From "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" by the Dead Kennedys
Apparently, the violent provocateurs who tried to start a riot Saturday here in Denver don't have real balls. Not enough to hit a hard target, anyway.
So, instead, they trash a park and try to "storm" the state capitol. Soft targets. Anyone can trash a park, and it didn't hurt any Wall Street or Denver bankers one little fucking bit. Of course, they had their little "march" first. Went right by the Fed branch again, a couple of people gave short speeches, then move on. "March" right past the brokerages and the big banks that they supposedly have the beef with.
Then they announce their intentions to storm the capitol. Shoved police that stood in their way. They knew what they were doing. They knew what the reaction would be. Many of them put bandannas over their faces before they started physically provoke the police. Bandannas. Like criminals who don't want to be identified, rather than protesters standing up for their rights.
Well, it didn't work. Don't know why these people apparently wanted to start a riot, but they didn't get one. 20 of them were arrested, even though there were obviously more of them than that.
But really, what was the point? If you wanted to get the attention of the POB, then why not storm the Fed or one of the big banks? Why try to storm the capitol building? Here's one of the only states that did everything possible to keep public employee pensions afloat, with no benefit cuts. The state that regulates the insurance industry more tightly than all but maybe 2 or 3 others. There's less favoritism towards big business in that building than almost any of the 49 others in this country.
The CO state legislature isn't perfect or even all that progressive, for the most part, but there's a lot worse. The capitol is a soft target, guarded by police that didn't even draw a baton or crack a tear gas canister. Who tried not to hurt anyone who wasn't being violent.
Soft target.
The Fed, on the other hand, is a "hard target". Real hard. How do you suppose the FBI's tactical unit would have responded to the Fed branch being stormed? I'm guessing that they may have used something a little harsher than pepper balls.
Trash a bank if you got real balls.
They won't, of course. That would entail far greater personal risk. Easy to be a big tough freedom fighting protester man by pushing a cop and getting a shot of pepper spray or a night in jail. Not as easy to do it when the stakes include lead bullets and a few decades in jail.
I warned the Occupy people that they were going to start alienating the same people that they should have the support of. Blocking traffic and trashing parks inconveniences working people. Bankers and politicians, not so much.
Now they've gone and lost most of their support in a city where they had a lot of support. Hitting soft targets is stupid. People in masks shoving police is stupid. Nothing constructive can arise from such activities. Once your non-violent resistance becomes violent resistance you lose the high ground, and you lose the respect of others. Once your peaceable assembly is no longer peaceful, it's no longer constitutionally protected.
This is costing the city a lot of money, which will have to come out of our parks budget. It doesn't appear to be costing Goldman Sachs or Bank of America a dime.
To all of the protesters, I have a message. I know that a lot of people agree with me on this, even if you reading this do not.
If you're going to demonstrate, do it in an orderly and peaceful manner. Make your voice heard, but obey the law. Resist non violently. You have a constitutional right to do this.
If you're trying to provoke a violent confrontation, leave. Leave now. If you're from here, go home. If you're from somewhere else, go there. But just leave. If you're trying to start a violent revolution, start it somewhere else.
If you're going to stay here and play revolutionary, then at least change your focus to hard targets. Target those who are actually causing the problem.
Trash a bank.
If you got real balls.
