A "First" word on the Fourth Amendment
by Thom Bone
There’s actually a real reason for a peaceful protest needing to stay peaceful even when being raided. A legal reason. There’s this thing called the Fourth Amendment. I shall post it in its entirety here, then explain it. “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Key words: unreasonable. Key phrases: shall not be violated, but upon probable cause By staying peaceful and in the public right of way only, police have to violate this amendment to take down a protest. By a protest refusing to give them “probable cause” by staying peaceful throughout, the police can later be proven to have been “unreasonable” and thus in violation of the protest group’s civil rights per the Fourth Amendment. Fail to stay peaceful, you’ve just give them probable cause to kick your head in and to pepper spray you without passing the salt. Make sense? Oh and to those that scream “First Amendment being violated here!” during a raid? GONG! WRONG. The First is never violated, ever. Not even when a protest is taken down. Everyone still has the right to free speech per the First all the way to jail--if they are dumb enough not to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights, that is. It is the fourth that is violated when this happens, not the First! Get it right, or you risk looking stupid to anyone with a brain (meaning: those with power, leverage or influence who might actually try to help you if you get a clue and at least prove that you won’t make them look like fools for bothering to try to help). Keep getting it wrong, you only alienate yourselves further. In short, the Fourth protects your right to exercise your First. In fact, in many cases they actually want to protect your First Amendment rights because it makes it easier for them to see who the troublemakers are. While you’re screaming your head off, you’re easy to spot. So they have zero interest in quashing your First anyway. Not knowing when to speak and when to shut up only helps those who are trying to violate your rights in the first place. And yes, the First guarantees your right to petition for the redress of grievances, I get that, but again, it is the Fourth that guarantees you the right to do it peacefully without interference, so long as you do not violate any laws while doing it. Learn. Learn. Learn. Oh and while I have your attention? I have some more news for you: DEMOCRACY DOES NOT WORK! How did you feel reading that? Was your first thought that I am some sort of extremist weirdo? If so, then you really need to keep reading. You have fallen into a propaganda trap that has been fed to you since birth and I’ll prove it. Being taught that this country is a Democracy is one of the biggest lines of ongoing bull that you have ever been fed in your life. I’ll explain. The founding fathers did not start a Democracy. They started a republic. This country has never been a Democracy. The founders actually hated pure democracy and with good reason. They believed that pure democracy silences the minority (even if they have great ideas). They also were very convinced that it doesn’t work and never had worked, long-term, because it turns into “mob rule.” A writing by James Madison, Federalist Paper #10, explains this in more detail. Google it? This nation was born a Republic. We even say it when we say the Pledge of Allegiance “…and to the Republic for which it stands…” and yes, I know that the words get interchanged a lot, but the truth is that a democracy and a republic are two very different things. They are not interchangeable. Democracy = minority is quashed, meaning majority, mob rule. Republic = minority voice is also protected by protecting the group as a whole. Democracy is more of a local level thing and does work fine in small groups, so it’s not totally outof-place. But it’s still potentially dangerous if that group does not recognize when they have outgrown it. For example: The stalemates that GAs in some Occupy cities and their inability to even agree on anything of substance due to infighting is already becoming an obvious problem. This is because of this fundamental misunderstanding and their adamant attempt to handle themselves in a way which DOES NOT WORK. They are too big for democracy now. If Occupy is going to evolve, survive and not implode or explode, it must evolve a level up and become more like a true republic. Otherwise, individuals will eventually lose their voice unless they are already in the majority, and new ideas could be squashed before they become popular. I myself have already seen it happening in groups nationwide (but quite a bit more than usual here in Seattle). Also, the “down twinkle” in Occupy needs to GO. Respect for all ideas, even unpopular ones, need to be heard and considered at ALL times. Nobody should be excluded who can demonstrate that they are trying to help the cause based solely on their ideas. That being said, I now have one more request to make to help you understand this better. it is CRITICAL that you do, I believe. A moment of your time and you can become a lot more enlightened and things will make a lot more sense. Please don’t screw yourself over by stopping now. Keep going. Take the time to learn this major distinction because it is incredibly important. Again, search engines are your friend. Just search for “difference between a democracy and a republic” for more info that I can possibly convey in this space.