Watching the OWS protests around the country this morning…
Not to bandy about incendiary terms, but watching the #OWS reports and videos, especially of police violence and local government trickery against protesters, I can't help but think of terms like "civil war" and "terrorism".
The Department of Defense Dictionary of Military Terms defines terrorism as the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological.
A definition of civil war is an armed conflict between a government and another group from within the same country.
How do these terms not apply to how protesters are being treated? How do they not apply to the overall attitude of the 1% against the rest of us in how they try to shut down dissent and manipulate the public dialogue? How do these terms not apply to the violence by "authorities" who are citizens of our country against protesters exercising their political rights who are also fellow citizens?
Apologies if this is somewhat stream of consciousness. Sometimes things need said in the moment so as not to run the risk of letting the emotion, and then the words and thoughts, die in editing. Thanks for listening.
CC image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/cdevers/2634805433/
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