The Occupation of...Everywhere

     I have reserved commenting on the Occupy (enter city name here) for a long time, waiting and wondering where it would lead.  When it first started, I was skeptical of just how it could possibly accomplish anything.  There is no figurehead, no spokesperson, no firm message.  Half the people who attend the Occupy protests are all protesting for whatever their personal agenda is.  End the Fed.  Universal Healthcare. Tax the Rich.  End Corruption.  And, not surprisingly, the overwhelming sense I had, and still have, is that not one person is getting any message at all.  I read comment posts, listen to GOP candidates, and the actual protesters, and lose even more of my faith in my society.  It is not that I think Americans are stupid- I think the vast majority of them are just guilty of self-induced blind ignorance.  I pride myself on doing my utmost to get my information of the world from non-biased sources, but even I and others who actually want the truth are still sometimes guilty of the same.  Humans want to be right.  They want others to be wrong.  I see this attitude reflected  more in our people now than any time since the 60's and 70's during the Civil Rights Movement and the protesting of the Vietnam War.  This civil unrest is my generation's Civil Rights Movement.  And all of the potential that we have, everything we as a generation, and as a population can accomplish with our unified voice is being lost under the cacophony of hypocrites and morons.
     Before I am accused of being too radical, this goes for both sides.  However, it is the conservative right who are the most guilty of this self-imposed bubble of ignorance.  I watch political figures spread total and utter falsehoods and epic levels of deliberate exaggerations with straight faces.  And I have to wonder, do they really believe the things that are coming out of their mouths?  Is Cain truly so out of touch with reality that he actually believes that if you aren't rich, it's because you're lazy and just don't want a job?  Unemployment rates, the ones that are figured by actual claims, is hovering around 9%, and this is supposed to be an improvement.  But- and here I am pointing the finger at both sides of the government aisle- this does not factor in those who have aged out, the so-called 99ers (the unemployment 99ers, not the income 99ers) or those who are wildly underemployed, or those who have simply given up looking for work.  When all that is factored in, now we are looking at a number that is actually more like 24% (http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/unemployment-charts).  The approximate number of US citizens of working age (say 19 to 55) is 143 million. 24% of that is 34,220,000 people.  Is this sinking into anyone?  Cain is basically saying that we have over 34 million incredibly lazy assholes who just don't want to find a job.  34 million people who have only themselves to blame that they aren't rich like he is.  That is what the conservative right wants the world to believe.  That there isn't corruption, or a disproportionate amount of wealthy versus poor, just a staggering number of lazy bums. 
     What I don't think people understand is that this Occupy movement isn't-or shouldn't be- about blaming Wall Street in particular for the country's financial woes.  There is more than enough blame to go around.  I more than admit that blame gets spread to both Republicans and Democrats.  Wall Street is focal point for the corruption that led us to this point, however, and this is why it started here.  Our government destroyed itself because the banks and corporations allowed themselves to go bankrupt, covered it up, managed to get 800 million bucks from the little people, and gave themselves all big, fat bonuses.  The US Chamber of Commerce is made up of corporations like J.P Morgan, Pfizer, Phillip Morris, and Chase Bank.  They rank number one in lobbyist spending (second was GE at 161 million dollars).  This means, essentially, that what they want to happen in government, both on a state and federal level, tends to happen.  Every aspect of a great majority of our country's legislative and executive decisions include the whims of large corporations. Incidentally?  These companies don't usually end up paying a dime in federal taxes.  General Electric, according to their tax disclosures, earned 14.5 BILLION dollars, and paid not one red penny in taxes.  They paid a crap-ton of money for lobbyist groups and very inventive accountants, however.  
    This is why the Occupy protesters are angry.  Because, I'm sorry Mr. Boehner, the United States of America is not a business.  Nor should it be.  Does everyone forget what our country was founded upon?  I see more and more of what the founding fathers believed in fading away by the year.  What about the whole basic concept of for the people, by the people?  When did that take a back seat?  Now, it's for the rich people, by rich people, and who gives a crap who gets trampled on in the process.  
