To date, there have been almost 6,000 arrests that have taken place at occupy protests. This may not sound like a lot for a nation-wide protest that’s been going on for over a year. It is a little alarming that nearly all of these arrests have nothing to do with violent crime, property damage or any real form of crime. As the people, we’re supposed to have a right to peacably assemble. It’s a constitutional right. And the constitution doesn’t say how long. It doesn’t say where. It doesn’t doesn’t say who.

So, I suppose you could interpret it as, “peaceably assemble, during the day, for a few weeks, and then go away or you’ll get pepper sprayed.” However, I’m not sure that’s really what our founding father’s intended. The right to peaceably assemble was meant as a safe guard against a tyranical, unjust governement. One that’s fully in the pocket of big business would probably qualify. However, our wonderful checks and balance system can put the people in check like it’s nobody’s business:

“The First Amendment is not absolute,” Deputy City Attorney William Carter tells the Los Angeles Times. Just because the law of the land (literally) allows for peaceful protests doesn’t mean it is really alright, says Carter. For the hundreds of demonstrators arrested during Occupy LA protests in recent months, they seem to think that the US Constitution is of actual importance. For the city officials though, those silly hippies don’t know “habeas corpus” from their hacky sacks. In order to show them what the good old US of A is really about then, the city of Los Angeles is letting those charged with misdemeanors stemming from Occupy LA incidents to forego the legal system in exchange for taking a class on the First Amendment — for the price of $355 a pop. [rt.com]

How awesome is that? You have to pay to be brainwashed in the good ole U S of A. I’m pretty sure it’s free in North Korea. Maybe we should all move there.