It looks like Occupy Wall Street is the beneficiary of another unforced error by the New York Police, who apparently enticed members of the group onto the traffic lanes during a Brooklyn Bridge march, and then rounded them up and carted them to the hoosegow. This pointless exercise got the cops some more bad press and another day of media attention on poor treatment of the protesters.
Every protest like this starts with a jumble of agendas, but the one message that the movement seems to be settling on is “We are the 99%”, and I think it’s a pretty good one. The mainstream media generally avoids discussing the topic of the growing gap between the very rich and the rest of us, and it certainly doesn’t connect it to healthcare reform, but almost every story on this simple but effective site is related to the fear or actuality of illness. The other theme is the inability to afford college and the debt associated with getting a college education.
Occupy Wall Street is essentially begging Democrats to disconnect from the easy corporate money and stand up for what used to be bread-and-butter Democratic issues.
beltane
Geeno
It’s strange how these things get started isn’t it? This looked like another pointless giant puppet exercise at first, but suddenly it’s taken off. My hat is off to Anonymous and it’s other organizers.
Robert
It’s illegal to walk in traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge. Anyone–an individual, a couple, a group, hundreds of protesters–who cross the bridge in traffic will be stopped by the police. This is one of the reasons why there are always cop cars parked on the Brooklyn Bridge.
I doubt the cops were going arm and arm with the protesters and swearing they would take them to the land of milk and honey. Know the laws before making a grand siege on NYC property.
Geeno
Robert, I believe it’s the entrapment angle that pisses people off.
debbie
Good for them. This afternoon, I’m going to my local library to sign the petition to repeal Ohio’s voter suppression bill. I wouldn’t have known about this without a robo-call from Sherrod Brown.
No puppetry, sadly.
Napoleon
@Robert:
On the radio someone who was arrested was interviewed stated that the police told her “you can use either the road or the sidewalk”.
Geeno
It would have been so much better with puppetry though, wouldn’t it?
gaz
Everyone should send the Brooklyn police a gift basket.
The police in NY are the gift that keeps on giving.
Keep it up officers! The PR is great!
wonkie
I’m fiesty when it comes to politics, but I also find hope to be a painful emotion. So so want occuply Wall Street to become a sustained movement. It’s what the Teahadists pretend to be: genuinely spontaneous, populist and grasroots. And absolutley necessary to show the Democrats how the hell they can get re-elcted . There are voters out here who want a political party that will respresent them!
Sincew I live in the other Washington I am a log way from any Occupy site. I am, however, helping to put togehter care packages. Occupy Wall Street needs food.
Mino
@Robert: Those aren’t all New Yorkers in that crowd you know.
beltane
@Geeno: It took off because it is about people’s money, about their standard of life, and not about things happening somewhere else to other people. I saw a FB post written by a friend’s Mom complaining that these protest didn’t have the lofty goals of the protests of the 1960’s. Well, the economic situation we’re in is not really conducive to idealism of any kind.
Mino
@beltane: Rather think idealism died a messy death in the late 60’s. I think it’s all trust but verify nowadays. And credibility is vanishing along with our prospects.
aimai
@Robert:
Have you ever been part of a big demonstration/walk? Its routine for the local laws regarding walking in the street to be suspended or ignored. In fact, its almost impossible for a single individual to go against the will of the crowd. In a big crowd you will be pushed out into the street regardless of volition.
Dealing with big crowds and protests is an art and a science–but whatever it is its the general practice of large police forces the world over. They even have a term for it: Crowd Control. Arresting large numbers of people at a peaceful rally is the essence of Fail. Good police work should focus, and does focus when its done at all, on making sure everyone in the crowd is safe as well as the bystanders and the city itself. This is done by being non confrontational and by guiding the crowd to keep moving slowly but surely towards its goal. Orange plastic should never be used to pen people in.
At the big anti war rallies Orange plastic and police barricades were used to keep the crowds moving on the sidewalks and then people were pushed back out of the street when they spilled over. People were forbidden to leave the area–since streets were blocked off on the sides. The Police also did not have, or pretended not to have, strict orders about how and when marchers were to walk. Like many other marchers I asked for directions on behavior form the Police but was routinely told “I don’t know” or “Its Ok to walk in the street or it was not ok to walk in the street.” Ask two or three different cops and get three different answers.
