Wednesday, October 26, 2011

This Is Not What Democracy Looks Like…

Dear Friends,

Is this what democracy looks like? This man with the gun standing on Main Street has been hired by Bank of America to intimidate possible protesters seeking to occupy their own nation and speak their minds with good heart and in a peaceful manner. He wears a pistol, dresses in black and tucks his pant's legs into his jack boots in the fashion of a Nazi trooper. Around his waist is a holster and a belt designed to hold hand grenades. You can't see his eyes behind the shades he wears even after the sun has set. He is a thug who sells his services to a bank that seems to feel that it needs protection from its own customers.

Photo by S. Solomon, 10/22/2011

So, here on the streets of my peaceable little city is an armed brute who apparently can't get a job with even the most corrupt police department in our supposedly free nation. He lurks in the shadow by the bank's door and acknowledges a polite greeting by turning his back to his fellow citizens while fondling his pistol. As far as I can discern, he is a sick, angry creep who does not belong in any situation that involves possible armed force.

Res Ipsa Loquitor,

S

4 comments:

  1. I just see a guy doing his job, but then I live in the middle east, where every grocery store has an armed guard, the ones at the train stations might even be fondling an Uzi, and the ones at the entrance to the airport have M16s.

    And he's not trying to intimidate people from occupying America (which they already do), but from occupying the private property of his employer, or more likely the company that that contracts with his employer for his services.

    As to speaking their minds with good heart and in a peaceful manner, most municipalities have valid time and place restrictions for peaceful protesters. This movement completely ignores such things, and the calls are not always so peaceful: advocating revolutions, executions, etc.

    One could argue that the movement actually gave this man his job (though there is no way to know on the limited facts available) the salary of which cuts into the profits of the bank, and he should be therefore heralded as one of the movement's success stories.

    As to the Nazi question, does not the American Nazi party endorse this movement? OMG, the Nazis have infiltrated both sides. I think it's time to move to Israel.

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  2. David, I have to say that my analysis of this fellow is likely correct. I'm confident of this opinion as there is a second guard sometimes on duty outside the bank. He greets the peaceful protesters with politeness and a smile. He does not thrum his thumb over the holster nor wear sun glasses in the dark. He does not turn away from cameras on the street and make threatening statements to news and public photographers. He even opens the door for old ladies entering the bank.

    The guy pictured above, however, is ostentatiously menacing, right down to ornamenting his uniform with that Nazi-style arm band and the jack boots. He appears to be working for not only a pay check, but a sense of power and control. He is not a wise choice for an armed man to be on the street in the midst of a situation that he sees as threatening despite the completely courteous demeanor of the protesters.

    That fact speaks to the comparison to the situation in Israel. I can confidently say that there is no risk of one of my fellow protesters wearing an explosive vest. We are solid citizens, students, veterans, all hard workers (if given a job), parents and grandmothers concerned about the welfare of our young.

    That the Bank of America puts an irritable, likely unstable thug with a gun on our Main Street is utterly lamentable.

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  3. So has anyone asked the bank to replace this particular guard? If you don't think he should be there, the obvious thing to do would be to express your discomfort to the bank manager. Maybe you could even ask the guard to lighten up.

    As to your fellow protesters, I know none of them personally, but there have been some really wonderful pieces of work displayed in the press.

    As to the work ethic, I am wondering how many, for instance, are willing to take the jobs illegal immigrants take. There are plenty of professions that are in need of people. Are they willing to get the skills to be a nurse for instance, or learn to weld (I hear the pipe-lines can't find enough skilled welders), or even be a home health aid? I'd really like to know.

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  4. David,

    As to point/question #1… yes. I and my wife are closing our accounts w/BoA after much hassling with the manager.

    To point #2, I did politely ask the armed guard and the manager to present a more professional and less threatening face to the public. The guard put his hand on his pistol and turned away, walking into the shadow. The manager assured me that the armed man was there to protect me, presumably from my neighbors who also wished to not do business with the bank.

    As to your last point, each of the people that I gather with are employed or seeking employment. I haven't taken a survey, but I believe that each of us has a college degree and solid work history. Most of us, such as myself, prior to our professional careers after college held jobs such as meat cutters, welders, pipe fitters, farm hands and such.

    We can no longer blame all the unemployed and disenfranchised for being so. Something is badly broken in our politics and economy.

    Want to hear some solutions rather than blaming those that speak up? I've got a couple of suggestions.

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