Not to be too much of an alarmist, the story that appears in this morning’s LA Times actually falls under the headline of Political Protesters May Face Jail Time in L.A.
The City Atty. Carmen Trutanich makes his point:
"You have the right to protest: you don’t have the right to break the law....My whole deal is...In order for us to have a civilized society, there has to be a predictable result when you break the law. I want to make sure they don’t do it again".
That’s where throwing the book at those who organize rallies comes in. It’s worked in Egypt forever, so why not go a little more "Suleiman" in The City of Angels? I can think of several good reasons.
In the days before the fuse was lit in Iraq by Team Bush, I happened to be driving by the pier in Huntington Beach, CA. It was cold and rainy. Next to nobody was there and this is a big destination point around here. Nobody was out except some people protesting the upcoming invasion built on "poor intelligence" gleaned in part from tortured confessions (if I’ve got that right). I don’t know where Bill Clinton was that night but he wasn’t there out in the cold and rain. As mentioned, I was in my warm car. But there were these two women standing by themselves holding up signs saying this (the upcoming war) was all wrong. Their protests changed me some and encouraged me to do something other than nothing. The little sparks those ladies were flicking into that night had real effect. Those sparks were flying here--and in many places
--because of people like them. Now, so many years later, it’s possible the whole of American Intelligence (our collective mind), has gone up a notch. (maybe not, I don’t really know, but thought I’d try and be positive).
The suggested crackdown on protest organizers and those who show up needs to be cracked down upon itself. Odds are that it will be and things will remain as usual (but maybe not). To hold a legal protest in LA, there has to be a legal permit drawn. Since it inevitably costs the tax-payers a lot when this system is abused by officials, there are some built-in restraints against authoritarian repression.
Let me just say that I’m really gung-ho about these Facebook-style disruptions of normal daily activity for the sake of getting the truth out. Still, if I’m driving through traffic with no time to spare trying to get to a critical appointment, it could really damage my life if forced to suffer through such an unexpected occurrence that has the streets jammed with people. I think it’s much better if people realize that they can all choose to cripple Taco Bell, Disney, and Exxon via a "people’s court" held on the web (but it might require making friends with Ron Paul). So, a word of advice goes out to City Atty. Carmen Trutanich—go read what Jesus told the guards who tried to stop him and his merry men on their passage into Jerusalem.