How Scalia Shot Scott Olsen in the Head

[McCamy Taylor]

I see Occupy as the direct result of the Supreme Court's Citizens United vs FEC .

I am pretty sure that Karl Rove and Injustice Scalia thought that they were being clever when they orchestrated this ruling. All they had to do was create a case to send to the Supreme Court. Have the Bush administration---the one that never enforced voting rights except to protect whites and which never enforced clean air rules and which never, ever enforced campaign finance rules---pretend to enforce an election rule against Citizens United and then watch the case work its way up to the SCOTUS where the final judgment was predetermined. How do I know that last part? Because the first SuperPac was announced as being open for business the very next day.

It took a few months for American voters to figure out what was going on. The press kept mum about the implications of the ruling. But in the fall of 2010, we saw MONEY in politics as we had never seen it before. The will of the electorate seemed to count for nothing. We got a House of Representatives that voted to end Medicare, that obstructed attempts to create jobs. A House that announced publicly that its number one mission was finding some way to impeach the president. As if that would put us back to work.

We Americans have our share of faults, but one of our virtues is our love of free speech. The Supreme Court attempted to take away our free speech by allowing MONEY---foreign as well as domestic---to overwhelm the airwaves. They bought politicians. They bought TV time. They bought the press. They created a government that answered only to the 1%. And as soon as working class Americans noticed that they no longer had a voice in Washington, they raised their voice.

That is why we Occupy. We may not have money. But we have the numbers. And numbers count.

I do not blame the police as a whole for what happened to Scott Olsen, although the 1% wants us to blame all policemen, the way we once blamed Vietnam veterans for the war Nixon/Kissinger escalated. Yes, at least one policeman fired a weapon inappropriately. However the police in general are working class Americans, just like us. They do the job they are told to do. They are given a set of tools and told to use them. I blame the government that was bought by SuperPac money. The 1% paid for this government and they intend to protect their investment, no matter who gets hurt in the process. (Portion in italics added to address the very good points raised in the discussion)

I blame Antonin Scalia, the most disgraceful American of our generation. From Bush v Gore to Citizens United vs. FEC he has violated the laws of the land in the service of the rich and powerful. His legacy will be mud. He is already walking on feet of clay . Unfortunately, at the moment, he still has the power to deprive us of jobs, homes, our lives---and even our right to be heard.

Since 1776, Americans have been willing to put their lives on the line in order to protect their free speech rights. Anyone born and raised in the U.S. knows this. Anyone who attempts to deprive us of those rights knows that we will fight back.

Antonin Scalia shot Scott Olsen just as surely as if he had pulled the trigger himself.

[Ilsa]

1. you need to blame the police, too. The person holding the weapon had a choice. nt

[LeftofObama]

2. Yep!

The officer could have just as easily put his weapon down and joined the protest.

[rfranklin]

4. You forgot the sarcasm thingy...

didn't you?

[coalition_unwilling]

10. Or fired it at a 45-degree angle to the ground and not parallel

with it, THE WAY REGULATIONS SAY IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE FIRED! = Assault with a deadly weapon and maybe even attempted murder. (Not a lawyer so don't know when an action reaches the higher threshhold.)

[McCamy Taylor]

3. The 1% wants us to blame the police. It is divide and conquer. Someone sent those folks

out on the streets with weapons. I am 100% sure none of the officers said to their bosses "Hey, give us lethal force and send us out there to bust heads."

It is important not to repeat the mistakes of the Vietnam era when the American people blamed soldiers---many of whom were drafted---for the atrocity that was the war in Vietnam. Veterans who put their lives on the line were stigmatized when they came back home, while Kissinger and Nixon got off scott free.

This is the same battle, only fought on American soil this time.

I am going to have to amend this journal, I see, or see it derailed.

[MADem]

5. It was fought on American soil last time too.

No one remembers the riots that tore up cities?

Hell, Chicago wasn't the only time there was violence in the streets in the sixties.

There was a huge hatred for "the pigs," AKA "the fuzz," and anyone over thirty (who were not to be trusted).

The War At Home was a Culture War.

[dotymed]

16. McCamy, thanks for another thought provoking post.

Unfortunately, I can imagine one of these militarized cops, saying exactly that. When I was young, my Father was a Drill Sergeant and they do brainwash these "kids" into becoming killing machines. Some don't need a very hard push.