     Except, that's not really the case.  The rich people thing.  Several polls have showed that 65% of the people support raising taxes on people who earn 1 million or more a year.  Warren Buffett
     So, back to that 235,413.  I personally know some Republicans who love to argue about how we shouldn't tax the rich, how poor people are essentially a blight on humanity that abuse the system, and why should their taxes be raised so their tax dollars can go to feed some poor chick with poor birth control methods can feed her nine children? (Sorry guys).  These people are not among the 235,413.  Even the one person who makes the most out of all of the people I know don't come close to that.  They will not be remotely affected by taxing the wealthy.  I would like to point out for the record, that the same people (not just people I know) like to make the argument that their tax dollars shouldn't go to social programs, and in the same breath fill out unemployment claims.  News flash- while you did indeed pay into that system, the thousands of dollars you've collected was not your money.  It was taxpayer money.  From the wealthy.  And the poor.  At one point, my tax dollars as well.  But I digress.  The point being is that these people don't see the inherent irony in these arguments.  And why is that?
     Because people who cling to capitalism like it's a life raft in a tsunami want to believe they can be a part of that 235,413.  But they probably won't.  In fact, I nearly guarantee they won't.  That doesn't stop them from blasting the very class they are in fact a part of.  The middle class is disappearing, and all we have left are the destitute, the poor, the working poor, and the very very rich.  Yet the Republican talking heads called the proposition to raise taxes on the 235,413 "class warfare".  When the French monarchy made similar political stands in 1789, the poor, unrepresented and downtrodden citizens eventually started lopping off the heads of their oppressors.  Something to keep in mind, GOP.  
    The Occupy protesters are the representative forces of the deeply pissed off majority.  To me, the movement hasn't "moved" much past it's starting point of having no unified message or spokesperson through whom that message will be brought forth.  But the underlying unease is epidemic.  These are not the lunatic fringe, not all a bunch of hippies too "lazy" to get a job.  These are people who are afraid, and angry, and want solutions.  In the Republican debate in September, the Tea Party idiots cheered the notion of letting the uninsured die.  If you research a lot of what normal Republicans say, they agree with the sentiment but are too savvy to say it so bluntly.  How did we ever get to the point where people-who, as a point of fact are almost decidedly NOT in that 235,413- would actually cheer at the idea of letting 49.9% of Americans die because they can't afford to be insured?  How is it that more people don't see how incredibly wrong this all is?  When did being poor become a disease we need to eradicate so as to not infect the "righteous" ones with Blue Cross/Blue Shield?  
    The irony is that it's these same people who called Obama Hitler.  
    In my opinion, this is the chance, and the environment, to get real change enacted.  It took a million people marching for one true cause to change the course of history.  There are about 200 million adults in America, minus that wonderfully blessed 235,413, and maybe all we need now is one million of them to stand together.  What if all the people who want their country to stand for something other than corporate greed and corruption and personal gain would stand together?  What if they actually used our Founding Fathers-given right to change the government when it turns corrupt?  What would happen to us then?  Would we actually have something to be proud of again?  Or do we do as liberals and Democrats often do- have great ideas and zero follow-through?  What kind of America do you honestly want to leave for the next generations?  
     I want to leave my children an America that wants life and liberty for everyone who lives here.  An America in which the pursuit of happiness is not paved with the blood and hunger of millions of poor.  An America that provides for every one of its citizens, not just the ones with large IRAs.  I want an America that stands for something that is true.  And all I see is an America that stands on everything that is wrong with the human condition.  The people who believe that less than a quarter of a million people out of 307 million deserve every consideration and the 143 million deserve nothing but contempt should be ashamed of themselves.  It is the same as saying you would watch a person starve in front of you rather than buying them a sandwich because, by God, you earned that money and that makes you better than them.  It is the same as telling a sick child they deserve to die because you need a new Ferrari.  
     Me?  I'd rather give half of what I earn to ensure that never happens.  

