Just a few months ago, the entire country watched a movement unfold. The entire country watched as city after city filled up with tens of thousands, and in some cases hundreds of thousands, of protestors. They remained for much of the fall season in parks nationwide, and would not budge until numerous governors and mayors sent in police to dislodge them. After that happened, the protests vanished.
Locally, I witnessed a brief "Occupy" protest spring up in Acacia Park. To be honest, when I saw it, I thought it was a joke. Now don't get me wrong here - I have nothing against those who protest something they feel is wrong. The First Amendment is a wonderful thing to have. Yet with these jokers here...what do I even say? It was a very ragtag collection from the outset - around 20 people each day would be out all day and night at the "Occupy" encampment, and between all of them, you have several homeless individuals, some guy who used to be a priest or something, several single-issue MMJ users, several Ron Paul fans, a couple of guys with questionable pasts, one woman who I got the feeling was the type who likes to sleep around a lot and start drama with anyone she can, several anti-military types, and a few who were flat out anarchists. As you can see, that's quite the odd spectacle there, especially when you throw in the Ron Paul supporters.
Well, as time would pass on, the city clearly would get tired of them being downtown, and send in CSPD to eventually kick them out of Acacia Park. It had degenerated into a joke by then - three individuals were arrested for refusing to comply with police commands, they were starting to attract more and more questionable transients, provoke arguments with passersby...you get the picture. By the end of all of this, the local "Occupy" movement, if you can truly call it one, was split into two camps, with one being composed of Ron Paul fanatics, and another camp being more akin to a bunch of screaming children. The guy who originally started up the local "Occupy" protest had earlier decided to join up with the Denver "Occupy" protestors, having grown sick of Occupy CS attracting a lot of Ron Paul fans...who then grew so huge in number that they took over the whole deal.
And this is where I disagree with the local protestors. Recently, the Ron Paul fanatics have been trying to hijack what remains of Occupy Colorado Springs (most of which is now on Facebook), and have been convening a meeting at least once a week on the western side of the city. They now call it "Occupy Pikes Peak", and judging from everything I've seen and heard out of this new "Occupy" group, it's full to the brim of militia members and Ron Paul fans. Once again, I'm not against them using the First Amendment to express whatever grievances, real or imagined, they have against the government. What I do disagree with are the ideas they support. Many of them are convinced that President Obama, for instance, is not in fact, the President due to him somehow being an "illegal immigrant" from Kenya. All of that is thanks to disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters who began spreading around a false rumor that the President's birth certificate is fake just because his father was from Kenya. What that really comes from is simple: pure racism that has never truly gone away all these years, and the fact that Hillary's supporters hated the fact that she lost to President Obama in the lead-in to the 2008 primaries.
There's other things at play here, too. Many of the current members involved with the local "Occupy" group are all for the wrong things - abolition of Social Security without any plan to replace it, the end of the tax system, an equal wage for everyone (no matter who you are or what you do), withdrawal from all international affairs and organizations, expulsion of illegal and legal immigrants, a wholescale rollback of the Constitution back to the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution, an end to Medicare and Medicaid, an end to every single social safety net program implemented in the last 70 or so years, limitations on the separation of church and state, and too many other items to truly count. And many of the people who support all of those above named things do so because Ron Paul told them it's a great idea.
And that's where I have to say it: what fucking planet do these people live on? While I agree that we do need better oversight of our nation's welfare system, and that it would be nice to see the military taken out of countries where we're not even needed, let alone near an area of the world that presents an active threat to U.S. security, isolationism and a wholescale rollback to what amounts to 1784 is not what we need. I'm alarmed by the fact that some of the individuals now involved with this joke of an "Occupy" movement that is being restarted (by the wrong people for the wrong reasons, no less) openly admit to being white supremacists, as well, or the type of individuals who are of a fundamentalist Christian persuasion. What do they think they'll solve? If we take out every single safety net put into place for the poor and the elderly, we condemn them to a miserable existence without some sort of help. Churches can only do so much, and even then, there's this inherent expectation from them that you attend their religious services in exchange for a helping hand up - the age old push by Christians to convert anyone to their way of thinking in exchange for a helping hand. That part boils down to a continued intolerance of other religions and other cultures.
