Just another Zealous Pig
I was listening to The Current on CBC radio this morning in the car and there was an interview concerning a new by-law in a major city in Canada. The by-law restricts demonstrators by making it unlawful to protest with anything that obstructs police from establishing a protesters identity. At first blush, the cop being interviewed seemed to make sense that authorities need to be able to confirm the identities of "hooligans" (circa I was talking to a football/soccer fan of West Ham and their Inter City Firm, in Montreal last week, but that's another story).
The CBC announcer asked, "well, what if I was peacefully demonstrating outside CBC and I didn't
want to be recognized by my boss and fired, and its against the law to wear a balaclava or a gas mask?" It was at this point that the cop began to leave the realm of common sense. "Peaceful demonstrators would not have to be worried about any confrontation UNLESS THEY ARE CONTEMPLATING CONFRONTATION" the cop replied (I would have used a more respectful label for the lawman, if the COP had displayed any intelligence deserved of it). I thought WTF......has everyone turned into zealous Bush/Chaney clones?
When the journalist implied that gas masks were a standard issue at demonstrations because police forces were overly enthusiastic with gas and pepper sprays (the 2007 RCMP apology to the BC woman and her peppered child, 2008 death of a Manitoba man from RCMP pepper spray, or, the notorious 1999 RCMP pepper assault on APEC demonstrators....notice I never even touched on the WTO demos in Seattle or Quebec City, eh?)), the Cop snapped back "Police are trained to react to violence with force and no riot squads use hostile actions unless the actions are premeditated by the demonstrators". GIVE me a freeking break.
I don't know about you but, frankly, I am sick and tired of people treating us to double standards like we are dopes. It reminds me of a CEO once telling me, his Company had zero-tolerance for D&A on the job, and, workers should not be opposed to drug testing unless a drunk or druggie. The next time we were in bargaining the CEO attended a meeting swigging the biggest martini ever seen. Leaders and lawmakers that come up with populist oxy-moronic policies like that should be kicked in the nuts and thrown in the lake (or their grandchildren should be chattels as the victims of such oppressive ideals), because I think the world is a better place if we rid ourselves of these zealots.
Anyhow, this was the time in the interview I started wondering why the journalist was being so cordial. Albeit he started to ask tougher questions about the motives regarding such a draconian and authoritarian (dare I say "fascist") law, the Cop never answered any of the queries directly. "Have you consulted with any activist groups or civil libertarians before writing the law?" asked the journalist.
"We researched and reviewed all the court and legal transcripts to capture the scope of our concerns and needs for enforcing law and order", the Cop replied. THE QUESTION WAS NOT can you Cops read you zealous idiot. GIVE me a freeking break.
Now, I say to myself, anti-gun law, patriot act, free speech and assembly act, anti-terrorist acts, privacy act, right to protest, human rights, civil liberties.....is it overly skeptical to think the working class is getting walled in by anti-civil right laws? Are the police just armed security thugs for protecting the neo-right wing ruling class from a class struggle to keep and maintain our standard of living. Are we destined to be relegated to 3rd world status (have you watched the insane corporate welfare lately)? Are we and our children, as working class, destined to be the next Gaza strip. Or is the Cop a just another zealous pig?
The CBC announcer asked, "well, what if I was peacefully demonstrating outside CBC and I didn't
want to be recognized by my boss and fired, and its against the law to wear a balaclava or a gas mask?" It was at this point that the cop began to leave the realm of common sense. "Peaceful demonstrators would not have to be worried about any confrontation UNLESS THEY ARE CONTEMPLATING CONFRONTATION" the cop replied (I would have used a more respectful label for the lawman, if the COP had displayed any intelligence deserved of it). I thought WTF......has everyone turned into zealous Bush/Chaney clones?When the journalist implied that gas masks were a standard issue at demonstrations because police forces were overly enthusiastic with gas and pepper sprays (the 2007 RCMP apology to the BC woman and her peppered child, 2008 death of a Manitoba man from RCMP pepper spray, or, the notorious 1999 RCMP pepper assault on APEC demonstrators....notice I never even touched on the WTO demos in Seattle or Quebec City, eh?)), the Cop snapped back "Police are trained to react to violence with force and no riot squads use hostile actions unless the actions are premeditated by the demonstrators". GIVE me a freeking break.
I don't know about you but, frankly, I am sick and tired of people treating us to double standards like we are dopes. It reminds me of a CEO once telling me, his Company had zero-tolerance for D&A on the job, and, workers should not be opposed to drug testing unless a drunk or druggie. The next time we were in bargaining the CEO attended a meeting swigging the biggest martini ever seen. Leaders and lawmakers that come up with populist oxy-moronic policies like that should be kicked in the nuts and thrown in the lake (or their grandchildren should be chattels as the victims of such oppressive ideals), because I think the world is a better place if we rid ourselves of these zealots.
Anyhow, this was the time in the interview I started wondering why the journalist was being so cordial. Albeit he started to ask tougher questions about the motives regarding such a draconian and authoritarian (dare I say "fascist") law, the Cop never answered any of the queries directly. "Have you consulted with any activist groups or civil libertarians before writing the law?" asked the journalist.
"We researched and reviewed all the court and legal transcripts to capture the scope of our concerns and needs for enforcing law and order", the Cop replied. THE QUESTION WAS NOT can you Cops read you zealous idiot. GIVE me a freeking break.
Now, I say to myself, anti-gun law, patriot act, free speech and assembly act, anti-terrorist acts, privacy act, right to protest, human rights, civil liberties.....is it overly skeptical to think the working class is getting walled in by anti-civil right laws? Are the police just armed security thugs for protecting the neo-right wing ruling class from a class struggle to keep and maintain our standard of living. Are we destined to be relegated to 3rd world status (have you watched the insane corporate welfare lately)? Are we and our children, as working class, destined to be the next Gaza strip. Or is the Cop a just another zealous pig?
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