It took a week, but after further groveling and bowing and scraping before the dirty necked galoots who were camped out in McPherson Square, the US Park Police decided to enforce their own ban on tents and swept the Occupy DC site nearly clean:

Police closed McPherson Square after tensions escalated between the protesters occupying the park and the U.S. Park Police trying to enforce the no camping rules at the park.

Officials said it was relatively peaceful but got tense late Saturday when an officer was hit in the face with a brick as police pushed protesters out of the last section of the park. The officer was taken to a hospital for treatment.

It total eight people were arrested.

By early Sunday morning, McPherson Square was brightly lit up, with a heavy police presence, but no sign of the protesters who vow to return.

Some of the tents in the park are still standing.

Some of the occupiers have taken shelter at the nearby Luther Place Memorial Church. Others took shelter at the homes of people who support their cause.

One man told WTOP he was allowing some of the protesters into his home "because I feel sorry for them, because it's raining and it's going to get cold and windy."

One can certainly understand the desire to avoid violence, which is the main reason that the Park Police refused to enforce their own rules about camping in the park. But why isn't anyone asking the question; if this is such an all fired "peaceful" protest, why are the cops walking on eggshells about enforcing a few simple rules? A couple of dozen thugs menace the cops, threatening to "resist" eviction, and the police go all warm and fuzzy - pleading, cajoling, and ultimately delaying the inevitable.

One lefty commenter tried to make the point that if the government had enforced banking regulations as vigorously as they are enforcing regulations about demonstrations, the financial meltdown wouldn't have occurred. I doubt the assumptions underlying the premise of the statement, but even if true, it's a stupid analogy. Is the government not to enforce one law because it didn't enforce another? What kind of illogic is that? Pure sophistry, and not at all germane to the numerous health and safety problems presented by the occupy crowd to the rest of the city.

All this fuss over a couple of dozen protestors - national headlines, hand wringing, and ridiculous pronouncement about the "movement" and its popularity. The sane left has been moving away from these radicals for weeks. It's high time the press loses its starry eyed worship of these thugs and give them coverage commensurate with the size of their protests.