Behold! The epic end to the Occupy Scranton permanent campground.

I’m reminded of that saying by Gandhi: first they laugh at you, then they laugh at you, then they laugh at you…

In all of its glory.

Yes, that man is wearing a dome shelter.  He wasn’t the only one.

Essentially, the Occupy Scranton people had dwindled down to a pair of shelters and a few people, and their permits had run out; when the cops came to finally break things down the Occupiers responded (after the obligatory claim that camping = free speech) by poking holes in the floors of said shelters and running away. Obviously, order was eventually restored. In fact, I am kind of impressed that the police handled things so well: if I had been on the scene then I probably would have concluded that the situation was really already too tense.

News report of the incident:

 
If that doesn’t load then… well. It was a scene where grown people – presumably ones with the franchise and everything – wrapped themselves in tents and ran away from the police trying to reclaim a public space. We’re all just going to have to deal with the fact that this is where things stand now in American public discourse.

(pause)

God save the Republic.

Moe Lane (crosspost)