When the trouble started over in Syria
and protesters were being shot in the streets, the US government roundly condemned the Syrian government. The Syrian government claimed it was simply responding to armed terrorist groups etc, etc and could handle them as they saw fit. We, always taking the moral high ground, demanded that the Syrian government stop using force against their own citizens and allow them to protest peacefully. And at the time I wondered in my devious mind, "What would the US government do if we suddenly had thousands of protesters out on the streets of several major US cities, chanting, marching, setting up tent cities and demanding fundamental changes to the
status quo?" Well, now we know. Armed police response. The city and state governments are sending in riot police to "clear out" the protesters. Many have been arrested. A few have been injured. Some seriously. I guess the last thing that The-Powers-That-Be want is a mass of homeless, jobless people marching through the streets of our
biggest and prettiest cities complaining because they've been left out of the jobless recovery. And while the politicians and pundits all agree that it's terrible that all of the bankers that caused the economic collapse made out like bandits in a blackout, they also feel that we can't have people manning the barricades to demand some kind of economic justice. Besides, it offends the Suits on Wall Street to have to actually see the people whose jobs they are responsible for eliminating. After all, it might curdle the milk in their $5 decaf lattes. So this is how we handle protesters in America. There is a difference, but it's in degree, not kind. We haven't started killing them outright...yet.
and protesters were being shot in the streets, the US government roundly condemned the Syrian government. The Syrian government claimed it was simply responding to armed terrorist groups etc, etc and could handle them as they saw fit. We, always taking the moral high ground, demanded that the Syrian government stop using force against their own citizens and allow them to protest peacefully. And at the time I wondered in my devious mind, "What would the US government do if we suddenly had thousands of protesters out on the streets of several major US cities, chanting, marching, setting up tent cities and demanding fundamental changes to the status quo?" Well, now we know. Armed police response. The city and state governments are sending in riot police to "clear out" the protesters. Many have been arrested. A few have been injured. Some seriously. I guess the last thing that The-Powers-That-Be want is a mass of homeless, jobless people marching through the streets of our 
biggest and prettiest cities complaining because they've been left out of the jobless recovery. And while the politicians and pundits all agree that it's terrible that all of the bankers that caused the economic collapse made out like bandits in a blackout, they also feel that we can't have people manning the barricades to demand some kind of economic justice. Besides, it offends the Suits on Wall Street to have to actually see the people whose jobs they are responsible for eliminating. After all, it might curdle the milk in their $5 decaf lattes. So this is how we handle protesters in America. There is a difference, but it's in degree, not kind. We haven't started killing them outright...yet.
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