I usually come up with column ideas during my quarterly family visits to Seattle, and my most recent visit earlier this month was no exception.
The so-called "Occupiers" celebrated May Day - the favorite holiday of the Communist Party and the Socialist International - by trashing downtown Seattle. The allegedly non-violent Occupiers should be ashamed of themselves.
"When you have the inequity we see today, there will be a few broken windows," said a grubby Occupy spokesperson, who accused Seattle police of filing "trumped-up" charges against the protesters. Well, it was more than a few broken windows, and police showed admirable restraint. According to the Seattle Times, "Black-clad vandals left downtown Seattle shattered with broken glass and put police - and the city - on edge. ... They (the vandals) sped through downtown, smashing windows at banks and national retail chains as well as ... the U.S. Courthouse."
"All hell broke loose," said a spokesman for the 9th U.S. Court of Appeals.
Ironically, the anarchists, or whoever they were, smashed windows at "green" establishments like Starbucks and NikeTown. Seattle's ultra-liberal mayor, Mike McGinn, kept local police on a short leash and only a few violent protesters were arrested. Although McGinn issued an emergency order, docile police mostly stood by as protesters unleashed a wave of violence on the city. Occupiers also called police "pigs" and accused them of police brutality.
So what else is new?
"If May Day protesters are angry their messages got lost in the mayhem and violence of a handful of black-clad vandals, they can hardly blame law enforcement, City Hall or the media," the Times opined in an editorial. "The so-called anarchists are as pathetic and contemptible as thrashing the cars of working people trying to hold it together through the Great Recession."
Dare we call it Obama's Recession?
And what exactly do these protesters want? It appears that they want federal, state and local governments to give them "free" stuff: free food, free medical care, free college tuition, etc., etc. Which means that some of those who don't pay federal income taxes - nearly half of U.S. households - want the other half to pay for everything they need, which doesn't seem fair to me. Or am I being cruel and cold-hearted? You tell me.
I don't want Grandma to eat dog food, but I do urge able-bodied protesters to get jobs and support themselves just like the rest of us. As for the Occupy movement, it should guard against being captured by the 1 percent who advocate anarchy and violence. Because, as the Seattle Times noted, their partly valid message about Wall Street greed and corruption is being overshadowed by the violent extremists and criminals in their ranks.
The tiny handful of Occupiers here in Carson - several of whom live in big houses on the west side of town - should denounce the anarchists and the filthy, obnoxious demonstrators who give their movement a bad name. In other words, the Seattle riot should constitute a much-needed wake-up call for law-abiding Occupiers.
• Guy W. Farmer is a 50-year resident of Carson City.
