Getting to the bottom of protests
The reckless greed of Wall Street is legend and surely needs reining in, but the democratic claims of the Occupy Wall Street movement may prove something of a myth. What is it about American political culture, left, right and center, that makes such a hollow mantra of "freedom" and "democracy" whether it be in the name of upholding the status quo, upsetting the apple cart or fomenting revolution?
On Oct 1, I found myself at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, not far from where my grandparents first settled in this country, watching hundreds of police cordon off the stately landmark to divide a gathering crowd and confront protesters already on the bridge.
For over a decade now it's been hard for Americans to exercise constitutionally protected rights of free assembly due to fears generated by the trumped up "war on terror" and the burgeoning bureaucracy of an intolerant security state.