The police get the kind of rally/protest they want by sending mixed messages. There is no clear dividing line between legal and illegal marching in the street and to pretend that there is is to ignore the long history of block parties, rallies, marches and etc.. that happen every day in the big city.
aimai
amk
jpmorgan paid 4.6 mil protection money to nypd. Of course, there are gonna be arrests all over the place.
http://www.jpmorganchase.com/corporate/Home/article/ny-13.htm?TB_iframe=true&height=485&width=712
wilfred
They’re not begging anyone to do anything – as if either party is going to abandon corporate money.
This isn’t about party politics – it’s about class struggle. This petition is a start:
http://www.getmoneyout.com/
Baud
Seems like a real chicken and egg problem then.
beltane
LOL. Michelle Malikin is tweeting that the Occupy Wall Street crowd is 100% white. She must have white film over her eyes.
Mark S.
I think it’s a great one. I think it’s also why Elizabeth Warren is really striking a nerve. What she says wouldn’t be the least bit controversial 15-20 years ago, but now the overwhelming majority of our press and politicians are complete corporate whores she stands out now.
locomtivebreath1901
Alternative headline: Petulant, self-loathing, unemployed squatters seek to foul other people’s nests in quest for some neo-bolshevik utopia which apparently includes preventing other citizens from using roads they helped pay for. Or something.
Yevgraf
Since the protestors are essentially locked out of Wall Street, it occurs to me that a clean cut guy in a nice suit could wreak a shload of mayhem in the financial district with a lighter and a few packs of firecrackers.
It would be a worthy prank that could teach some valuable lessons.
Keith
Irony ensues as Sully is spending several posts commenting on the protestors not having a point due somewhat nebulous goals. How that differs from “We just want our country back” is beyond me.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mark S.: I also think the “We are the 99%” message will work well. In addition, Robert is either an idiot, a troll, or both.
beltane
@Keith: What, you didn’t think “Take the government out of my Medicare” was a nice, coherent statement? What’s the matter with you?
Mark S.
@Omnes Omnibus:
Or he’s never lived in a town of more than a hundred people. Has he never seen cops directing traffic? They sometimes tell you to do something that would normally be illegal. It’s crazy but it’s true!
cathyx
@Mark S.: One time a cop directed me to drive in the bike lane to get around an accident. He didn’t arrest me for doing it afterwards though.
Amir Khalid
Nice to see that reactionary elements in the NYPD are doing their bit to ensure the success of Occupy Wall street. I posted this in Anne Laurie’s garden open thread, but it really belongs in this one:
I see parallels between the original Reformasi demonstrations in 1998 and how Occupy Wall Street is playing out. I reckon more mainstream organizations like unions can be the ones to channel the energy generated by the street-protest side of things into meaningful efforts toward progressive objectives.
Keith
@beltane: Oh, yeah, there is that one, too. And also there is “We want to dress up in costumes!”
MariedeGournay
@locomtivebreath1901: not often I see such a pure example of ressentiment.
Omnes Omnibus
@Keith:
How else would they demonstrate their authenticity and patriotism? I mean, duh?
Mark S.
@cathyx:
One time I was leaving a sporting event and the cops blocked off a road and allowed us to jaywalk over to the parking lot.
It was fucking insane.
aimai
@locomtivebreath1901:
Good point. We should have officially privatized those roads already! I know the libertarians out there will be protesting the use of the Police/taxpayer dollars to keep the roads open in the first place.
aimai
Omnes Omnibus
@locomtivebreath1901: You aren’t particularly skilled at headline writing, are you? You managed to be both horribly wordy and stunningly inaccurate.
cathyx
@locomtivebreath1901: Are you a 1%er?
brendancalling
OWS demands, so you can explain what they want to your confused friends.\
beltane
@Omnes Omnibus: In recognition of his efforts, locomotivebreath1901 ought to be the lucky recipient of today’s David Brooks Award for Excellence in Wankery.
Judas Escargot
@Yevgraf:
Be careful what you wish for: I already find myself wondering when some “protester” in $500 loafers is going to try to incite a riot, just to give the cops the excuse they need. The window for discrediting and squelching the OWS protests springing up all over the country is rapidly closing for them.
