By Cliff Montgomery – May 31st, 2012
The function of the law is not to provide justice or to preserve freedom. The function of the law is to keep those who hold power, in power.
– Gerry Spence, Trial lawyer
Almost every desire a poor man has is a punishable offense.
– Louis-Ferdinand Celine, Novelist
It seems clear that this May saw the Occupy Movement regain its legs.
The movement of course never went away. But at the start of this year, officials across the U.S. and around the globe hoped to mollify this frightening display of actual democracy but shutting down the Occupy camps.
The reasons for the shutdowns were as feeble in logic as they were in law. But since government types tend to side with their own – regardless of what their propaganda teaches – judges usually agreed with those agents of ‘law and order’ who protect us from free speech and free assembly.
Though the assemblies on land owned by everyone was simply a tactic, those shutdowns appeared to have some genuine effect on the Occupy Movement’s ability to maintain a public voice.
In May, the muzzle came off.
It began with May 1st, also known as International Workers’ Day or May Day.
“Hundreds of Occupy protesters marched, chanted and scuffled with law enforcement officers in New York, San Francisco, Seattle and other cities around the world,” declared The Washington Post, adding that the protesters “joined with labor activists to take part in a May Day ‘general strike’ for economic equality Tuesday.”
“May Day protests took place in more than 125 cities in the United States, Europe and Australia,” continued the Post, “on the spring day which labor unions have typically celebrated as International Workers Day.”
“This year, the Occupy Wall Street movement joined labor unions and embraced May 1 as ‘A Day Without the 99 Percent,’ ” stated the paper, adding that the protest urged “students to skip school and employees not to go to work to show their support.”
“ ‘Hopefully this is a new era,’ one D.C. protestor told the Post. “ ‘I look at things in the long haul. It could take years,’ ” he added.
On May 9th, the annual Bank of America shareholder meeting in Charlotte, NC become a natural target of the Occupy movement in that city.
“Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said it was the city’s largest protest in years,” declared The Charlotte Observer. “Police estimated the crowd at about 500, while protest organizers put the figure somewhere above 700,” added the paper. Regardless, it’s something for a city not well known for embracing a truly free speech.
“The protesters came from across North Carolina, and from cities including New York, Atlanta, Columbia, S.C., Boston and Oakland,” the Observer stated.
But the paper noted that all “had one thing in common: The belief that Bank of America, is, as they chanted often, ‘Bad for America.’ ”
And then there was the NATO meeting in Chicago on May 20th and 21st.
“With world leaders set to arrive in Chicago this weekend for a long-planned summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO],” stated The Washington Post, “re-invigorated Occupy protesters plan to take to the streets in large numbers, hoping to disrupt tight security with marches and impromptu street theater.”
“Busloads of protesters began arriving Thursday from cities across the country,” continued the Post. “As many as 10,000 people could attend Sunday’s march for peace and economic equality, [Occupy Chicago] organizers say.”
All this reveals one simple truth: You can’t jail, beat, threaten, gas or dispossess a timely idea. No matter how hard you try.
