Comply or Die

When the free speech icon Amy Goodman tries to do her job as a journalist but instead gets manhandled and arrested do we need to question what’s going on in America.

What is violent about demonstrators going to the streets at the site of the GOP or Democratic conventions to provide a message to the “representatives” in the government of the “people” about their concerns of the way this nation is operating? Does a group of people temporarily blocking a few streets warrant an attack by a superior force of police with riot equipment? Does young people, people of color and peaceful activists constitute terrorism with a response of tear gas, concussion grenades and brutal throw downs by large males on a 50 something woman who is slightly built and maybe weighs over 100 pounds? Does a young woman approaching riot police with a flower in a gesture of good will deserve to be maced several times by nameless and badgeless riot police? What danger did she present? Allergic reactions by a cop to the flower?

I wonder how there are almost daily demonstrations in European cities without police reacting violently toward those demonstrators in the streets. How do these police in cities that have known far more terrorist attacks than the cradle of democracy, the USA, manage to restrain themselves most of the time? It just makes no sense the so-called epitome of free speech and human rights feels threatened by groups going into the streets to peacefully demonstrate and voice warranted anger about the state of the nation. Threatened enough to physically harm their own citizens, the children of our nation, the elders of our nation and the disenfranchised of our nation.

Why would anyone be surprised property destruction and violence results after police time and time again beat down peaceful groups wanting the opportunity to have a voice in their country, too? The chant “whose streets, our streets” isn’t a declaration of war or of intended violence. It is the declaration of freedom and one stating all people should have a voice.

There are some, no doubt, who want to angrily destroy symbols of oppression and authority. Some are just seeking opportunity to be violent because it is their nature. So, do we paint all demonstrators as being violent when in fact over 90 per cent of them are completely peaceful? If we do so, then we end up painting all police as “pigs” because of the way too many act. Mass punishment of the entire village because of a few is against the Geneva Convention’s rules of engagement during wartime. Why is it permissible in an open society called America?

The analogy of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has to be made. Since American troops occupied both countries in an alleged attempt to liberate them, the danger to the troops didn’t recede. The numbers of so-called insurgents actually increased. After violent confrontation following violent confrontation that killed more innocent than identified enemy, the anger and hate toward Americans grew. House raid after house raid, street brutality after street brutality only grew the numbers opposing American troops.

Police brutality and intimidation against peaceful citizens time after time will result in the divide between citizens and police growing ever wider. Suppression of legitimate free speech and the gathering of citizens in public areas only create a hostile environment that is provoked by the police. Do they expect they’ll gain the respect of those bullied and beaten?

We cannot call ourselves a free society if free speech is expected to be only what the government officials say it is. We can’t be a free society if there are only free speech zones behind chain link fences with guards surrounding them. Free speech isn’t limited to where police or government authorities want it. What they want is compliance which is an odious word and a more odious expectation of free people. Acquiescence to intimidation and police thuggery is a concept of a totalitarian nation.

The recent Olympics in Beijing exposed a nation of contradictions. The government rules with an iron fist and ignores human rights while the people greet those from other nations with kindness and friendliness as long as conversation doesn’t broach the subject of challenging the rulers.

How are we different in the U.S. if the government dictates when and where we can exercise our constitutional rights? Both the Democrats and the Republicans give a lot of attention to the American “dream”. What is that dream? Is it the dream of Martin Luther King? Or is it the nightmare of oligarchy, totalitarianism, oppression and brutal violence against any citizen who steps out of line?

What is that dream so often referred to by the elected officials of this nation? Do we give the terrorists what they want by taking away the Bill of Rights? Do we revise the Constitution to eliminate privacy and the right to dissent? Do we beat down those who dare to dissent? That is not a dream. That is a nightmare that is quickly becoming a reality. Compliance to only the version of freedom the government allows is a nation of people so afraid of possible attacks implied by rogue leaders the people capitulate basic rights to protect an illusionary idea called the “American dream”.

For too long we have allowed a small group of politicians and their corporate bosses to dictate what patriotism and freedom is in this country. For too long we have allowed them to tell us how to think and how to behave. They have created an atmosphere of constant fear that the American way of life is in jeopardy. They’ve created a culture of death with constant wars, a culture of over consumption and pollution for corporate gain and a culture of arrogance to promote a nationalistic and imperialistic notion Americans are better than any other people on Earth.

The nationalistic arrogance of Americans has not brought us friends. It has brought us enemies. We continue to ignore the problems of other people unless there is a way for us to benefit. We are lousy citizens of this world. We pollute more and consume more than any nation in the world while every thirty seconds a child dies of conditions caused by poverty. We start wars to impose our way of life and to plunder the natural resources of other nations.

Police forces in this nation aren’t here to serve and protect the average citizen. They’re here to protect the government and corporate interests. If we stop and look at Amy Goodman being arrested that truth is obvious. If we watch marchers in streets of our cities being attacked by anonymous riot police for merely marching what else can we conclude? If we see and hear about raids on houses of activists wanting to send a peaceful message to our government, how can we think the police serve us?

The government lies to the people and the police are their enforcers to make the people comply with the designated script of “freedom”. Divert from the script and the play is over for you. Try to go by the rules of the Constitution and expect to see a cell.

We must keep the image of our children in the streets chanting for peace and justice being attacked by men and women in gear that makes them look like the villains in Star Wars. But this is not a movie. This is real. Imagine your child with the tears caused by gas in their eyes and a bloodied face for being in a street with others asking for what is morally right. Does the inconvenience to traffic and the business of the city justify beating our children? Seriously, is the business of corporations so important that we allow police to brutalize people who interrupt it for an hour with a march asking for an end to war, a return of sons and daughters from the war and some justice for people who are marginalized and forgotten completely?

The Christians of America are fond of saying “what would Christ do?” What would Christ do if He were to see what has occurred in Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul? What would Christ do to the politicians who send the young to kill and be killed? What would Christ say to the religious leaders who have failed to come forth to seek peace and justice along with the young and disenfranchised? What would Christ do seeing the neglect of the poor of all nations by the richest nation in the world?

Do we fear the truth so much we are willing to brutalize our own? Apparently we do. Those who say this is a free nation, a Christian nation or a moral nation live in a fantasy world that doesn’t exist.

William T. Leichner, RN
Denver VVAW member
USMC combat veteran ’67-‘69