Good luck to everyone there. All the videos I’ve seen show them to be orderly and peaceful, which is good (nothing pisses off the authorities more).
But may they be wary.
GregB
@Judas Escargot:
The Brooks Brothers rioters are waiting in the wings for their glorious return to the fray.
Bill E Pilgrim
@locomtivebreath1901:
Well at least you admit that taxes paid for the roads; usually libertarians want to deny that they use any government or collective resources at all and that if there were no taxes and no government they’d somehow still get to their Wall Street jobs by I don’t know, hovercraft or magic flying eels.
[email protected]aimai: Owe me a coke.
Yevgraf
The beauty of the firecrackers is that you do it in the district itself – the protestors have been embargoed from the district by the heavy police presence. Firecrackers will cause some screams and underwear changes, but as there won’t be a protestor presence, no reprisal will work.
piratedan
strange, the spousal unit and myself, after a depressing day of sports outcomes, ended up watching Capitalism: A Love Story off of the DVR last night. Made me think that beltane hit it on the head in that these are the politically active youth that were energized by the last presidential campaign and they are doing an end run around our storied institutions which apparently exist to protect them from the masses.
Allowed me to entertain fantasies of when they invade the Goldman Sachs building dressed up like corporate raiders and toss their servers into the East River, perhaps the new revolution can begin.
Amir Khalid
@Yevgraf:
@Judas Escargot:
Judas Escargot is right: such a firecracker stunt would be most unwise. It would give the more bloody-minded cops a justification to break out the pepper spray more freely, and maybe even the nightsticks.
Worse, it might cost the OWS movement a lot of well-earned goodwill and cancel out what they’ve achieved against the odds. Labor and other progressive groups might very likely rethink any support they were giving (or thinking about giving) to OWS.
Elizabelle
Good to hear the protests are gaining traction.
And the 99% website is good.
Glad to see someone doing more meaningful than turning off Fox News in the hotel breakfast room. (Only thing I’ve done so far today. No one was watching it, either.)
beltane
The firecracker stunt is a horrible idea. No, no, no. I don’t care who does it or why, all I know is that it would be used as pretext to label the whole Occupy Wall Street Movement as “terrorists”. Not cool.
Linda Featheringill
@Judas Escargot: #36
That window is closing. I suspect that those-who-would-squelch have ignored the window because they lack respect for the protestors.
becca
Money is like manure. Spread it around and things grow. Shovel into a big pile and it just stinks.
(Paraphrasing Atrios post I read.)
Bill E Pilgrim
@cathyx: Actually once a Swiss traffic cop directed me into a closed lane in the snow while she was distracted looking the other way. I’m fairly certain she was Italian though because of the hand gesture she made once she turned and saw where she’d sent me, this one, at about 1:50 in the video.
I felt exactly the same way basically and made the US equivalent, hands spread wide and eyebrows raised. It was quite a tableaux for a few seconds as we both sat there signing “WTF??” to each other, before sorting out where the hell she actually wanted me to go.
I somehow doubt that the NYC cops can plead that they were distracted and looking the other way while waving seven hundred people into the wrong lane, but I guess they could try.
Mino
The sound of firecrckers would be sure to set off some of the cops. Don’t even think of it.
barath
I’ve been in the “this might be pointless” camp regarding this protest for a while, but I was impressed by their first public statement that was released a couple of days ago. It had a certain eloquence to it and reminded me (in structure if not content) to the declaration of independence.
Linda Featheringill
@barath: #48
The Declaration of the Occupation of New York City:
My goodness, children. What do we have here? My, my, my.
gaz
@beltane: Maybe we could just throw cake at the pigs on the balconies.
That and some dijon mustard? =)
Corner Stone
“Earlier in the afternoon, as many as 10 Department of Correction buses, big enough to hold 20 prisoners apiece, had been dispatched from Rikers Island in what one law enforcement official said was “a planned move on the protesters.”
Police Arrest More Than 700 Protesters on Brooklyn Bridge
Looks like it could be considered entrapment, as the police clearly planned significant action against OSW.
