In reference to the letters and articles by the left condemning the Oregon standoff and, for that matter, all demonstrations conducted by the right, why is it that when the left demonstrates (Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Oakland, Ferguson, Baltimore, WTO, and most all others) it is OK to destroy property, break civil laws, physically intimidate innocent people, close down streets and businesses, trespass, loot, attack police, resist arrest, etc?

The left’s demonstrations are basically mob scenes which are given free passes to do whatever they please by liberal administrations who either side with them or are too afraid to confront them or their organizers. Please recall the Glenn Beck “Restoring Honor” demonstration in D.C. on a hot August day in 2010 where some 100,000 people assembled — no property damage, no arrests, no garbage — and these people were demonized as extremists. I attended a tea party rally in Bellevue and brought a lawn chair and a Starbucks to casually listen to the speakers. No hate. No vulgarity. No violence. And, most of all, no Soros-financed, SEIU-indoctrinated professional rioters were bused in to show us how to loot Bellevue Square. Imagine that. It was what the First Amendment provided for: “right to peaceably assemble.” The left has no basis for labeling demonstrations from the right as even the least bit extremist. Not even close.

Tony Fortino

Everett