My first blog is dedicated to the Occupy Movement, which inspired me to speak out. People who do not support the Occupiers First Amendment rights are foolish. The slippery-slope, that is the erosion of basic freedoms, has quickly become a vertical cliff. In the last few months we have seen politicians using local police forces as a tool to silence political opposition. Mayor Bloomberg went as far as to say public safety trumps constitutional rights, which is very convenient, especially considering it is government that constantly defines and re-defines the meaning of 'public safety concerns', to fit whatever agenda they may have at the time.
The nationwide collaboration of law enforcement to evict most Occupy movements, was a strategic move by the 1% and their new poster boy Bloomberg, to quash the First Amendment rights of ordinary citizens. While at the same time the US Supreme Court ruled a majority decision, upholding the First Amendment rights of corporations, essentially claiming that money is speech and corporations are people. This will allow for unfettered political donations with other people's money, including large foreign investors who will ultimately have a legal way to involve themselves in political decisions reserved for American citizens. A little ironic, considering one of the Occupier's concerns is where does the normal citizen fit in to a corporate America? A question that is as difficult to answer, as it is abundantly clear, we do not fit.
Will the Occupy movement bring about change? Only time will tell, but it encourages me to see thousands of people who have the same concerns as I do. It inspires me to see people, who possess unwavering fortitude, to stand up for themselves, in the face of an unrelenting police state that no longer keeps the best interest of it's people in mind. The Occupy movement speaks truth to power and for that I am grateful.
