Pepper spray through the ages

HISTORY CAN only imagine what the late Abbie Hoffman and his Yippies of the 1960s might have produced if they had technology like Photoshop or Tumblr blogs.

But in 2011, we all can give holiday thanks for what supporters of Occupy Wall Street have cooked up in the wake of Friday's viral-on-the-Internet pepper-spraying episode - proof that satire may be the best form of social protest.

On Tumblr blogs like peppersprayingcop.tumblr.com - where these photos and many more can be found - virtual graffiti artists have repainted Lt. John Pike, of the University of California-Davis campus police, across the broad canvas of history, from Michaelangelo's "The Creation of Adam" to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon."

Indeed, Photoshopped humor is just one piece of evidence that the widely condemned action by Pike and his fellow officers - Pike and another officer clad in riot gear were caught on video pepper-spraying a row of peaceful Occupy UC Davis protesters, putting two in the hospital - has quite ironically breathed new life into the anti-corporate-greed movement.

Wrote the Atlantic's James Fallows, a former speechwriter for Jimmy Carter: "You don't have to idealize everything about them or the Occupy movement to recognize this as a moral drama that the protesters clearly won."

On the other hand, if you want one more ironic belly laugh, check out the product reviews on Amazon.com for Defense Technology 56895 MK-9 Stream, 1.3% Red Band/1.3% Blue Band Pepper Spray, at http://amzn.to/vU69fH.

- Will Bunch