The bit about wanting to eliminate Social Security (and with it Social Security Disability) is also something I take personally. I have a younger brother who has multiple mental health disorders, among which include: ADHD, borderline autism, ODD, depression and bi-polar disorder. Because of the combination of all of those mental health problems, he cannot work to any great extent without being monitored constantly by aides - mentally, his age is that of an 8 or 9 year old, and he's almost 23. Do the math from there. Because of his inability to perform any kind of stable work, he is essentially disabled. Many of those who argue that keeping disability benefits on the books is a bad idea are convinced that many of the people out there who are on disability for serious mental health disorders are merely faking it just to be lazy, and thus they should be able to suck it up and work hard. Again, what fucking planet do these jackasses come from? They clearly have no empathy for those who have physical or mental disabilities, let alone empathy for those who fall into hard times because of a depression or a recession. No, instead they have this expectation that everyone should work as hard as they do (which with many of these idiots, work to them is a few hours spent on a farm, or for some 70 plus hours a week). Not everyone is capable of that, and not everyone is able to get something like that going when jobs continue to vanish to third world countries where workers there are borderline slaves. So, in essence, since my brother is somehow "faking" his disabilities and is somehow "too lazy" to do work, I have this to say about their beliefs: fuck you. If it were up to me, I'd send these heartless bastards into exile, with the promise of severe consequences should they ever return.
Next, regarding the bigots in this group: what century do they think it is? The 18th century? The 19th century? I've grown so damn tired of them screaming about the President not being eligible for office because he is half black. So damn what if he is half black? He was born in Hawaii, there are plenty of witnesses who grew up with him, as well as people who witnessed him be born in that particular state years ago...why the big deal? Are people much happier with an old rich white guy who is content to get his money-filled dick sucked in exchange for untold millions from private industries that want him to do their bidding? Are people really that convinced that non-white people and anyone who gets along with non-white people are not even human at all? Get the hell over it, or we'll drag your sorry asses into the 21st century kicking and screaming.
For those who are all for the lessening of the rule known as separation of church and state, please re-read medieval history to see what happens when a church intervenes in secular matters. I'm sure you can find plenty of examples of that happening, ranging from the persecutions of Galileo and Copernicus, to normal every day people burned at the stake for disagreeing with the church's position. I keep forgetting though - people like God as head of state, and hate all other religions because they're somehow "of the devil"! Give me a fucking break, and go to the Middle East if you really do not want separation of church and state. I'm sure Iran would welcome you with open arms.
Simply put, while it's nice to see a group of people out there who are prime examples of the First Amendment's intentions, the message is wrong, as are the people associated with it. If nothing else, I strongly think that some of the morons involved with this restarted "Occupy" protest need to re-examine why the hell they're even doing this in the first place, and maybe learn a thing or two beyond what they know. Or just leave the galaxy altogether. That works too.
Locally, I witnessed a brief "Occupy" protest spring up in Acacia Park. To be honest, when I saw it, I thought it was a joke. Now don't get me wrong here - I have nothing against those who protest something they feel is wrong. The First Amendment is a wonderful thing to have. Yet with these jokers here...what do I even say? It was a very ragtag collection from the outset - around 20 people each day would be out all day and night at the "Occupy" encampment, and between all of them, you have several homeless individuals, some guy who used to be a priest or something, several single-issue MMJ users, several Ron Paul fans, a couple of guys with questionable pasts, one woman who I got the feeling was the type who likes to sleep around a lot and start drama with anyone she can, several anti-military types, and a few who were flat out anarchists. As you can see, that's quite the odd spectacle there, especially when you throw in the Ron Paul supporters.
Well, as time would pass on, the city clearly would get tired of them being downtown, and send in CSPD to eventually kick them out of Acacia Park. It had degenerated into a joke by then - three individuals were arrested for refusing to comply with police commands, they were starting to attract more and more questionable transients, provoke arguments with passersby...you get the picture. By the end of all of this, the local "Occupy" movement, if you can truly call it one, was split into two camps, with one being composed of Ron Paul fanatics, and another camp being more akin to a bunch of screaming children. The guy who originally started up the local "Occupy" protest had earlier decided to join up with the Denver "Occupy" protestors, having grown sick of Occupy CS attracting a lot of Ron Paul fans...who then grew so huge in number that they took over the whole deal.
And this is where I disagree with the local protestors. Recently, the Ron Paul fanatics have been trying to hijack what remains of Occupy Colorado Springs (most of which is now on Facebook), and have been convening a meeting at least once a week on the western side of the city. They now call it "Occupy Pikes Peak", and judging from everything I've seen and heard out of this new "Occupy" group, it's full to the brim of militia members and Ron Paul fans. Once again, I'm not against them using the First Amendment to express whatever grievances, real or imagined, they have against the government. What I do disagree with are the ideas they support. Many of them are convinced that President Obama, for instance, is not in fact, the President due to him somehow being an "illegal immigrant" from Kenya. All of that is thanks to disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters who began spreading around a false rumor that the President's birth certificate is fake just because his father was from Kenya. What that really comes from is simple: pure racism that has never truly gone away all these years, and the fact that Hillary's supporters hated the fact that she lost to President Obama in the lead-in to the 2008 primaries.
