In Florida, Trayvon Martin, a black teenager, was shot to death by a civilian white man who has admitted to the crime but has not been arrested. Allegations of serious police misconduct have arisen, including the "correction" of a witness who said the boy called for help and not his attacker, George Zimmerman, who claims he shot in self defense.
In several states, laws have been passed requiring that, even in cases of rape, women seeking abortions go through medically unnecessary procedures before being allowed the treatment they choose. One male politician suggested that if a woman does not want to see the image from the trans-vaginal ultrasound, she can "just close her eyes." So if, say, a rape victim doesn't want a child from the act of violence perpetrated against her, Tom Corbett, gracious Governor of Pennsylvania, suggests she close her eyes while she is again violated for no medically justifiable reason. Elsewhere, a law passed saying that doctors must inform women of a link between abortion and breast cancer even though no such link has ever been established. When Sandra Fluke spoke out about the expense of birth control for women, she was publicly pilloried by Rush Limbaugh, called names and her honor besmirched.
In those cases, as in the case of the Occupy Protesters who have been tear gassed and pepper sprayed, bludgeoned and shot with non-lethal but painful ammo, the message is the same. Whether it is a message sent to the black, women or anti-corruption demonstrators, the message is this: "Dissent at your own peril. We can shame you, humiliate you, violate you, kill you if we choose. Be quiet. Comply. Know your place. You have the right to remain silent and that is all."
There has been a push in the past several months for anyone who sees bullying taking place to speak up. Well I see it and I am saying something. Trayvon Martin did nothing wrong and citizens of all races should be able to walk the streets unafraid. People, regardless of gender, must be allowed their own reproductive, medical and recreational choices regardless of the religious beliefs of politicians. Freedoms of speech and peaceful demonstration are the people's right. As a white male and a tax-paying citizen, if I do not speak up, I am a conspirator.
I will not be cowed into playing the role of collaborator. If we want our kids to behave decently toward one another, to stand up on behalf of one another, we must set the example. The bullying must stop.
Follow Dylan Brody on Twitter: www.twitter.com/dylanbrody
Somebody needs to stand up and say that the police's actions in departments around the U.S. and the world are under scrutiny and they are not above the laws they enforce, because they seem to have forgotten that.
I thought we finished talking about birth control ages ago. I thought only the Taliban in Afghanistan aka the religious zealots and the Wahabis in the Middle East lived in their misogynist world. Why is it happening here? Has the Talibanenglists taken over the world?
I'm not going to close my eyes for anything.
The Attorney General ordered the protesters removed from government property. Washington police met with resistance and retreated. President Hoover then ordered the army to clear the campsite. Army General MacArthur commanded the infantry and cavalry supported by six tanks. The Bonus Army along with their wives and children were driven out, and their shelters and belongings burned.
It only takes one hateful person to make us all bristle at each other, when we coat his actions with the paint of racism. Let us see if we can look at this as the actions of one person who is not representative of the many.
http://articles.boston.com/2012-03-20/business/31215793_1_social-networking-password-facebook