I am not blaming the soldiers. I saw the techniques used on these young people. Unfortunately, some of them keep and believe the mind-set that they are indoctrinated to believe. It may serve them well on the battlefield, but it wreaks havoc on society and these young men, until (if) this mind-washing fades away.

I have no idea who even shot Mr. Olsen, but I do know that our police are mostly using hormones instead of brain power. Hopefully, this tragedy will awaken many of our "peace officers" to become just that.

I lived in a small town until two years ago. One of our local H.S. kids became addicted to prescription drugs. Prior to that, he was a good kid and involved in the community. One night he was out of drugs. He attempted to rob our local pharmacy at gun-point. A new cop, fresh from a tour in Iraq was called to the scene. He shot and killed this 18 y.o. person. I understand that this kid did have a gun. He was not pointing it at anyone but it is still a deadly weapon.

Long story short. After the killing, this rookie cop was nicknamed "shooter" and he accepted it as a badge of honor. He even refers to himself with that moniker. This rookie hid behind a display and killed this young, sadly misguided, boy in the chest. This cop was jubilant. I was dating the pharmacist who was being robbed. She said that boy never pointed the gun at anyone. I do realize the safety issues involved, but she was the only one (it seemed) that suffered PTSD from this tragedy.

[RaleighNCDUer]

6. That is 'blame a policeman' not 'blame the police'.

There was ONE policeman who shot Scott. There were dozens who did NOT.

Keep a little perspective and try not to create enemies where there can be allies.

[justiceischeap]

7. There were dozens of officers that stood around and did nothing to help him either

then they further just stood there after the flash bang was thrown into the crowd. They all share some guilt for that situation.

[coalition_unwilling]

11. See Rodney King, ca. 1991 - n/t

[spicegal]

8. As far as I'm concerned, the SCOTUS has lost ALL

credibility. It started with the Gore v Bush decision. Citizens United is another. They can no longer be viewed as objective arbitrators when it comes to interpretation of our laws because clearly they consistently decide in favor of the 1%, big business, the wealthy, etc. not main street America. Not everyone on the court but enough to make majority rulings are partisan hacks, and we all know who they are: Scalia, Alito, Thomas, Roberts, Kennedy, particularly the first four. Next thing you know we'll have to have an occupy the Supreme Court. It's not a good thing when the highest court in the land loses it's legitimacy.

[izquierdista]

9. About blaming all policemen

How about just blaming the authoritative, low-intelligence ones? The ones that were recruited because they could easily be molded into thugs for the state?

Instead of recruiting people who score appropriately low on the Wonderlic test and never question authority, how about we get some psychology and sociology college graduates into the police ranks? People who are intelligent enough to defuse a situation instead of just club it into submission.

Oh right, people like that would likely question why the 1% are justified in reserving all of the increase in productivity to themselves.

[Jakes Progress]

12. I would love to get a pledge

from Obama that he would appoint an anti-scalia justice. Yes, I know he can't do that. But I worry that his next appointment will be come compromise that lets reagan's time bomb keep power.

Reality is reality, but I would love to see a 38 year old flaming liberal appointed. reagan did it for the right.

[lonestarnot]

13. All 1% ers are guilty. Those in his position (Grimace and Thomas included) are the 1%er army.

[Octafish]

14. Scalia is a fascist.

Just like his daddy.
And he works for the same small crowd.

Thank you for an excellent essay, McCamy Taylor!

[Joe Fields]

15. I'm certainly no fan of Scalia, but you are really overreaching here.

This country was bought and sold LONG before Citizens United case. The Supreme Court's decision just made it more "legitimate."

[savannah43]

17. I see him sitting at a kitchen table in a "wife beater" T-shirt, eating.

He may be smart, but he's still a low life.

[indepat]

18. Perhaps almost every 5-4 majority opinion Scalia has championed could be likened to putting

a bullet in the head of this Republic, its Constitution, and a great majority of its people: his opinions are evil incarnate imho and for him to be serving on the the Supreme Court was a blasphemous dereliction in the advise and consent process. Of course, that's just my opinion and I might be wrong. :patriot:

[Uncle Joe]

19. This is an excellent and thoughtful post.

Thanks for the thread, McCamy Taylor.:thumbsup:

[Fire Walk With Me]

20. K&R!