Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Phoenix Police showed up in full riot gear yesterday at the Westin Kierland Resort and Spa for the American Legislative Exchange Council States & Nation Policy Summit. Odd, I don't recall the invitation saying "formal wear." A bit overdressed, aren't we guys? (h/t photo Arizona Republic).
Were the Phoenix Police there to arrest the attendees who have been systematically destroying this country for years? No.
The Phoenix Police were there "to serve and protect" the attendees who have been systematically destroying this country for years, which included Governor Jan Brewer delivering a Keynote Address (more on that in a later post).
It seems a bit excessive for a crowd estimated at only 150-200 protestors, dontcha think? Oh sure, there were a handful of so-called "anarchists" who invited themselves to the party. This is the problem when you publicly advertise. These useless parasites show up uninvited to engage in their nihilistic acts of violence. Personally, I would beat the snot out of one of these useless parasites.
The Phoenix Police could have used their bean-bag gun and selectively shot these "anarchists" in the nut-sack for all I care. Instead, they broke out the weapon dejour for the Occupy movement, tear gas, which indiscriminately affects everyone including peaceful protestors exercising their First Amendment rights. Not cool. "Anarchists" to Blame For ALEC Disruption; "Occupiers" Relatively Tame. Cops Break Out the Pepper Spray:
In at least one instance, a protester attacked police -- who were decked-out in full riot gear -- with a poll pole that had nails and screws sticking out of it.
* * *
The "occupiers," however, were relatively well behaved, sources who were at the protest tell New Times. Some of their friends, on the other hand, were the main cause of the disturbance.
"Unfortunately a few Anarchist have joined the occupied movement and crowds tried to push their way through the police line on to the resort property," Phoenix Sergeant Trent Crump says. "OC spray was deployed twice on aggressive groups, which was effective in stopping their actions."
Many of those "anarchists" were from out of state, our source says, and were bussed in for the sole purpose of protesting the ALEC conference.
So far, Crump says, six protesters have been arrested on charges of obstructing government operations, criminal damage and assault on a police officer.
The conference is scheduled to run through Friday -- and we have a feeling the protesters won't be going anywhere.
Of course, the media loves to cover confrontations. You know the first rule of media reporting, "If it bleeds it leads." Explaining why the protestors were there? Fuggedaboutit!
So here is a link that several of you have sent me, which includes the video of the press conference held yesterday (sorry, no embed). Exposing ALEC’s Corporate Control Of State Governments | The UpTake:
Corporate dollars are funding changes in state laws that disenfranchise voters, and weaken regulations designed to protect the environment. Those dollars are flowing through the Arizona desert this week as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) convenes to draw up more legislation it wants passed in state legislatures.
To highlight what ALEC is doing, groups including Common Cause, People for the American Way, the Center for Media and Democracy, the Arizona AFL-CIO, AFSCME, the American Federation of Teachers, the Arizona Education Association, and Progress Now held a press conference Wednesday in front of the Arizona state capitol.
“ALEC’s leaders, firms like Wal-Mart, Pfizer and Koch Industries, have poured close to $400 million into state elections over the past decade, financing campaigns and spoon-feeding our elected officials bills that put profits over the public interest,” said Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause, citing a recent Common Cause report. “The Arizona desert is a perfect place for the public to call them out.”
ALEC’s agenda includes weakening clean air and clean water laws, undercutting public education, and disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of legally-qualified voters. At closed-to-the-public meetings like this week’s confab at the posh Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, ALEC’s business executives, lobbyists, and elected lawmakers sit side by side and vote as equals on the group’s “model” bills, then carry that legislation back to state capitols across the nation.
ALEC puts its stamp of approval on hundreds of pieces of legislation each year and claims an annual success rate of about 20 percent. Almost all of the group’s $7 million annual budget, including the cost of conferences like this week’s gathering, is underwritten by its corporate affiliates.
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