Tens of housands march in Spain in support of Basque separatists

[No Elephants]

Thousands march in Spain in support of Basque separatists

January 12, 2014 2:45AM ET
Protesters in Bilbao defy the Spanish government by holding mass rally marked by tensions over jailed ETA members

http://america.aljazeera.com/content/ajam/articles/2014/1/11/thousands-march-inbilbaoinsupportofeta/jcr:content/mainpar/adaptiveimage/src.adapt.960.high.1389514899956.jpg

Tens of thousands of protesters in Spain's Basque Country have defied Madrid by holding a mass demonstration marked by tensions over jailed members of the Basque separatist group ETA.

Crowds filled the streets in the northern city of Bilbao on Saturday in a march for "human rights, understanding and peace," after a judge banned another demonstration planned to demand concessions for the prisoners.

The treatment of imprisoned ETA convicts is one of the most delicate issues in a standoff between the authorities and western Europe's last major armed secessionist movement.

Organizers had called for a silent demo but cries of "Basque prisoners home!" rang out and demonstrators applauded prisoners' family members who marched with white scarves around their necks.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/1/11/thousands-march-inbilbaoinsupportofeta.html

If only people all around the world would protest by the tens of thousands. Sigh.

[Enthusiast]

1. That is impressive.

I am unfamiliar with this issue.

I believe our militarized police force would try to forcibly put down any such protest. I suspect that would cause an even larger more violent reaction resulting in a total mess.

I do not believe our authoritarian government will tolerate protests like that. I wish someone would try it to find out.

It was funny how the media and the police united in their persecution of Occupy while the media and the police looked on with a benevolent eye at the astro-turf Tea Party protests. Right wing protests allowed, left wing protests, not so much.

[No Elephants]

2. The left is going to need the first responders if it expects to do anything.

Military, too.

[No Elephants]

3. PS. I don't understand the issues in separatism, either.

I just know that people in other countries manage to come together around issues by the tens of thousands and one of the most populous nations on the planet has trouble coming together by the tens.

I believe that is another value to the PTB of union busting. Congress passed the Wagner Act, creating the National Labor Relations Board, among other things, on 1935 to help address unequal bargaining power between people desperate for jobs and employers. Twelve years later, in 1947, Congress passed the Taft Hartley Act, making the Wagner Act "fair and balanced" for employers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Management_Relations_Act_of_1947

Truman vetoed Taft Hartley, but Congress overrode his veto, which means many Democrats had to have sided with Republicans on Taft Hartley. And, while Truman vetoed Taft Hartley, after his veto was overridden, he used it again and again. Given my relatively new found cynicism, that leads me to wonder if the veto wasn't kabuki.