Preoccupied "Zoo Creatures"

Gambling's "Zoo Creatures"

What started out in a privately owned park in New York's Manhattan as a day of protest has turned into a cottage industry unto itself, thanks in large part to a media machine sired by 1960's Vietnam War protesters; aging hippies who relish unrest and detest any form of "establishment", a particular irony that should be self-evident.

WOR Radio's morning talk show host, John Gambling, parks his car and walks past Zuccotti Park some mornings when it's still dark, and he's seen the vermin encamped there with his own eyes. It was Gambling who dubbed this sorry lot the "Zoo Creatures" on his popular show, and the moniker has stuck, at least locally. Even some of the inmates have noticed, holding up signs in rebuttal.

But the movement didn't stay in a small parcel of land in posh Manhattan for long, quickly spreading to urban areas across the nation, again aided by those who report such things with giddy glee, and the explicit approval of pampered celebrities who -- despite lifestyles most certainly defined as those of the one percent -- find themselves compelled to go slumming every now and then, just to show how "real" they are. (Susan Sarandon made a cameo appearance in Manhattan a few weeks ago on her way to her flight to Italy, popping out of a chauffeur-driven limousine like Punxutawney Phil long enough to show some "solidarnosc").

As this movement grows bigger and decidedly badder, it is still revered by the left even as the TEA Party movement is continually vilified, yet to date, there have been no arrests and no reports of misconduct at any TEA Party rallies since they've been operating. I won't belabor the point about the TEA Party, however, simply because the only "story" there is one of harmony and patriotic indignation over what has become of our great nation. Rally locations are routinely left in pristine condition and as mentioned above, there has been no reason for a police presence at all, other than to protect the demonstrators from outside mischief.

Occupy Oakland Disorderly Conduct

So let's now take a closer look at how this beloved leftist phenomenon -- the Occupy Movement -- has fared thus far. Five D's sum it all up rather neatly: Disorderly, Destruction, Depravity, Disease, and Death. To help keep things in perspective -- and as the "occupiers" repeatedly insist that none of the events are related to their movement -- try to imagine any of the following incidents happening at a TEA Party rally, and the ensuing mainstream media reaction.

As Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi fretted over the "rhetoric" of the TEA Party, inferring that it was a dangerous movement, but recently said of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement, "God bless them". Yet the occupiers have had numerous clashes with police and have displayed a complete disregard for authority. (The infamous defecating on a police car comes to mind). The occupiers have destroyed storefronts, smashed windows and littered every park upon which they have squatted.

Reports have come in from around the nation of rampant drug use, public acts of sex and general lewdness, and sexual assault. Throw in a little pedophilia for good measure; in early October, 24-year-old Richard Armstrong was arrested for sexual assault of a 14-year-old runaway girl at the Occupy Dallas encampment. There have beed several reports of sexual assault in the New York version of Occupy and another in Cleveland.

There also the issue of theft among the protesters, as in the woman who reported that her $5,500 Macintosh laptop computer was stolen. (One wonders which percentage of the population even owns such an expensive rig).

Next up is Disease, which is becoming more prevalent in the filthy conditions in which these people are living. In Atlanta, the Occupy base has been beset with reported cases of tuberculosis, and in New York's Zuccotti Park, protesters are contracting what's been dubbed "Zuccotti Lung" at an alarming rate. According to NBC New York:

With little sleep in cold conditions, cigarettes and drinks being passed from mouth to mouth, and few opportunities to wash hands, Zuccotti Park may now just be the best place to catch respiratory viruses, norovirus (also known as the winter vomiting virus) and tuberculosis, according to one doctor. 

The damp clothing and cardboard signs wet with rain are also breeding grounds for mold. Some protesters are urinating in bottles and leaving food trash discarded throughout the campground, providing further opportunities for nastiness.

It is frightening to think what may happen when these people return to the real world, possibly infecting the rest of us in the process.

And finally, we bring you Death, which has been on the rise at these Occupy camps. In Salt Lake City, Utah, a man in his 40's was found dead in his tent. Authorities believe the cause was a combination of drug use and carbon monoxide from a space heater in his tent. In Vermont, a military veteran committed suicide with a bullet to the brain, and in Oakland, California, a man was murdered by gunfire. And still, every news account I have read tries to distance these events from the movement itself.

Rules Were Not Meant To
Be Broken

It is time to disband these not-so-merry men (and women) before any more damage is done. I would recommend a period of quarantine prior to any of them being released to the public, for safety and health concerns.

This is no longer about the right to peaceably assemble or petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. It's now about the rights of others  and the rule of law. Perhaps to best describe what this has devolved into it would be prudent to add two more D's to the mix: Disaster and Disgrace.

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