e-commentary

. . .

a          “They will only tolerate it as long as they regard it as harmless.  When they regard it as a threat to their domination, they will do harm.”

A          “Another inevitable repeat of history.  But when the Chicago police rioted in ’68 outside the Democratic National Convention and beat and tear gassed the populace, at least they only used night sticks and tear gas as weapons.”

a          “There are videos you can download to your tube with a few clicks.  You can see that the police even beat the press.  Back then, the press got it and got in the way and got it from the police.”

A          “Today, the authorities are armed with far more dangerous armaments and arsenals.  Even toll booth operators and beach patrols sport their own SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) Teams equipped with grenade launchers and flame throwers.  In an old black and white tv show, Barney Fife, a deputy sheriff in a small North Carolina town, carried one bullet, probably a .38, in his shirt pocket and was required to ask Andy, the sheriff, before he could even chamber it.  Different times.”

a          “Not many police officers realize that the kids are trying to protect the police union while the governor is trying to kill it.  When the federal government begins providing Homeland Security grants to allow local libraries to acquire armed drones, will anyone care or comment.”

A          “Not to worry, they are closing the libraries.  It might be Oak Park, it might be Oakland, it might occur on some other park or land that will become part of our national lore.”

a          “Even if the kids keep their heads, the authorities are going to bust them.  The problem is that one person may make a threatening comment that will provide the police with a pretext.  An undercover police officer could make a threatening comment to one of his colleagues and provide the pretext for a police riot.”

A          “A few young Boomers got their heads busted and then when older busted a booming economy.  Now the Boomers will bust some concerned youngsters’ heads – the youngsters who must endure the long bust but will never experience a lingering boom.”

. . .

[See the “e-ssay” titled “Ohio – Not Forgettin’ Ohio; The Battleground State Battles On (May 2, 2005)” and the “e-ssay” titled “The Residue of Unrelenting Fear: PTSD Afflicts The Populace (August 28, 2006).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Do you want the kids to be activists or pacifists?

Occupy Mayberry, R.F.D.

Kids (and older kids) who know and care are doing something

The kids are alright

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” – John F. Kennedy

. . .

A         “Commentators are having a hard time because there isn’t one spokesperson to interview nor one manifesto to mine.”

a          “Most commentators don’t understand what has happened in America over the last decade, so I don’t expect them to understand what is going on today.  I am aware enough to know that something’s clearly wrong, yet it is hard to describe.  What I do know is that I don’t have a future.”

A         “It’s simple and obvious.  The ruling class is strip mining the middle class.  And then accusing those who dare to point out the obvious truth that the astute observer is instigating class warfare.”

a          “They are clearcutting the kids.  They are not allowing a college grad let alone the ordinary Joe to immanentize the eschaton, although they are immanentizing the eschaton in a big way at my expense.  I really don’t have much hope of improvement or advancement.”

A         “Listen carefully.  That may be the big difference this time – an underlying absence of hope and a more pronounced sense of desperation.” 

a          “Hope died a few years ago.  Hope is so 2008.  Yet what do you have if you don’t have hope.”

A         “When hope totally disappears, an individual who can’t take it often takes one of three paths.  At the extreme, he takes his life, takes someone else’s life, or takes someone else’s life and then takes his life.”

a          “Someone sure took the life of the American Dream.”

. . .

[See the “e-ssay” titled “Boycott Big Banks (February 1, 2010).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Occupy Wall Street; Occupy Our America

You don’t need a sportscaster to know which way the ball bounces.