thank you.

Are you really so dense that you don’t understand that?

That’s the question for many of them, isn’t it?  Are they purposefully obtuse or just too dense to understand the point?

As this poster (see below) has been making rounds, I’ve noticed one thing is pretty consistent with conservative detractors…  They flatly ignore the obvious point of the message and start inanely saying “it’s photoshopped!”.  An incredibly obtuse and/or dense statement to make.

Especially when anyone with common sense can see the part of the picture on the right says, “5 years later” and it’s done with a Comic Sans font.  Unless I portend that the picture is “magic” and has teleported the poster on the right from the future; it’s very obvious it’s “photoshopped”.

But, that’s what they do.  They don’t debate actual valid points of interest.  They either make obtuse statements that detract from valid points, throw out obtuse/inane/leading/obscure questions, or focus like a laser on trite semantics.  Anything…ANYTHING aside from actually debating valid points that really matter.

The one positive that comes from our obtuse and/or dense sisters and brothers is that it makes them look stupid to the rest of us.  I just wish they had loftier goals in life than being obtuse human speed bumps to rational discussion.

But, we knew they’d come in droves when this started and they’ll only continue to ramp up obtuse trolling as the movement grows.  I don’t know whether it’s best to pander to them and “correct” them or ignore them altogether.  But, I’ve found that the problem is if you actually ignore our obtuse friends here, it often emboldens them to be even more obtuse because they at least think they are derailing the message and are being successful trolls/human speed bumps.

And I do think if their messages are left unchallenged and we just let their sockpuppets click “Like” on their own posts, it can possibly hurt the other points to the casual observers and even influence people negatively if they think this false, obtuse consensus is real consensus when it is not.

It’s hard to say which ones are just stupid and merely have issues with making connections because of limited mental abilities… or the ones who are being purposefully obtuse with an agenda.  But, either way, they are basically trolls in obtuse sheep clothing trying to test our patience.  We’re smarter than they are and that’s why the movement continues to grow despite them.

http://i.imgur.com/s0Us7.jpg

Back in the fifties, C. Wright Mills said this in The Power Elite:

It is much safer to celebrate civil liberties than to defend them; it is much safer to defend them as a formal right than to use them in a politically effective way…It is easier still to defend someone else’s right to have used them years ago than to have something yourself to say now and to say it now forcibly.

I certainly get the idea of civil disobedience, but this isn’t like Rosa Parks.

You’d probably be whining about that too.

This isn’t semantics.  History doesn’t remember people who randomly get arrested for a reason that doesn’t pertain to that cause.  We don’t remember Rosa Parks because she was arrested for being in a park after close, we remember her because she spoke up and forced her right to sit where ever on the bus she wanted, thus violating a specific law of segregation.

I’m not against OWS, but I don’t like to see these people turned into some kind of martyrs because they violated a law that has nothing to do with their issues.

It’s just a way to get publicity.

Good golly, you really *don’t* get it, do you?

Well, of course it’s a way to get publicity.

What do you think a protest is?

The only one I’ve seen is we broke a law and got arrested.  Is there something I missed?  Does the park being closed have some relation to low employment, greed, or the corrupt financial sector?  Perhaps the economy is doing so poorly that the city had to close the park at night because of reduced LEO’s due to budget constraints?  Is that it?

Come on, bcsizemo, read the whole post before you scroll down to comment.

Unless OWS has changed some of it’s demands I don’t remember freedom to assembly anywhere at anytime we please to be on their list.

It’s just a way to get publicity.

When OWS decides not to pay taxes and gets arrested then that will be for their cause.

They *don’t* think “they can just do anything they want and it’s okay.”

They *knew* about the law – it says right there in the post that “they decided to get arrested.”

They intentionally – and peacefully – violated a law in order to get arrested.  Because “Bo Diddley’s Son Arrested in Park Named After Bo Diddley” is a much more attention-grabbing headline than “Protesters in Gainsville March Peacefully, Go Home When Park Closes.”

Nobody’s agitating for the legal right to hang around all night long in a park whenever they feel like it.  

Are you really so dense that you don’t understand that? 

Or are you just another huffing-and-puffing law’n'order troll?

It’s the exact same as people protesting outside of bank branches.  The people working there are your fellow citizens, and most likely not in a position that they can affect change in the company.  If OWS has a problem with BOA/Suntrust/Wells, ect.. take it up at their headquarters, the homes of the board of directors, CEO, ect..  The little people, or as you call them the other 99% are just trying to keep their jobs.

It seems strange to me that public parks would have hours, especially in a place that purports to be the land of the free. Why not just let people use public parks whenever they like, and if they are causing a problem, then take care it with a legal response?

The occupy movement is engendering a lot of heroism in a lot of ordinary, everyday people.  If nothing else, I think this may have a lasting effect.  It’s teaching us that maybe we can do something, that maybe “hope” belongs to us too.

Well done indeed!

*sigh* Why do people think they can just do anything they want and it’s okay?  Laws are there for a reason most of the time.  If the park is closed after midnight, then it’s closed and that’s called trespassing.  

Yes, laws are there for a reason.  The reason is that politicians like making laws.  Now, whether said laws make any sense or do anything useful, that would be an entirely different story.  Blindly following all laws is stupid, very dull, and for the most part impossible even if you really want to.

Use your head.  Laws and justice have absolutely nothing to do with each other.  Follow the laws that make sense, violate the ones that don’t if you are cool with risking the consequences.  More importantly, smirk at self righteous pricks who can do the “but but but it is against the law to keep the vagrants out!” like that is a worthy explanation as to why cops should be pissing on the first amendment.