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According to the New York Times, over 700 protesters were arrested for allegedly blocking the roadway to traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday.  police-arresting-protesters-on-brooklyn-bridge

Surfacing are questions of whether the police informed the protesters that they could not occupy the roadway and did the police intentionally lead protesters to the area reserved only for vehicles, entrapping them in order to stop a peaceful protest.  The protesters were hoarded like cattle into orange confinement nets.  Plastic handcuffs at the ready.  The slaughter of 1st Amendment rights played out for all the world to see.  Cell phones recorded how one protester in the front of the crowd was targeted by police and knocked to the ground.  Shocking and shameful.  A blatant attempt to silence protected free speech and the right of peaceable assembly. 

Makes one wonder if someone in the Mayor’s office crunched the numbers of collecting fines and calculated the benefits of knowing enemies.  700+ fines equal…Nah, that may seem like a lot of potential income for the city but the charges may be thrown out by a fair judge.  Besides the cost of the police and fire department presence surely outweigh the price of a freedom.  Not to mention the overloading of the courts this debacle stirred.  No big pay off here especially considering many of the protesters have no money.

But how about 700+ people with an axe to grind against Wall Street and the government all dumped into a national criminal database.  That’s a windfall!  Now when the government wants to find justification for a search warrant or wire tap, the unknowing protesters will be easy prey because an arrest record exists.   That record can also be used by a company against a potential applicant to deny work or fire the protester.  Even the 13-year-old may be subject to a dose of evidence gathering and close scrutiny from an overzealous school. 

Arresting our children and the unemployed.  Manifest injustice and clear waste of tax payer money.   A travesty brilliantly orchestrated by the Wall Street gang and puppets of public trust positions to oppress.    Bloomberg and Kelly’s offices need to be held accountable.  Who made the decision to arrest ill-informed citizens who were growing in numbers for over 2 weeks.  Couldn’t government paid employees climb down from their ivory towers and meet the protesters?  Oh right, they don’t work on Saturday!

What happened on the Brooklyn Bridge was a despicable way to treat our brethren.  Intimidation, isolation, retaliation and a now a new form of future career death on college students.  The same young people who are trying to be heard on the foreclosure crisis, discrimination and escalating student loan debt.  Signs carried by protesters read; Occupy Wall Street, Arrest the Bankers Not Protesters and one that sparked me write this article;

“I could lose my job for having a voice.” 

A dollar bill was taped over the mouth of the sign carrier but the young man spoke volumes.  The throng of the whistleblower.   Silence those who speak truth to power.  Corporations and government are committing wrongdoing everyday.  If anyone tries to tell or do something about it, shoot the messenger.  Here, put down the revolutionaries raising awareness that the American dream is dead.  Meanwhile, older Americans are acting like addled brained sheep waiting for big corporations and government to fix their problems.  It’s a stampede of stupidity ignoring that the very people who caused the global financial meltdown are still running the rodeo. 

Ruthless money-makers with a fiduciary duty caused intentional, immeasurable harm to people all around the globe.  Harm the government is eager to whisk away with settlement after settlement that allows the guilty to be free.  There will be no arrests of friends who made money through voodoo economics.  In return for the favor, that money will end up as campaign contributions.  If you have no money to contribute, why would a political party protect your rights?  Gives new meaning to the phrase—money talks.   

For proof of how intertwined Wall Street and government are on every level, one need only have a good look at the pressure the feds are exerting on States to excuse the banks for unfair lending practices and questionable foreclosures with broad immunity to thwart all legal challenges.  However, State Attorney Generals including Eric Schneiderman of New York, Tom Miller of Iowa and Kamala Harris of California have all opted out.   They are no longer part of the capital cronyism network willing to accept crumbs as their State citizens suffer enormous losses.   Bravo AG’s who have the good sense to back out of a deal that buys a headstone for the dream death.

In a Los Angeles Times article, Harris stated;

“It has been  a process of negotiating and sitting at a table in good faith, but ultimately I have decided that we have to go our own course and take an independent path. And that decision is because we need to bring relief to Californians that is equal to the pain California experienced, and what is being negotiated now is insufficient,” california-atty-gen-kamala-harris-breaks-from-national-foreclosure-probe.html

There is a level of utter despair blanketing the country as the result of the mortgage crisis and bank bailouts.  The Republicans and Democrats are locked in batter for power.  Obviously they hate this country more than they hate each other because they were willing to risk it all playing chicken during the debt ceiling debacle.  What a egomaniacal image Congress set for the youth of America.  When our children believe that they can’t go to college, can’t get a job and can’t buy a home, the old American dream is dead. 

For those of us who are trying to create change, we hear you, understand and stand by you.  We are watching!  Use your voice loudly and follow the rules.  Keep speaking truth to power.  It’s time for a new dream. 

Whistlewatch.org is seeking interns.  Please write to info@whistlewatch.org answering this question:

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail? 

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