At what point does a "peaceful protest" become an infringement on the rights of others? That's my problem with the OWS protesters, Paul...it isn't that I don't think they have have the right to peacefully assemble to let their views be known...it's that they seem to feel that the best way to get attention paid to those views is to block passage of their fellow citizens. What right do the UCal Davis protesters have to keep students who had paid a hefty tuition to attend classes from attending those classes? What right do the NYC OWS protesters have to block the Brooklyn Bridge or occupy a private park?
All of our Citizens have the right to be treated humanely by our Police Force. These people were treated like animals instead of fellow American Citizens. I mean what the hell kind of training are our Police Officers getting these days? Doing such awful things in the name of "I was just following orders" isn't good enough for me. These officers need to be re-trained on being human beings rather than just emotionless cyborgs. They need to learn to treat their fellow peaceful Ciitizens as if they were their own mother,daughter,or sister. Was point-blank pepper spraying to the face really necessary in this case? Come on,just a little compassion and common sense is all i'm asking for.