Martial Law

The Occupy Wall Street movement is growing in momentum, as it should.
The core point behind it is to peacefully assemble in a show of solidarity with everyone else whom the corruption in our political system and greed in our financial system has inflicted harm upon.
The point of this is NOT to overthrow the government but, rather, to show those whom we (those assembled and those not assembled) have given power to for the expressed purpose of protecting our interests that the people are unhappy.

The sad outcome of this is that the politicians are disturbingly quiet on the issue. They have the power to diffuse the entire situation by calling for all of the assembled protesters to write them and call them. They could have diffused the situation by opening their ears and eyes and inviting a dialog on what we, their constituents, think is wrong. Instead they remain quiet. Their quietness on this issue is tantamount to trying to hide from it and trying to pretend like nothing needs to be done. They are, in essence, telling us that they do not want to listen to our concerns because we do not matter.

The way to solve this problem is to vote AGAINST the incumbent in the upcoming election. Regardless of your political affiliation vote for the incumbent's opponent. If enough incumbents are removed from their elected offices then, and ONLY then, will the people in power decide that they are responsible TO the people whom elected them.

I titled this post "Martial Law" because without the change being instituted at the upper levels we will receive martial law. Up until yesterday the OWS movement was mostly a peaceful movement with occasional incidences of violence being perpetrated by the LEADERSHIP of the NYPD. Yesterday that changed. Yesterday brought incidents that are reminiscent of the "Bonus Army" break-up in the 1930s. Yesterday brought the dawn of wide-spread police violence against protesters. Yesterday the police department and Sheriff's department in Oakland, California fired upon the OWS protesters with rubber bullets and tear gas. Flash-bang grenades were used on the crowd. There is even footage of one police officer deliberately throwing a flash bang grenade into the very center of a group of people who had stopped to assist an injured protester.

I dislike police. I always have. I see the uniform of a police officer and my first reaction is to move as far away from it as I can. I have NEVER seen them as a helpful force whose purpose is to protect me and I have, with few exceptions, not experienced police who were polite, respectful and competent enough to do their job correctly. I am not a criminal and I have never been arrested for anything. I have SHOULD have no reason to dislike the police as much as I do but it is incidents like what is happening in Oakland and New York right now that reinforce my opinion of the police.

This is a sad situation where the small percentage of the police on the streets are ruining the reputation of the blue uniform for the remainder of the population. This, ironically, is in parallel to the core problem that the OWS movement is protesting. The entire OWS movement is protesting a situation where a very small percentage of the people have ruined the economy for the rest of the planet and we've had enough with it.

The sad part is that most people don't even understand the full reasoning and depth of what they are angry about.....

If you are reading this and you are in a city where the police are abusing their authority then film it. Film it and submit it to the local media and the national media. Submit it to YouTube and any other outlet you can. Most importantly submit it to the police department's chain of command AND the management of the municipality. Submit it to the town council and be sure to enclose a letter saying that your vote will be against everyone currently seated unless action is taken against the police officers who perpetrated the crimes AND their supervisors for allowing the behavior.

This is a country of the PEOPLE not of the police. Don't let us become a police state under martial law. It will be worse than anything a terrorist regime could ever do to us.