One of the bars, which I sometimes visited with my Irish friends, was the Dublin House, on West 79th Street. It was an old bar, dark, long and dingy. I didn’t much care for it, but it was popular with the college students and of course the Irish.
As I read in the New York Post, one evening there was a tragic occurrence on the sidewalk outside the Dublin House. A young man had just bought some cowboy boots with engraved steel tips on the toes. Another young man made a joke about them, and the first young man, probably intoxicated, suddenly and violently kicked the offender in the face with his new boots. The other man fell to the pavement and died on the spot.
The man with cowboy boots, panicked and raced home. Then he hurriedly cut off his long hair, ditched his cowboy boots, raced to the airport and boarded a plane for Los Angeles. When the young man arrived at LAX, Federal agents were waiting for him. That is all I know of the matter, and that is all the New York Post reported.
I wanted some follow-up, but there wasn’t any. It struck me that the young man with the cowboy boots had never killed anyone before, and his attempt at escape was motivated by panic and desperation. But I, and probably many other readers, were left hanging without knowing what happened to the young man, or to the victim, or to their families.
***
In following up last week’s column, the Occupy Wall Street protests have grown substantially. More U.S. cities are home to throngs of protestors; and, according to Diane Sawyer of ABC News, the protests have spread to “250 cities and more than 1,000 countries.” I don’t know where Ms. Sawyer gets her facts, but there are (according to the U.S. Department of State) 195 countries. The number of cities with protestors is not exactly known.
Regardless, this is turning out to be a big event; the “99%-ers” are not only protesting the “1%” (people with considerable wealth) but some are taking the protests to the homes of billionaires. Whether this new development will spread nationwide is a good question.
Andrew Young, former Ambassador to the United Nations, describes the protests as an “emotional outcry” and not a “movement.” He has a point, because there does not appear to be any organization on a national level, clear-cut (or even attainable) goals, or a spokesman. The leader of the Civil Rights movement was the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, and many looked to him for leadership and guidance. By the time he was assassinated in Memphis, in 1968, much of his work had been accomplished, but by no means completed.
The Peace movement of the 1960s – 1970s lost much of its traction once President Nixon resigned. By then the Vietnam conflict was over, but the radical left remained in the form of two fairly confrontational (and often violent) groups: the Black Panthers and the Weathermen. Both groups became disillusioned with (or perceived the futility of) peaceful protest, and turned to more radical actions that would either overthrow, or severely destabilize, the U.S. government. Houses were bombed, there was an assassination attempt on the life of Gerald R. Ford, and many of the lawbreakers went underground. In the end, there were some sensational trials (The Chicago 7, Bobby Seale, Angela Davis, et al) and many of them did jail time.
So, from this vantage point in Oct. 2011, it is a good question as to what will happen next to the protestors in the many U.S. cities. Surely many of these people have families to support and jobs to go to, but perhaps they are imbued with a feeling of a mission: us against the super-rich/powerful/influential. But social upheaval is not inevitable, the way it was in France in 1789. I think the protests will eventually fizzle out, but nobody can predict what will happen down the road.
A contributor to the Variety online edition asked: “What’s that have to do with Saipan? Immigration?”
The answer lies in how big or small you perceive your world to be. Surely what happens in the Mideast and OPEC affects the prices of gasoline, fuel and electricity here. Incidents sometimes have global repercussions which may not be initially comprehended. On March 11, few could have foreseen that the disastrous earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear catastrophe in Japan would affect our tourist industry. And, whether the current Wall Street protests will have repercussions that will affect us here remains to be seen.
Immigration, status, visas and the like will probably always be subject to change. In California, Gov. Jerry Brown, recently signed the “Dream Act.”
This will allow undocumented aliens to apply for financial aid. Last June 23rd, President Obama issued an executive order which will grant amnesty to any illegal alien residing in the United States if he or she agrees to enter the U.S. military or enroll in college. This order came in the form of a memo to John Morton, Director of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), which gives them “prosecutorial discretion.” Whether this will apply in the CNMI is a question for the lawyers and the courts. Still one wonders if those without legal status can avoid deportation merely by enrolling at NMC or enlisting in the military here. If so, now that would be interesting.
An educator, the author resides in Oleai, Saipan.
