Letters to the Editor
blunderdog
Published Letters: 509 Editor's Choice: 10
-
Anonymous @ 12:11pm NAILED IT!
[Read the article: Breaking the Iraq stalemate]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The deal-breaker is that *actual* protest involves risk, and Americans are more risk averse than ever.
-------------------
What Anonymous said.
Shut up about letters and protests. And quit whining about having no power. Enough with the crocodile tears over other people's kids.
Go look in the mirror and ask yourself, "Am I willing to take ANY PERSONAL RISK to change the political trajectory of my country?"
If you can answer that question with an honest "yes," then fucking DO SOMETHING.
(I favor a tax revolt, personally, because it's so damn easy, and it doesn't require any "coordination" with like-minded individuals.)
If 50,000 or 100,000 go to work tomorrow and request W4's to declare themselves EXEMPT (or even just to switch to 12 deductions), all those horrible nasty politicians you're so fed up with will NOTICE. It won't take long for the message to sink in that "The People" do actually have a voice--they've just been too terrified to use it.
A general strike is another terrific idea. September 26th--no work, no shopping. Spend the day addressing envelopes to your Congresscritters explaining that each month which goes by with no change in current Iraq policy will result in another strike.
If you're most people, and you're honest, you'll answer "no" to your mirror self.
In that case, have a Coke and a smile and shut the fuck up.
-
"The Holy Trinity"
[Read the article: Why are students getting Tasered on video?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]An aquaintence of mine a few years back was a public defender. He once explained something to me about law enforcement in the USA--this was from his perspective as a practicing PD in New York City, where the cops are actually quite humane by most big-city standards (yes, with the occasional highly-publicized SNAFU where they execute someone innocent of any wrongdoing).
If you are ever approached by a police officer and don't immediately calm down and do exactly every single thing they tell you to do, you'll be charged with "the Holy Trinity":
1) Resisting arrest
2) Disturbing the peace
3) Disorderly conduct
(If you struggle physically in any way, they'll add a fourth charge for good measure: assaulting a police officer.)
Basically, this means that no matter what your legal status BEFORE the encounter with the cop, you've now got at least three charges to defend yourself against.
That's not justice, and it's not crime-prevention. If you're not afraid of our police, you probably should be. And I say this as someone with great respect for cops--I even thought about becoming one.