There's other things at play here, too. Many of the current members involved with the local "Occupy" group are all for the wrong things - abolition of Social Security without any plan to replace it, the end of the tax system, an equal wage for everyone (no matter who you are or what you do), withdrawal from all international affairs and organizations, expulsion of illegal and legal immigrants, a wholescale rollback of the Constitution back to the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution, an end to Medicare and Medicaid, an end to every single social safety net program implemented in the last 70 or so years, limitations on the separation of church and state, and too many other items to truly count. And many of the people who support all of those above named things do so because Ron Paul told them it's a great idea.
And that's where I have to say it: what fucking planet do these people live on? While I agree that we do need better oversight of our nation's welfare system, and that it would be nice to see the military taken out of countries where we're not even needed, let alone near an area of the world that presents an active threat to U.S. security, isolationism and a wholescale rollback to what amounts to 1784 is not what we need. I'm alarmed by the fact that some of the individuals now involved with this joke of an "Occupy" movement that is being restarted (by the wrong people for the wrong reasons, no less) openly admit to being white supremacists, as well, or the type of individuals who are of a fundamentalist Christian persuasion. What do they think they'll solve? If we take out every single safety net put into place for the poor and the elderly, we condemn them to a miserable existence without some sort of help. Churches can only do so much, and even then, there's this inherent expectation from them that you attend their religious services in exchange for a helping hand up - the age old push by Christians to convert anyone to their way of thinking in exchange for a helping hand. That part boils down to a continued intolerance of other religions and other cultures.
The bit about wanting to eliminate Social Security (and with it Social Security Disability) is also something I take personally. I have a younger brother who has multiple mental health disorders, among which include: ADHD, borderline autism, ODD, depression and bi-polar disorder. Because of the combination of all of those mental health problems, he cannot work to any great extent without being monitored constantly by aides - mentally, his age is that of an 8 or 9 year old, and he's almost 23. Do the math from there. Because of his inability to perform any kind of stable work, he is essentially disabled. Many of those who argue that keeping disability benefits on the books is a bad idea are convinced that many of the people out there who are on disability for serious mental health disorders are merely faking it just to be lazy, and thus they should be able to suck it up and work hard. Again, what fucking planet do these jackasses come from? They clearly have no empathy for those who have physical or mental disabilities, let alone empathy for those who fall into hard times because of a depression or a recession. No, instead they have this expectation that everyone should work as hard as they do (which with many of these idiots, work to them is a few hours spent on a farm, or for some 70 plus hours a week). Not everyone is capable of that, and not everyone is able to get something like that going when jobs continue to vanish to third world countries where workers there are borderline slaves. So, in essence, since my brother is somehow "faking" his disabilities and is somehow "too lazy" to do work, I have this to say about their beliefs: fuck you. If it were up to me, I'd send these heartless bastards into exile, with the promise of severe consequences should they ever return.
Next, regarding the bigots in this group: what century do they think it is? The 18th century? The 19th century? I've grown so damn tired of them screaming about the President not being eligible for office because he is half black. So damn what if he is half black? He was born in Hawaii, there are plenty of witnesses who grew up with him, as well as people who witnessed him be born in that particular state years ago...why the big deal? Are people much happier with an old rich white guy who is content to get his money-filled dick sucked in exchange for untold millions from private industries that want him to do their bidding? Are people really that convinced that non-white people and anyone who gets along with non-white people are not even human at all? Get the hell over it, or we'll drag your sorry asses into the 21st century kicking and screaming.
For those who are all for the lessening of the rule known as separation of church and state, please re-read medieval history to see what happens when a church intervenes in secular matters. I'm sure you can find plenty of examples of that happening, ranging from the persecutions of Galileo and Copernicus, to normal every day people burned at the stake for disagreeing with the church's position. I keep forgetting though - people like God as head of state, and hate all other religions because they're somehow "of the devil"! Give me a fucking break, and go to the Middle East if you really do not want separation of church and state. I'm sure Iran would welcome you with open arms.
Simply put, while it's nice to see a group of people out there who are prime examples of the First Amendment's intentions, the message is wrong, as are the people associated with it. If nothing else, I strongly think that some of the morons involved with this restarted "Occupy" protest need to re-examine why the hell they're even doing this in the first place, and maybe learn a thing or two beyond what they know. Or just leave the galaxy altogether. That works too.