first they came for the migrants...

     SLATE online article from Saturday, headline:

"Watch Philadelphia Police Put 85-Year-Old Rabbi in Handcuffs During ICE Protest"

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Reader Comments:

^   Good on the police for how they conducted this arrest.  We can argue about the "should," but the "how" was respectful and professional.


^   The administration has made it very painful at actual ports of entry (waiting period of weeks, attempting to survive for their hearing).

This is being done to induce desperation in the applicants and force them to cross at unrecognized points to surrender to agents.

Subsequently, they are charged with that crime of crossing illegally and denied asylum based on that criminal record.

It really is very Nazi.


^   Give 'em hell, Rabbi


^   Civil Disobedience requires accepting the consequences - which he did


^   Silly Rabbi...Cages are for Kids!


^   I have never been arrested in my life.  I think I'll put that on my bucket list.  What can be better than being 85 and arrested for standing up for what is right?


^   The handcuffs seem excessive though.  Saying, "Sir, you are under arrest and need to come with me, after I help you up" would have done the job.


^   I imagine it's protocol


^   The officers appeared respectful and solicitous.  He was breaking the law - civil disobedience.  They did their job in a manner that I wish we would see much more often.


^   This goes back to MLK, Gandhi, etc.  If a law or government action is unacceptable, you peacefully protest and accept the repercussions in a way that underlines the badness of the law / action.


^   How about kneeling during the playing of the national anthem?  Is that an acceptable form of protest?


^   Absolutely!


^   That guy knows what's up.  

That's some good protesting.  

He only inconveniences the people he's against, he's sympathetic by dint of his age and standing as a religious leader, and he's willing to stick with it peacefully until they're forced to do something that will look bad in photos and in the headlines.

That's some outstanding work right there.

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