: I doubt that this is Bachmann's position, seeing as how the finance industry has been a good friend over the years].
In Amerika 2011, civilians are required to OBEY any order that a police officer feels entitled to give. Doesn't need to have a legal basis. Squeamish yet?
It gets worse. These folks are not just some yippies from Brooklyn with nothing better to do. In a previous post I hi-lighted Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders' publication of the names of speculators who drove up oil prices in 2008. A couple weeks ago, Sanders essentially laid out the rallying cry of the protesters in an op-ed in the Washington Post. All this pressure surely is pushing freedom-lovin' politicians to grab Sanders' back, right? Right? Uh, no. Michele Bachmann and other Republicans running for president continue to call for the outright repeal of Dodd-Frank. Well, based on this article in the New York Times, maybe I finally agree with Bachmann (yes, I was smirking when I wrote that). You see, it appears that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has turned from The People's Lion into Wall Street's Lamb. According to the article, some now believe that the rules the CFTC was tasked with enforcing in accordance with Dodd-Frank, will actually wind up favoring speculators.
Amerika 2011: De-fund and eliminate the regulators, because they are protecting and enabling the people they're supposed to regulate (see previous post on SEC corruption) [note: I doubt that this is Bachmann's position, seeing as how the finance industry has been a good friend over the years].
Ah, but there is hope. Remember, we still have the "warrior for the middle class."
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