New Orleans        Certainly it is presumptuous to compare the Civil Rights Movement with the Occupy Movement, but it takes a while to think of another movement in the USA which has gotten more of a boost from police oppression.  Occupy seems to find Bull Conners-wannabes everywhere, whether in New York City or now on the campus of the University of California at Davis where rouge police simply walked down the seated line of students and pepper sprayed them in the face.  Unbelievable!  I’m used to understanding how rouge the New Orleans police force seems to continue to be despite best efforts of one mayor after another, but increasingly it seems rogue is simply a defining characteristic.

The bystanders who could only comment that, “They’re children,” brings a chilling comment to the forefront of these movement, when even passive non-violence provokes repression.  Where do we live, Tahrir Square?   Is this the only invitation to dialogue that the 1% offers to the 99%?

Those forces need to beware.  It could be reactions like these from police forces in service to god knows whom, that deepen the support for this movement more broadly across America.  Even when we are not in agreement, we tend to support the ability to ask questions in peace and in public.