I never equated the two movements, I SAID "You may be the only one on the planet who cheers on the riot police in Tahrir Square." Which makes no comparison, it simply points out that you so admire authoritarian tactics and brutality so much so that you certainly must admire the American trained Egyptian military abusing protesters. I mean that is your "thing", right?

I would be willing to go along with this populist uprising to tax millionaires, but only if there were a few caveats which forced them to invest in the economy.  I say, what the hell, tax millionaires at 65%, but give them tax breaks for creating jobs domestically.  If you are an optometrist and you open a new retail location, you get to deduct the entire cost of the finish out for that store.  Theoretically, the bigger the store, the more employees, the more jobs created, the more the tax breaks.

I completely agree with that. Money invested is not "income" when is is kept "on the street" creating employment. Why would a business owner be taxed on money not being declared as profit or income? Deducting the whole cost of a fit out or re-equipping in the first year is a common incentive here. Two years ago I re-equipped for exactly that reason, not 3 year amortization. This is common sense, nothing to argue about here.

Wiki

Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement.[1] Although satire is usually meant to be funny, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit as a weapon.

A common feature of satire is strong irony or sarcasm—"in satire, irony is militant"[2]—but parody, burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all frequently used in satirical speech and writing. This "militant" irony or sarcasm often professes to approve of (or at least accept as natural) the very things the satirist wishes to attack.

I suspect that 99% of jurors would exonerate the cop or cops who shot this shithead after catching him crapping on their cruiser...

“I see no irony in the words and sentiments of someone who believes there are times, and causes, that are worth defending.”

The irony is in YOUR quoting such a person!

I really don’t know  why this should be too difficult for you to get, but you still list nationalities in your posts. Sorting a person into a box is all you need to know, to judge that person. You would have been a good guard in a death camp, because that’s what it was about.  And now you will protest that this is not true because you are American and Americans can never be wrong, and even if they are they still have the right to kill everyone else who is not American, and of course every dissenter too. At the same time you claim antifascism for you—by virtue of your nationality of course.

Re-read your first paragraph, Alan. Tell me, do you still fail to see what you are doing there? It’s really incredible.

“I do see irony in the fact that someone who thinks taking up arms is never justified is critical of someone who understands there are times when it is the only choice”

Ah, and I suppose that you mean me by that. I’ve never said that. No matter for you: you aren’t interested in what a German actually said. You are American and claim the right to distort my words as you please.

So, is there any connection between the French resistance and the present movement? Clearly, yes. I suspect you, an authoritarian, friend of dehumanisation, advocate of torture, militarist, won’t like that: Stephane Hessel has called for exactly this resistance which you want to be fought.

I suspect that voluntarily you wouldn’t read a partisan’s words on the crises of our days, so you must be spoonfed:

In London, where I had joined General de Gaulle in March 1941, I learned that this Council had developed a program, which was adopted in March, 1944 and which porposed to Liberated France a set of principles and values which supported the democracy of Our modern country(1) . Of these principles and values, is that we need TODAY more than ever. It behooves us all together to ensure that our society is a society in which we are proud of: not of this society of undocumented papers, expulsions, suspicions against immigrants, not this society that challenges pensions, the achievemnets of Social Security, not this society where the media are in the hands of the moneyed classes, all things that we would have refused to endorse if we were the true heirs of the National Council of Resistance. From1945, after a terrible tragedy, it was an ambitious resurrection which engaged the forces present in the Council of Resistance. Remember, then they created Social Security as the Resistance wished, as the program stated: ” A comprehensive plan for Social Security, to ensure livelihoods for all citizens, in all cases or if they are unable to obtain them through work “,” a pension to the old workers to assure a dignified end of their days. “The energy sources, electricity and gas, coal, the major banks were nationalized. That’s what this program was still stating: “the return to the nation of the major means of production, produced by common sources of energy, wealth of the subsoil, insurance companies and large banks; ” the establishment of genuine economic  and social democracy involving the eviction of large feudal economic and financial  that directed the economy. ” The public interest must prevail over the interest individual, the fair sharing of the wealth created by the world of work override the power of  money. The Resistance said ” a rational organization of the economy to ensure the subordination of special individual  interests to the public interest and free from the dictatorship introduced to the professional image of fascist states”. A real democracy needs a free press, and the Resistance knows this and states “The press freedom, its  honor and independence againt the power of the State, the power of money and foreign influences.” That is what turns further orders on the press in 1944. Yet that is what is now in danger. The Resistance was calling for “an effective opportunity for all French children to benefit from the most developed education”, without discrimination, yet the reforms proposed in 2008 go against this project. Young teachers, which actions I support, were up to refuse to apply them and they saw their wages cut as a punishment. They were outraged, have “disobeyed” and found these reforms too far from the ideal of the republican school, too much in the service of the money society and not enough developing the creative and critical thinking. It is just the base of the social conquests of the Resistance which is now in question (2) .

The reason of the Resistance was outrage.

We dare say that  the State was no longer covering  the costs of these civic action. But how can it lack today the money to maintain and extend these achievements while production of wealth has increased considerably since the Liberation period when Europe was ruined? If not because the power of money, so fought by the Resistance, has never been greater, insolent, selfish, with his own servants into the highest echelons of the State. Banks are now privatized and  first show of their conscious dividends and high salaries of their leaders, not the general interest. The gap between the poorest and richest has never been so important, and the race for money, the competition has never been so encouraged. The basic pattern of resistance was indignation. We, veterans of resistance movements and fighting forces of Liberated France, we call the younger generations to stand up, to transmit the heritage of the Resistance and its ideals. We say take over, cry out!  The political and economic responsibles, the intellectuals and all society shall not resign or be intimidated by the current international dictatorship of financial markets that threatens the peace and democracy. I wish you all, to each of you to have your design indignation. Is invaluable. When something get you outraged, as I was outraged by the Nazis, then you have to become  an activist, strong and committed. We joined the stream of history and the mainstream of the history must continue through each. And this trend is towards more justice, more freedom but not this freedom of uncontrolled fox in the henhouse. These rights, including the Universal Declaration drafted the program in 1948, are universal. If you meet someone who doesn’t benefit of those, help him to conquer them.