In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the rulings powers of New Orleans had to make some difficult decisions.  One difficult issue had to do with the demolition of 4,500 units of low income housing by the feds, who were busy trying to push 30,000 poor people out of their lovely trailer homes.  Into where, no one can say, but you can only live in a federal trailer for so long, you know.

The issue was a hot one, and hot issues bring people out to voice their opinion.  And people came out. A lot of them, and they tried to let the powerful know what they thought.

Police officers tried to keep protesters out of the Council chambers once all the seats were filled. Demonstrators tried to push through some iron gates to get in when the police used what appeared to be pepper spray and stun guns; at least two protesters needed medical treatment.

There was also a brief fight inside the chambers, and the police ejected some demonstrators. About 15 protesters were arrested, the police said, mostly on charges of disturbing the peace.

I am in no position to express a view as to who was right on the topic, but I am in a very good position to say that this is wrong.

Our republican form of government anticipates a wide swathe where the people, those insignificant little bugs that crawl all over decisions like this that impact on the powerless, get to let the powerful know how they feel.  That’s how things are supposed to work.  Important public officials get elected because of generalized public trust, but not because they are god-like on every issue that comes before them.  Sometimes, they need to be reminded that there are people out there who hold certain beliefs.  They aren’t required to pass-through the views of the public, but they can damn well pay a little attention to them.

The protesters in New Orleans sought the opportunity to be heard.  They were sprays and tased for their efforts.  They were tossed out of the meeting.  There was nowhere near enough room for those who wanted their views to be noted to find a seat to watch government in action.

Now I realize that some will say that they behaved poorly in this effort, and that they got what they deserved because they didn’t stay in a single file, or sit with their hands folded neatly across their lap, or wait patiently for their turn to speak.  These are folks who believe that order is more important than freedom when it comes to making political decisions.  It’s one view of politics. 

There are few responses to the pro-order folks, who applaud the use of force to keep the rabble down.  First, you are unAmerican.  Our forefathers appreciated the need to grab the attention of their rulers, and happily did so with guns.  When the powerful won’t pay attention to the powerless, American tradition is to make your presence known with whatever methods are available.  America wasn’t founded on order, but on freedom.  If you want to believe in America, then you have to put up with some of the messier aspects of our birthright.

Second, government does not trump the people, but is the people.  We’ve lost this concept somewhere along the line, when we started to treat public servants like rock stars.  Sure, they want us to view them as “leaders,” and we want them to be leaders, but they are entitled to lead only because we let them.  When elected officials are allowed to disconnect themselves from the people, particularly the least powerful of the people, they lose their legitimate authority to act.  I know it seems like they have all the power, but it comes from the bottom up.  Don’t every elevate the servant to the master.  But who am I to tell you that, right?

And finally, the resort to force against the protesters by police reflects a pattern that needs to stop.  We do not give police guns and shields so that they can violently quell anyone who doesn’t do as they command.  Like our political leaders, they are paid to protect and serve the public.  Those protesters are the public. 

Demanding that their public servants hear their voices is not a crime of violence, to be met with violent force by police.  When are we going to get past the idea that because cops have weapons, that means they are entitled to use them?  At least they didn’t shoot anyone.  I guess that’s a positive.