. -JERRY M. LEWIS and THOMAS R. HENSLEY

kleinb100 posted this: http://hubski.com/pub?id=9255 which suggested that the pepper spraying of protesters at UC Davis meant "Kent State isn't too far off". After seeing the abuses of power throughout our country, I tend to agree.

I was recently speaking with a proudly conservative neighbor regarding the OWS movement and he told me that at first he regarded the movement as, "a bunch of lazy hippies" but after seeing more footage (thanks to citizen journalists.. NOT the msm) he has begun to "respect their resolve" and have "sympathy for their cause". This guy would never have said anything like this prior to seeing the pepper spray footage.

My point is that I think that the OWS movement is going to have (as Haldeman said re Kent) , "a direct impact on national politics". With the 2012 elections around the corner, I think the OWS movement has the ability to fundamentally alter the national conversation and to make pointed demands of our leaders.

It is my hope that 20 years from now, we look back at this time as a fulcrum point. I hope that it is viewed as the birthplace of a new engaged citizenry that holds its leadership accountable. A citizenry that speaks truth to power. A citizenry that values knowledge and ideas over celebrity and spectacle.

You may think it a fools hope, but I've been inspired by my fellow citizens locked arm in arm in peaceful protest. I'm proud of them.