The Vindication of Amanda Knox

     Despite my deep conviction that I am meant to dedicate my life to be a warrior in the minefield that is our criminal justice system, there are many times in which I have began to lose hope that such a thing could ever truly exist.  However, while our system is indeed a quagmire of injustices, political corruption and racial and socioeconomic imbalances, I am sometimes reminded that while this is all true, the United States of America does have one of the most functional justice systems in the world.
     Nothing illustrates this more clearly than the case of Amanda Knox.  I do not know every facet of the case, nor do I possess the wherewithal with which to research, but the fact is that the Italian justice system makes our corruption look like a trip to Disneyland.  Amanda Knox, her boyfriend of two weeks, and another man were convicted of murdering her roommate in a crime described by the prosecution, and I am paraphrasing here, as a night of exhibitionist and tawdry sex practices gone horribly awry.  Knox was also accused of the rape of the roommate.  This was a very brutal and bloody crime.  There were some traces of evidence, but very little.  The Italian's case against Knox and her boyfriend came down to trace DNA evidence on the clasp of the roommate's bra and on a handle of a knife found in the room.
     At least that is what it would seem to a reasonable person.  Never mind that the "evidence" was collected weeks after the murder and completely tainted (which became the basis of the appeal).  What was really at issue was the fact that Amanda Knox is pretty and American.  Religion was heavily used in the trial- Knox was on several occasions called a "she-devil" and dirty on the inside, persecuted for her female-ness; which the Italian criminologists blamed for the crime, stating as evidence that the killer must be female because the body was covered by a sheet.She was told by a so-called prison doctor that she had HIV, and therefore needed to list her every sexual partner.(She does not have HIV) Her diaries were read and used as evidence that she was a lewd and overly sexual female with serious mental problems.  
     Would any of this have occurred in an American court?  Well, I admit some of it would have been tried.  The media crucifying definitely would have.  However, let's take these facts and move them to our court.  First, the DNA evidence would never have seen the light of day due to our stringent policies on chain of evidence.  Religion would never have been a factor, and surely the concept of inherent female vileness never would have been posited.  We have rules about sexual histories being used as evidence, although there have been many times it has been circumvented.  The reality is that Amanda Knox would never have even gone to trial here.
    I know nothing of the Italian court system.  I do know that there are countries where theft is still punishable by the loss of one's hands.  Some countries they will shoot you on the side of the road if you are caught driving while drunk.  New Zealand apparently is attempting to abolish their version of  the Miranda rule.  There are several Asian countries in which you could be sentenced to 80 years in jail for an ounce of marijuana.
     Can you imagine living in a place where you do not have these inalienable rights?  We have the right to a fair trial, if not the right to be set free if proven innocent later.  We have the right to not incriminate ourselves, if not the right to be incriminated against.  We have the right to an attorney, if not necessarily a good one.  We have the right to be assured that, acknowledging the exception of our own politics, the evidence against us will have been collected legally or else not used at all.  We have the right against cruel and unusual punishment, if not the ability to decide what exactly that constitutes.   We have the right to appeal decisions made against us, if not the ability to have them actually be heard.  
     These are our rights, as Americans, as citizens in a country with more flaws than a Christian's justifications for Creationism.  Or Chris Christie's diet plan. However, as such we ignore the blessings these rights inherently bestow upon us.  We forget that these rights given to us by the Constitution also bestow upon us the ability to fight; not just amongst ourselves, but for ourselves and for each other.  We have become accustomed to our justice system failing; in fact we expect it, and desire it.  This was made clear by the debacle that was the Casey Anthony case.  The system worked, the jury did what it was called upon to do- and we vilified the people involved.  Members of the jury had to quit their jobs and disappear because there were people threatening to kill them.  And for what?  Proving the system works, even if it doesn't always dispense the justice the individuals deserve.  We should have been proud.  Instead we did what Americans do best- the country bitched and bemoaned the state of the judicial system because as a country we have long since forgotten what that system was ever designed to do.
     Amanda Knox was freed today.  A tiny bit of our justice was able to touch her so far away, and set her free.  As always, however, Americans have missed the point, forgotten the lesson.  It can always be worse, it can always be made worse.  Today the world, and of course, Amanda Knox, saw justice done.  It doesn't happen very often.  

The Execution of Troy Davis

     Tonight, after the state of Georgia put a needle in an innocent man's veins, I went on Twitter to witness the public outcry.  There was one girl who said "Everyone's emotional now, tomorrow it'll be something else and no one will think about it again".  I hate to think this girl is right, but before the sun rises on Thursday morning, I want to acknowledge the travesty of a system that would inflict the cruelest of punishments on an innocent man- that of hope.  For approximately four hours, Troy Davis allowed himself a sliver of hope that justice could finally win out for him, that someone would intervene on behalf of truth and the institution of what is supposed to be sacrosanct in this country.  Innocent until proven guilty.  The right to a fair and impartial trial.  The protection against cruel and unusual punishment.  It was these ideals that died with that man tonight.
     51 members of Congress, 1 million signatures on a petition, a former President, a former FBI director, the Vatican, 2 of the Davis jury members, Al Sharpton, Desmund Tutu, the NAACP, Amnesty National...P.Diddy...none of these people were heard either as they pleaded for the life of a man convicted to death based solely on testimony of 9 witnesses, 7 of whom have recanted and 1 of whom allegedly bragged to be the actual triggerman.  There was no physical evidence, no DNA.  Just voices in a room, and nothing more.  
     And now the voices in the room are ghosts.  These voices now belong to the updated number of 273 people that have been wrongfully put to death for crimes they did not commit.  Some people say it doesn't matter if we kill a few innocent in order to have the right to kill the guilty.  I can't believe that.  I feel only shame in being part of a society in which there are humans who do believe that.  When did human life become so inconsequential?  
    Don't get me wrong, people.  I am actually for the death penalty.  I may be a liberal, but my heart ain't bleeding.  However, I believe with every ounce of my bloodless heart that if we are going to take someone's life- the ultimate civil liberty- the burden of proof must be 100%.  If not, the sentence should be no more permenant than life in prison without parole.  In this day and age, there should be no more wrongful deaths at the hands of overzealous prosecutors motivated by politics and community loudmouths.  There is no justice without the truth.  
     The country will forget.  Twitter was alive with comments about the XFactor, Dancing with the Stars, Survivor, Project Runway...and Troy Davis was undergoing a government sanctioned murder.  This country will forget.  Tomorrow some other cause celeb will take the forefront and this too, shall pass.  This country will forget.
    Unless we don't let it.  Don't you see?  There is nothing more powerful in this world than the voices of millions speaking in unison.  We don't have that anymore.  Our country is a step away from being the next Roman empire, Icarus flying to close to the sun, weighed down by our unimaginable hubris.  The only times in our history when we have been able to alter the path of the future is when we were able to rise up and become one in a mission to create a better world.  A world we are all safe and secure.  A world in which 317 million people are not controlled by the whims of 400.  A world in which politics plays no role in what is true.  A world in which those at the helm are not chasing a white whale.  
    This country may forget.  I won't forget.  I hope you don't, either.