H/T through TalkLeft
noodler
I was there yesterday, for reasons other than the protest, but that’s another story. There were two marches across the pedestrian promenade with no adverse effects, and even a police escort. Blocking the roadway was another story entirely – and a much rowdier crowd there (and Ron Paul signs!). Police behavior was courteous, but I really felt for those protesters, cuffed and standing in the rain shivering, for quite some time. There were plenty of videographers/legal aid types on the walkway getting names, numbers and info from those arrested (google video search/image search has plenty).
As for other civilians caught up in this (notwithstanding being a vital commuting artery, the Brooklyn Bridge is quite a tourist destination, and romantic enough if you’d have it), and when both Brooklyn and Manhattan pedestrian accesses were closed for a time, we were all trapped there – “The Manhattan side is closed – walk to Brooklyn” and then “The Brooklyn side is closed – walk back to Manhattan” At least I got my exercise. And then it rained.
Lot’s of shaking heads, as in what’s this? Occupy what? Darn, this is going to make me late, miss my appointment, blah blah blah…. One astute comment: Why don’t they just vote?
Mino
@noodler: One astute comment: Why don’t they just vote?
Astute?
Corner Stone
@noodler: “Democracy: It’s Inconvenient!”
Shinobi
@noodler: If the police had just let the protesters finish crossing the bridge it would have only been an issue for a half hour or however long it took the protesters to cross the bridge.
They forced those protesters to stop in the middle of the bridge and block traffic for several hours. Surely they could have waited until they had finished crossing the bridge to pen in the protesters who had caused a disturbance and start arresting them.
The police handled this in the most dangerous and least efficient way possible. (Sure penning in a huge crowd ON A BRIDGE is a great idea. They are lucky no one panicked and people did not fall off. I credit the “people’s mic” with that, not the police.)
RossInDetroit
@Corner Stone:
Thaaat’s interesting…
They rolled out the paddy wagons before the supposed violations occurred?
Scott P.
Yeah, I think that proposal is nuts. I am in favor of public financing of campaigns (although Obama has shown that unconventional methods have a lot of power), but if you ban all political contributions, then politics will revert to 19th-century style machine politics, as that will be the only way to get large amounts of votes. Not to mention that the proposed text could easily be used to criminalize any American citizen who clicks on a political website and provides web ad revenue to that campaign.
Baud
FWIW, this guy on Reddit claims that the cops told the protestors not to get on the bridge, and they knowingly disobeyed.
Kirk Spencer
@Baud:
Given they were being led/escorted till halfway across I find myself doubting this person’s post. He may have heard an officer saying it, but it’s obvious others were saying differently.
barath
@Linda Featheringill:
Not sure I follow…
Willam Hurley
At what point in the growth and expansion of the Occupy Wall St and affiliated actions will Obama and/or his emissaries seek to co-opt their sacrifices for the President’s political gain?
Will it be after or prior to his most generous campaign contributors – Wall St firms and financiers – decide to reverse the collective largesse they rained on him in 2008 leaving him to mine the pockets and check-books of “average” Americans as he pursues his $1,000,000,000 fund raising goal?
Villago Delenda Est
@locomtivebreath1901:
Oh, the snark is strong with this one.
Not that the vermin of the Village wouldn’t try to pull something like that, mind you.
Corner Stone
@RossInDetroit: I’m not really sure. The block I quoted from the article is the only part that addresses the specific possibility. And there’s not a lot of context supporting it.
I personally think this was a planned move by the police, but the NYT article doesn’t 100% support that conclusion.
Corner Stone
@Willam Hurley: I’m not sure how President Obama is tangential at this point.
I for one hope he stays out of it, just like I preferred he stay out of the Wisconsin protests.
Kola Noscopy
So when will the Democratic Party, led by Barack Obama, take this step? Tomorrow? Friday?
I’m looking forward to hearing the news…
Villago Delenda Est
@Shinobi:
I strongly suspect that up the chain of command a lot of serious pointy-headedness was involved in the way this was handled.
This reeks of upper-management incompetence.
