Dear Officer Carnell,
18 May, 2012
A friend of mine showed me the January/
February issue of the Pax Centurion and I was
horrified, disgusted, and utterly confused with
the things you had to say about Occupy Boston.
I don’t see how you could say what you said
if you spent any time at Dewey Square. I spoke
with officers regularly and I got a lot of support.
Most of them understood why we were there,
even if they didn’t agree with our tactics.
If you were there, you would have seen us
struggle with building a fair, working society,
while dealing with people who were... “less than
politically motivated.”
You would have seen me, personally, sitting
there while drunken, distraught fathers of dead
soldiers screamed at me that I was a fascist pig
because I would not let them pour out their grief
when they wanted to, but they had to wait their
turn like everybody else.
You would have seen us standing in the rain,
listening to people who didn’t always make the
most sense, because we believe that Democracy
is more important than our own comfort.
And you’re a union! I saw your protests on
YouTube. You’re fighting for the same things
we’re fighting for! OB exists because the system
has become egregiously unfair to the vast
majority of citizens. You’re getting squeezed by
the 1% just as much as we are.
As a small businessman a few years ago, I
paid a 45% marginal tax rate on about $80,000
(31% Federal, 12% SSI, 2.13% Medicare).
Mitt Romney reported paying 11% on $27
million. Warren Buffett reported paying 16%
on $100 million. If they paid the same tax rates
you and I pay, there would be no deficit. You
know that’s wrong.
We cut school budgets to supply a $400 billion
tax cut for the wealthy.
You know that’s wrong.
Like many of my peers, I took an oath to
“uphold and defend the constitution of the
United States against all enemies, foreign and
domestic.” I believe you took the same oath. So
why aren’t you living up to it? It is your sacred
duty to protect the rights of all citizens, even
those of us who are being irritating and noisy
and uncooperative.
As a teacher, I don’t get to choose my students,
but I have to do my best for them, even
the ones I don’t like.
I cannot believe that a Boston Police Officer
could actually so discount the constitution, so
disrespect his fellow citizens, and so blindly
worship authority. So I assume that we pissed
you off real bad and we triggered a bunch of
long-seated, irrational prejudices and you said
a bunch of stupid stuff.
Therefore I would like to come down and
talk to you. I believe that Supt. Evans will vouch
for my integrity.
Sincerely,
Bil Lewis,
Citizen of the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts