DEMONSTRATIONS

People have the right to peacefully assemble for whatever reason. It seems more and more, people feel the need to assemble for protest. The protest might be about some truly important issue, or it might just be something only a handful of people really care about. Recently, many protests are about some perceived insult or slight by someone or some institution. More often than not, they are using their freedom of speech (assembly) to protest someone else who was simply exercising their own right to free speech.

Often the protests seem a worthless or misguided effort that is more likely to backfire on the protesters than to aid in their cause. This wouldn't bother me if it weren't for the increasing practice of interrupting public transportation by blocking sidewalks, highways, bridges, runways, or other public areas, causing a great deal of disruption and expense to others. To me, their right to assemble and protest ends where it restricts my freedom or denies me my rights. If it were up to me, when these protesters block a highway, I'd enjoy nothing more than to see the traffic ignore them and squash them like squirrels all over the road.

Even worse, some of these groups, who are generally demanding acceptance and recognition by a society they feel is ignoring them or discriminating against them, refuse to allow others into their assembly and even use force to remove them. They seem to think that if you don't see things their way, you don't belong. Recently, a mob of protesters chased a small group of people from a demonstration and then wanted us all to feel badly when some of them were shot by the people they were chasing. Seriously?

Worse yet is when many of the demonstrations turn into riots with arson and looting and assaults replacing what was supposed to be a peaceful assembly.

Apparently the right to free speech depends on what race you are nowadays. You can only use the word nigger if you are one, and other such nonsense. We have to change the name of a football team because some group of people feels it is demeaning to them, even when the reason the team chose the name is because it seemed like something noble, something a person might strive to be, or wish they were?

I think, just when the U.S. was beginning to understand and accept that all people were created equal, these perceived slights and the resulting demonstrations are once again dividing the country. When you act like animals, don't be surprised when you get treated like animals.