My Personal Thoughts on NATO

photo credit Christopher Vaughn

THANK GOOD-NESS NATO is over.

CHICAGO stood tall, beautiful and with grace.

Politics is politics.

There is no pleasing everyone, but I always applaud discussion.

I am always repulsed by violence and aggression, and equally turned off by pestilence, provocateurs and propaganda.

Thereby, I no longer have ANY respect for the OCCUPY movement.

From their Social Media display, they enticed, incited and were completely dishonest in what was going on downtown on the ground. It was almost as if they were mocking true civil uprisings like the Middle East's Arab Spring altercations. It made me physically ill. This is not NYC, Chicago Police were not in any way blocking demonstrations. Some of these "kids", as I will call them, were confrontational, disrespectful, and not at all on point with the message of the 99%.

The organized, and smaller more true, demonstrations were actually nice and drew support. Most moving moment? Veterans returning their metals. This spoke volumes, but the "kids" even managed to sully that powerful statement.

My personal highlight - Attending a forum at The Chicago Council on Global Affairs . The Honorable Madeleine K. Albright and Honorable Melann Verveer led a spirited discussion on women taking their power seriously and spearheading change across the globe.

It was ironic that while so many great minds were convening on planetary goals, and inspiring grand thought, our youth were cracking sticks over policemen's heads and spitting on them.

I understand the need to oppose war, but meeting violence with violence and having temper tantrums like two year olds is simply not the way...

Overall, a beautiful weekend that hopefully will give way to a better way for all to learn, co-exist and think outside the box.

photo courtesy of Houseonahillorg