Jennifer
@Scott P.: I wouldn’t go so far as to call it nuts. I’ve basically been in favor of a similar type proposal for the past 20 years or so – except mine would restrict campaign giving to only those citizens eligible to vote. That language gets rid of corporations, PACS, etc with one specific, well-defined sentence. Then, there should be language specifying that each citizen eligible to vote can give up to a maximum of X dollars to any candidate or issue campaign per cycle, indexed to the rate of inflation. In other words, the Koch Brothers could contribute the same $2000 per cycle to Mitt Romney as I could (if I could afford it) give to Obama. The other provision would spell out that money is not the equivalent of speech. Wealthy people would still have more influence on the process (as they always have and always will have) but it wouldn’t be the lopsided mess it is now where they have the ONLY influence on the process. And yes, it must be in the form of a constitutional amendment – otherwise, we’ll end up right back where we are now.
Keith
@Baud: They were probably thinking that anything coming from someone named “Tony Baloney” had to be in jest.
William Hurley
@Corner Stone:
I’m truly curios as to your reasoning. Care to share?
gene108
Principles and ethics mean nothing, if you don’t have the money to respond, in the face of a barrage of negative and false ads about you.
I absolutely guarantee any anti-big business Democrat, thanks to the Citizen’s United decision, will face an unprecedented amount of blistering attack ads from 3rd party groups, who are “not coordinating” their attacks with Republican candidate.
Unless us little guys somehow find a way to make little donations and/or grassroots organization cancel out corporate cash’s impact on elections, you can’t expect a politician to decouple themselves from the corporate teat; it’s not in going to help them win elections.
Zagloba
[tinfoil=TRUE] Definitely a false-flag operation by a sympathizer within the police department aimed at getting sympathy for the OWS protesters.
Mino
@Baud: Marchers have video of the cops leading them. Too savvy to fully trust the cops, this bunch.
Corner Stone
@William Hurley: Right now, OWS seems to be breaking through. Gaining some small foothold in the public’s consciousness. Maybe that will continue, and I hope it does.
But, IMO, linking this protest in any way to President Obama, either as an indictment against his bankster supporters or requesting leadership on this issue from the administration, will cloud and ultimately distract from what’s happening on the streets.
I’d prefer to not give rabid Obama supporters any angle to distract from what I believe is a good thing going, and Obama’s detractors no foothold to make this about a purely crass political/ideological spectacle.
IMO, it’s bigger than D/R politics.
Mino
@Corner Stone: The NYT article changed from reporting that they had been led to a more negative edit. That’s been documented too.
wilfred
The window that the Wall Street Occupiers have opened is the one that looks out on something different. Just like the police try to ‘kettle’ the protesters into one area, the two party system tries to kettle the minds of the public into thinking that the only possibilities are the ones made available by the two party system.
The idea is not crazy – it’s just different. That creaking sound we hear is the American psyche being pried open to something genuinely different for the first time in almost 40 years.
Up the rebels.
Mino
@Villago Delenda Est: Maybe the Masters of the Universe dreamed it up. They are so creative, you know.
jeff
@Kirk Spencer:
From all I read, which is a lot, it sounds like some of the protesters at the front decided to take the roadway as an act of civil disobedience. Others, probably most, did not understand what was going. Still others say they asked the police and were told to keep going.
Mino
@gene108: I wonder what sort of donations Elizabeth Warren will take? Didn’t Russ Feingold run on small donations?
The quality of the candidate has a place in this equation, too.
Jennifer
And also, too: lots of folks have commented that the goals of the protest don’t seem very well defined.
AFAIC, just focusing on the vast chasm between the 1% and the rest of us is exactly what’s needed. Let’s face it – overconcentration of wealth in too few hands is what CAUSED the housing bubble in the first place, and everything that’s flowed from it. Yet it’s the one thing the media and the politicians won’t even whisper about. That’s the root of our economic problems. If the protestors can wake up everyone to that fact, they don’t need any other goals; they will have done a huge service. Because the media sure as hell isn’t going to let the word out on it.
artem1s
@Mino:
yes.this. to this day there is disagreement about how the shooting started at Kent State. even if the cops don’t go off, people can still get killed in a stampede. and then we are off to the races with Marshall law and curfews. also.too.democratic convention 1968. this could very easily end up hurting the wrong people.
