Seriously, what the mayor and city council did today was BS. http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/...ity_council_approves_27.html#incart_big-photo
Why was it BS? They had work to do and these idiots were getting in the way. I'm actually really glad they all got a taste of the pepper spray. That's what you get for throwing shit at the police. Tax dollars at work right there! haha suckers.
A telling comment from a bystander " Many of the protesters were cool, but as always, there was one group that just couldn't get it through their numpties that they needed to BACK OFF. Yes, they were pretty much all white. During one of the police surges, I did see one...jerk ( I wish I could use stronger language) who kept SCREAMING and SPITTING on a cop as they were being pushed back, and calling him the most foul names, all the while filming him with his cell phone. He then crumpled and started screaming "DONT TOUCH ME...HELP!...HELP!...POLICE BRUTALITY"...yeah, he was white too. And at that point some old bat started yelling "This is like Kent all over again" It was awful. It wasn't a protest. It was a freak show. They also yelled profanities at people coming and going who were there on legitimate business. They are claiming they will be back tomorrow. I may work from home. And don't even start me on the mess on 4th and 5th streets "
The city invited the public to testify about the new union contract, people waited to speak about it, some overnight. The city passed out tickets to people to speak about the police contract. Then instead of allowing people to testify before the city council the mayor moved the city council to a private room and passed the contract behind closed doors without any public input. It was fucked up. The current contract isn't up until July of next year. In January we will have a different mayor and some new members on the council. This should have been given to them to deal with or Hales should have allowed people to speak.
Well, then those people know who NOT to elect next go around. I for one don't give two shits about people who resort to violence and vandalism when they don't get their way. Immature children are what they are.
From the linked article: "City officials took public testimony about the contract last month and weren't required to listen again before voting. So protesters signed up to speak on other matters, hoping to nonetheless criticize the police contract, a tactic they used last week. But protesters' frequent outbursts and interruptions prompted Hales to adjourn Wednesday's public meeting less than 30 minutes after it began." So, people were allowed to speak last month, and if they'd conducted themselves in a civil manner yesterday, they would have been allowed to speak again. As Wook says, people are responsible for their own behavior, including their unwillingness to participate in government in a civil and cordial manner.
I see both sides and both are fucked up to an extent. In the end though, violence only begets violence. It only works for the winner, but who says the winner was just or right?
