And here I thought we were talking about the rights of the peaceful protesters to assemble on the public areas and make their voices heard, as protected by the first amendment. Somehow, though, we've travelled from the streets and sidewalks of Seattle to nuclear weapons labs and public schools.
The people have a right to peacably assemble and to free speech, that is made explicit in the 1st. On the other hand, I have been inconvenienced and blocked on numerous occassions by the state, for reasons as idiotic as "state holidays" and as frivolous as parades. Daily my right to pursue happiness is routinely infringed by the cretin who homesteads at a stop sign; by the ill-mannered lout who cuts in line at the store; by the half-witted security personel at the airport. Can we arrest these people for "blocking" my way? To say that the protesters don't even have the right to stand on the sidewalk is absurd: will you have the police arrest politicians who campaign there? How about the slob in the santa suit clanging his damn bell for a handout during crowded xmas shopping times? These people block access and disrupt commutes as well. Break out the tear gas.
I think everyone can see the gaping difference between someone peacefully protesting the WTO on a street corner, and someone running down the halls of a public school screaming profanities and terrorizing the students. That is precisely where the personal responsibility component comes into play. BTW, profanity is protected by the 1st when used as political speech, ie, "f#ck the draft!" Therefore, "F#ck the WTO!" is legal, if not exactly urbane.
People were demonstrating for a variety of reasons, many of them stupid. It doesn't matter. Unpopular speech is the speech that most needs protection, not suppression. Further, as others have pointed out, the police and the city went way too far in quelling the protests with even more incroachments into our civil rights, including such oppressive measures as banning gas masks for civilians and gassing innocent bystanders.
Governments are instituted to secure the rights of its citizens, not to suppress them.
rabbit assassin, I agree that protectionist tariffs are wrong-headed and counter-productive. However, I don't know of any american family that regularly (more than twice per year) eats lamb, whether that is due to its high price or simply our tastes I don't know.
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"In many ways we are treated quite like men." Erich Maria Remarque
[This message has been edited by Ipecac (edited December 06, 1999).]