Keith
@Jennifer: The general meme is that their goals are not well-defined, but that is a common trick of right-wingers; saying something isn’t there that is. They have done this to Obama for his whole term (i.e. “Where is the jobs plan?”…”It’s on the web site”…”Where is the jobs plan – in writing?”…”OK, here it is in writing.”…”This isn’t a jobs plan”). The substance ultimately gets lost in the noise.
nancydarling
@Jennifer: In addition what about restricting donations to only people who live in the district,state, etc. and all those donations have to be spent in the district where donated. Thus we could all donate to a presidential campaign, but only Arkansans could donate to our senatorial campaigns.
Zagloba
Marshall is tired of your shenanigans ;)
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
With the balloon-juice.com Occupy Wall Street news blackout lifted, “the one message that the movement seems to be settling on is” –
On September 21st, 2011, Troy Davis, an innocent man, was murdered by the state of Georgia. Troy Davis was one of the 99 percent.
Ending capital punishment is our one demand.
On September 21st, 2011, the richest 400 Americans owned more wealth than half of the country’s population.
Ending wealth inequality is our one demand.
On September 21st, 2011, four of our members were arrested on baseless charges.
Ending police intimidation is our one demand.
On September 21st, 2011, we determined that Yahoo lied about occupywallst.org being in spam filters.
Ending corporate censorship is our one demand.
On September 21st, 2011, roughly eighty percent of Americans thought the country was on the wrong track.
Ending the modern gilded age is our one demand.
On September 21st, 2011, roughly 15% of Americans approved of the job Congress was doing.
Ending political corruption is our one demand.
On September 21st, 2011, roughly one sixth of Americans did not have work.
Ending joblessness is our one demand.
On September 21st, 2011, roughly one sixth of America lived in poverty.
Ending poverty is our one demand.
On September 21st, 2011, roughly fifty million Americans were without health insurance.
Ending health-profiteering is our one demand.
On September 21st, 2011, America had military bases in around one hundred and thirty out of one hundred and sixty-five countries.
Ending American imperialism is our one demand.
On September 21st, 2011, America was at war with the world.
Ending war is our one demand.
.
.
Jennifer
@nancydarling: Sure, why not. That would be easy enough to put into writing: “only citizens eligible to vote may contribute to candidate or issue campaigns, and then only to those candidates who will directly represent the voters’ district, state, or other designated geographic region for the office they seek.”
Or something to that effect.
Back in the day when I led Common Cause in my state, I proposed this to the national; their initial response was, “well, this would cut out unions.” I replied that yes, it would, but that’s kind of inevitable – you either want to get the third-party players out of the system or you don’t, and unions are one of those third-party players. Given that they grow weaker every year, there wouldn’t be much impact felt from shutting them out if we could also shut out everyone on the corporate side – to the contrary, Democrats would probably find themselves much better funded than Republicans, even without union support.
Jennifer
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: We could cover all of this, and you as well, with “Ending stupidity is our one demand.” Though sadly, this will never come to pass, as it’s the human condition, as you demonstrate whenever you show up here.
Amir Khalid
@Jennifer:
The downside to this is that cutting unions and other NGOs out of the equation because they span across local/state geographical boundaries is probably not beneficial to the health of grass-roots political movements. They have traditionally been an important part of such movements.
NGO = non-government org. (I’m not sure if the abbreviation is commonly used in the US.)
Frankensteinbeck
I continue to be utterly unimpressed by the original Occupy Wall Street movement. In a bizarrely ironic way, that is why anything is happening now.
The media fucked up, bad. Desperate to make the Democrats look as crazy as the Republicans, they focused on this protest as the face of liberalism. And suddenly there was a spotlight for every other angry liberal group to get in on. Since the narrative MUST be upheld, OWS has to remain the face of the liberal movement no matter how huge or popularly sympathetic it looks.
This pleases me.
SiubhanDuinne
@Amir Khalid:
As long as you don’t start mentioning QUANGOs.
Evelyn
I’m on the media/outreach team at Occupychigago, and I can say that while it’s nothing official, OccupyChicago (which had 400 at peak yesterday) is pushing the slogan “We are the 99%.” It is a great slogan because it is all inclusive, and non-partisan, which is what the Occupy movement is all about. It’s also really easy to chant.
In Chicago, we are creating a new flier once a day that has the face of a real protester who is out there trying to make a difference. You can check out that project on the OccupyChicago website. They are updated daily (today’s isn’t up yet), and there will eventually be 99.
