Occupy Wall Street -More Harm then Good

I see the New York Police cracked down on Occupy Wall Street last weekend. Good. It's time they learned to obey the law. We are a country where peaceful protest is almost sacred -the operative word being 'peaceful'. Occupy Wall Street regularly turns violent and destructive, costing the taxpayers, business owners and even private citizens just passing by, millions and millions of sorely needed cash. 

In the latest crackdown the NYPD went in and moved them out of a park. The OWS people said it was unnecessary and brutal but when you look at some facts, that may not be completely true. The NYPD did not "move in" until after 11 pm (who protests that late?) and the OWS protestors had already erected one tent and had several more unfolded -does that sound like they were getting ready to leave soon? Also, one protestor had thrown a glass bottle at police and 2 police officers lives were threatened (and this time they also threatened the lives of the police officer's families). Not exactly a non-violent way of expressing your protests.

Separately, while all of this was going on, someone claiming to be part of Occupy Wall Street tweeted several threats against the police, including one in which they said "We won't make a difference if we don't kill a cop or 2". An anonymous man claiming to be behind the tweets later defended them to the Daily News, saying, "It's not like I meant anything of it. Who takes anything like that seriously? I'm in Florida, what am I going to do?" He said he had never attended an "Occupy Wall Street" protest, but had followed them online. Well, if he did not mean anything by it, why did he write it? This is the kind of irresponsible stuff that gets people killed. It is also the kind of thing that undermines and destroys any sympathy for the OWS protests and keeps average citizens from paying any attention at all to whatever legitimate things the movement wants to protest.

I fail to understand why several prominent Democrat politicians (hello Nancy Pelosi) have repeatedly stuck up for this movement and have tried on several occasions to compare them with the Tea Party. The two movements could not be more different. This is an election year and the Democrats will pay the price at the polls when the business owners and residents who have been victimized by the intimidation, destruction of private property, looting of businesses and trashing of public parks and property, go cast their votes. Perhaps not so much in the national elections, but the state and local candidates that don't start expressing disapproval instead of making excuses for them or actually supporting them, will feel the pain.

Times are tough. We, the people, have many, many legitimate grievances. Protests are a good thing. But not the way Occupy Wall Street with its chaos, anarchy and it's violence and destructive methods seeks to get attention for their causes. Change through violence is not an American tradition. Every movement which has tried to use it in this country has eventually failed or been forced to change it's ways. It's time for Occupy Wall Street to change or go away -and it's time for the rest of us to speak up and demand that happen.

Live Long and Prosper....