remember when the neo cons smirked and snickered when they made those

[ensho]

Free Speech Zones?

and how nasty they where to protesters.

even when people went into those stupid places.

we where whimpy compared to today's protesters in other countries.

would the neo cons have shot us?

[htuttle]

1. A protest that you get a permit for is really sort of a 'parade'

US protests started going that way around the time that the big puppets showed up in the '80's. I blame the puppets.

[zeemike]

2. So true

And the power of protest was slowly castrated.

[Kansas Wyatt]

4. Getting a "permit" is asking for permission to protest.

Very effective when you want to control a population.

Yet this country claims to be "free."

[RandomThoughts]

3. The question is not if the Neo Cons would shoot people

It is could they get a military, or contract mercenaries, or regular police that would.

The ideological training of some police after 9/11 was quite disturbing, they were told people that speak of constitutional rights should be suspect of being affiliated with terrorist, and a 'group think' mentality allowed an 'us and them' mentality towards protesters. One reason that people should talk to their neighbors that are police with respect, have interesting dialogs on freedoms and authority. Talk on subjects that people believe are important.

Also some new tech that allows one person in a truck to disperse 1000s of people at a protest should be illegal, since anytime a government needs 1 person to disperse 1000 people, that government already has a problem that should be addressed, therefore it would be logical to protect the 1000 not disperse them.

But you are right, we have put up with oppression, however solving that is about talking to co-workers relatives and people you meet, not in anger, but with thought.

Or like Martin Sheen said, "Wake up America", that was a big one for me. There are many other comments over the years, not said in anger, from many other people that speak about what they believe with honesty, and their best capability to see the world though a just perspective that helps in the citizen duty to think on government.

[ensho]

5. the question was - would the neo cons have shot us?

who they paid to shoot us is another question.

[elocs]

6. The problem is since they didn't shoot us you cannot prove a negative.

You can surmise all you like, but that is all it would be.

[ensho]

7. I didn't ask for proof - I asked for an opinion

where you pro free speech zones?

[elocs]

9. Your question was: "would the neo cons have shot us?"

Maybe they would, maybe they wouldn't. Since they did not, we cannot know for sure.

[Downtown Hound]

8. Wimpy? I think not...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu6y6R8MoCQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7jKQHe4DaY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE_18-kxkb4&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV1mHXqmi-o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n33GqksdqA&feature=PlayList&p=036A248A60AD5343&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=22

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORTTwN5HZpg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssjexvaho0g&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkCgamw46AU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diBnlUgipLs&feature=channel_page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc6UdHSqOco&feature=related

Those are just a few. The corporate media has for years been attempting to downplay the resistance movement in America. And when it does focus on it, it attempts to divide the movement by pitting "good" protesters (the ones that stay on the permit route and don't cause any trouble) against "bad" protesters (the ones that break off from he designated parade route and either commit civil disobedience or vandalize corporate property).

If you were to look at a chronological history of protest in America for the last ten years, you would see that it is very vibrant, fierce, and determined. The Battle in Seattle happened in 1999, and only 4 years later the war in Iraq broke out. San Francisco was completely shut down when the Iraq War broke out and 2200 people were arrested. Many others were arrested in other cities and mass demonstrations were held. February 15th, 2003 was the single greatest protest in the history of humankind. 2003 also saw another massive protest against the WTO in Miami in which there was rampant police brutality.

A year and a half later saw the Republican National Convention in New York in 2004. 1800 people were arrested, a record for any political convention in the United States. 2 years later the Democrats took congress, and 2 years after that we saw the protests at both the DNC in Denver and the RNC in St. Paul in which there were riots and police state tactics being used against protesters. In between these huge spikes in protester activity, there have been countless other protests, both small and large, vigils, and acts of civil disobedience and resistance.

In America we tend to view cultural events through a very in the moment type of lens, due in large part to the manner in which the corporate media frames the debate. We don't really, as a society, tend to view them in a historical context. But the historical context of America in the last ten years has been one of a growing restlessness among the population. And they haven't been quiet about it, nor have they always stuck to the "free speech zones."