There are so many different thoughts and discussions happening down at HQ. A point a friend made to me last night was that this is not so much a leaderless movement, as it is a movement of leaders. The excitement is palpable and we get new people from all walks of life every day.
Elie
@Yevgraf:
Yeah. GREAT idea!
Weren’t you the guy who advocated giving the demonstrators guns the other day?
You gotta thing withat bang sound or something?
Barry
@Robert: Read the post, please.
singfoom
From what I’ve read, it sounds like entrapment. Riddle me this, if the cops didn’t plan on arresting all of them, why would they have the paddy wagons and processing center for arresting a large crown in the center of the bridge?
Regardless, most of them are free now and have returned to Zucotti park. Keep it OWS, more people are watching every day.
(Posted this yesterday, but there was no OWS thread)
Bill E Pilgrim
@Amir Khalid: In the US it usually has the letters “BI” in front of it.
Loneoak
Here’s very clear documentation of the change in reporting from the NYT.
Rather outrageous, IMHO.
singfoom
@Loneoak: But but, if you block traffic on the bridge you will be arrested. Yeah, this was a trap. Too bad they all fell for it, all but 20 are released at this point…
maya
Wanna talk about leaderless…..I still don’t know who the leader/s of that so-called, “grass-roots” Tea Party is/are? Has that been established yet? Daddy God and Baby Jesus, fellas, it’s been over two years now and I still can’t figure it out.
Is there a Tea Party Central Committee? Who’s on it? Michele? Sarah? Charles? David? Or is it all just another one of those intelligent design mysteries? Tide in, tide out. And where is the funding coming from? Piggy banks and Tricorner hat street corner bell ringers? Intertubz donations? Check box,”other”?
Can any OWS scoffing rightwing troll reading this please help me?
FlipYrWhig
The OP ends with the notion that Occupy Wall Street wants something from Democrats. I’m not wholly up to date, but that doesn’t ring true to me. If anything, it seems like the point is to be The People signaling discontent with corrupt institutions of all kinds, with very little discussion of partisan politics — and, if that’s true, so much the better. A call for the Democratic party to stand up for Democratic values is going to fall on many fewer receptive ears than a call for people to stand up against entrenched power. Making OWS a vehicle for Democratic glasnost and perestroika diminishes what it wants to be. YMMV.
Corner Stone
@Frankensteinbeck:
Your analysis is incorrect. There was a virtual media blackout on OWS. They were not being reported in any way by traditional media.
And I’m sure they will suffer your unimpressed status.
singfoom
@FlipYrWhig: I with you on this Flip. I would say based on the rhetoric coming out of OWS, that it’s a pox on both your houses from a political party point of view.
The Democrats won’t let go of that wall Street Cash, because then the Republicans will get it all.
Public campaign financing, when do we need it now? How will we get it? Fuck if I know…
It’ll be interesting to see how the parties react to this movement.
Evelyn
@FlipYrWhig:
The Occupy movement is non-partisan, and this is something we stress every day. We looking towards our goverment, but it’s not aimed at Democrats.
eemom
can I tell my little story about the time the unauthorized Falun Gong parade made me wait 45 minutes to cross Pennsylvania Avenue, while the cops just stood by and yawned, again?
Frankensteinbeck
Corner Stone:
Is there? I can be wrong, and it sounds like I am here. I’ve been busy and way out of the loop the last couple of weeks. But if this isn’t getting media attention, what has it accomplished at all? Wall Street still doesn’t care.
Energizing Democratic voters is always a good thing, mind.
Mino
There may be some unintended consequences to this, however.
Do the Masters of the Universe think Romney can save their asses?
Corner Stone
@Frankensteinbeck: They jumped up when a white shirt “higher” police official maced women who had been “kettled”.
From there a few local unions have voted to support them and there seems to be a focus on what’s next. IMO, the 700 or so arrested recently will make this a real imbroglio for the NYPD.
Wall St may or may not care. The protest isn’t asking them to be better citizens.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
@Jennifer:
Please explain how it is that balloonbaggers always, relentlessly, and without cease, believe that simply making an assertion makes it true.
If that requires too much self-reflection, hater, then please explain what in my post above was indicative of my “stupidity.”
.
.
