Freedom to assemble
McPherson Square, Occupy DC/Wall Street site, pictures below. Agreeing with Roland Martin of CNN, I see the Occupy situation as a moral issue. Not a left or right nor conservative or liberal issue. Many who call themselves Republicans or Democrats or Independents alike have been discouraged for quite some time at the stagnant wages for the labor in our country. But to meet our immediate need, many also believe that reducing recent tax cuts on the concentrated 90% of our wealth to lower our country’s debt makes more mathematical sense than trying to get the necessary funds out of the 10%. (I’m talking actual wealth, doesn’t matter who owns it, but it must come from the majority of the actual wealth)
The “right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances”* is part of our FIRST Amendment. Not our second, or tenth, or later. Our FIRST. You may not agree with the protesters this time, but calling them a mob does not make them one – No more than you should automatically be part of a mob next time you believe you have a reason to assemble.
*from the Library of Congress Website:
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=144