Kyle
@Willam Hurley:
From what I’ve read, Wall Street donations to Obama are way down from 2008, some blather about “hurt feelings” because he used the term “fat cats” in a speech one time, and has been slightly less cronyist than what they’d come to expect from the Bush thugs.
A typical Obama fail, sucking up to his enemies, in this case with years of incredibly bank-biased legislation and handouts, and getting little for it while shafting his supporters. As with the Repuke congress, so with Wall Street.
WaterGirl
Suggestion? In this age of google and search engine algorhythms, instead of abbreviating to OWS, I suggest the use of Occupy Wall Street (in long form). Every little bit helps.
boss bitch
Moat Democrats do the right thing. Its always a handful that join with Republicans in being assholes.
Jennifer
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: Everything in it, since you pulled it all out of your rear.
Barry
@noodler: “Why don’t they just vote?”
Gee, maybe, just maybe, they voted for ‘hope and change’, and got ‘Wall St Rulz, f*ck everybody else’.
Uriel
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: Well, this part right at the beginning is pretty stupid:
given that the list you put up has already been posted and discussed here a number of times this week. And since that one sentence is the only part of that post you actually contributed, well….
Cat Lady
Yeah, let’s let all of the Republicans off the hook and focus on the Democrats to insist that they unilaterally disarm. If that’s what OWS wants, then screw that. There needs to be more focus so that Republicans more than anyone need to feel the tip of this spear. Moar better game plans plz. kthx.
William Hurley
@Kyle:
Indeed, the Banksters got their “fee-fees” hurt when Obama signed Dodd-Frank.
Never mind that he approved the “back-door” bailout to the tune of $16,000,000,000,000 to save their insolvent asses!
And you’re right, as recent reports tell it, that the 1-percenters have curtailed their “charitable” giving to their political functionary residing at 1600 PA Ave.
With the potential of missing his/Plouffe’s fund-raising goal by hosting $5,000/plate dinners and bulk, Super-PAC gifts, the rest of us face an onslaught of White House guilt trips over their needs.
Still, the OFA team believes that courting Simpson & Bowles is politically wise and forgoing the enforcement of accountability on the Banksters an absolute necessity.
William Hurley
@Corner Stone:
I agree, OWS is “Bigger than Barak” and “Bigger than Banksters” and “Bigger than the Brahmins” (shout-out to Martin Lomasney).
The spread of OWS-alikes across American cities adds to the excitement. I wonder if Democracy for America, the Howard Dean inspired grass-roots organization will reach-out – when appropriate – to aid them in establishing practices that allow it to survive and thrive for the long run.
The impulse to co-opt the movement will be one of confused self-importance and hysteria over diminishing credibility on the part of the O-Bots. Desperation carries an unmistakable, sour odor.
Cat Lady
@William Hurley:
LOLWUT?
WaterGirl
@Cat Lady: I wondered what the hell that meant, too. I thought maybe it was just me.
Cat Lady
@WaterGirl:
Some kind of new firebagger meme I guess, but he’s going to have to translate it into Obot for me to understand.
WaterGirl
@Cat Lady: That made me chuckle out loud. I am trying to figure out why some folks seem to think that Occupy Wall Street is bad for Obama.
FlipYrWhig
@Cat Lady: I imagine William Hurley’s posts being read aloud in the voice of Dr. Smith from “Lost in Space.” It helps.
AA+ Bonds
@Geeno:
It didn’t, of course. What it looks like is a Rorschach test that is making less-than-enthusiastic Democrats feel embarrassed about themselves.
AA+ Bonds
Also, time for anyone who wants to get Democrats elected to stop using the term ‘firebagger’.
‘Firebagger’ is over. Get with it.
AA+ Bonds
@William Hurley:
^ Republican plant, paid for by the Kochs. Guaranteed. Wise posters will ignore and block this individual.
AA+ Bonds
@Frankensteinbeck:
Ha ha, well, it sure is good for you and the rest of us that none of them gave a fuck what you thought, isn’t it?
I expect you’ll be apologizing profusely now. “How Do I Demonstration?”
priscianus jr
@aimai:
kimp
I guess i do not understand when teachers and firefighters and police officers became th enemies. I remember that we used to encourage our children to become one of them.