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Elara
Posts: 7476/9734
Source

The shocking truth about the crackdown on Occupy
Naomi Wolf The violent police assaults across the US are no coincidence. Occupy has touched the third rail of our political class's venality

Naomi Wolf · 25/11/2011 · guardian.co.uk



US citizens of all political persuasions are still reeling from images of unparallelled police brutality in a coordinated crackdown against peaceful OWS protesters in cities across the nation this past week. An elderly woman was pepper-sprayed in the face; the scene of unresisting, supine students at UC Davis being pepper-sprayed by phalanxes of riot police went viral online; images proliferated of young women – targeted seemingly for their gender – screaming, dragged by the hair by police in riot gear; and the pictures of a young man, stunned and bleeding profusely from the head, emerged in the record of the middle-of-the-night clearing of Zuccotti Park.
But just when Americans thought we had the picture – was this crazy police and mayoral overkill, on a municipal level, in many different cities? – the picture darkened. The National UNION of Journalists and the Committee to Protect Journalists issued a Freedom of Information Act request to investigate possible federal involvement with law enforcement practices that appeared to target journalists. The New York Times reported that "New York cops have arrested, punched, whacked, shoved to the ground and tossed a barrier at reporters and photographers" covering protests. Reporters were asked by NYPD to raise their hands to prove they had credentials: when many dutifully did so, they were taken, upon threat of arrest, away from the story they were covering, and penned far from the site in which the news was unfolding. Other reporters wearing press passes were arrested and roughed up by cops, after being – falsely – informed by police that "It is illegal to take pictures on the sidewalk."
In New York, a state supreme court justice and a New York City council member were beaten up; in Berkeley, California, one of our greatest national poets, Robert Hass, was beaten with batons. The picture darkened still further when Wonkette and Washingtonsblog.com reported that the Mayor of Oakland acknowledged that the Department of Homeland Security had participated in an 18-city mayor conference call advising mayors on "how to suppress" Occupy protests.
To Europeans, the enormity of this breach may not be obvious at first. Our system of government prohibits the creation of a federalised police force, and forbids federal or militarised involvement in municipal peacekeeping.
I noticed that rightwing pundits and politicians on the TV shows on which I was appearing were all on-message against OWS. Journalist Chris Hayes reported on a leaked memo that revealed lobbyists vying for an $850,000 contract to smear Occupy. Message coordination of this kind is impossible without a full-court press at the top. This was clearly not simply a case of a freaked-out mayors', city-by-city municipal overreaction against mess in the parks and cranky campers. As the puzzle pieces fit together, they began to show coordination against OWS at the highest national levels.
Why this massive mobilisation against these not-yet-fully-articulated, unarmed, inchoate people? After all, protesters against the war in Iraq, Tea Party rallies and others have all proceeded without this coordinated crackdown. Is it really the camping? As I write, two hundred young people, with sleeping bags, suitcases and even folding chairs, are still camping out all night and day outside of NBC on public sidewalks – under the benevolent eye of an NYPD cop – awaiting Saturday Night Live tickets, so surely the camping is not the issue. I was still deeply puzzled as to why OWS, this hapless, hopeful band, would call out a violent federal response.
That is, until I found out what it was that OWS actually wanted.
The mainstream media was declaring continually "OWS has no message". Frustrated, I simply asked them. I began soliciting online "What is it you want?" answers from Occupy. In the first 15 minutes, I received 100 answers. These were truly eye-opening.
The No 1 agenda item: get the money out of politics. Most often cited was legislation to blunt the effect of the Citizens United ruling, which lets boundless sums enter the campaign process. No 2: reform the banking system to prevent fraud and manipulation, with the most frequent item being to restore the Glass-Steagall Act – the Depression-era law, done away with by President Clinton, that separates investment banks from commercial banks. This law would correct the conditions for the recent crisis, as investment banks could not take risks for profit that create kale derivatives out of thin air, and wipe out the commercial and savings banks.
No 3 was the most clarifying: draft laws against the little-known loophole that currently allows members of Congress to pass legislation affecting Delaware-based corporations in which they themselves are investors.
When I saw this list – and especially the last agenda item – the scales fell from my eyes. Of course, these unarmed people would be having the s*** kicked out of them.
For the terrible insight to take away from news that the Department of Homeland Security coordinated a violent crackdown is that the DHS does not freelance. The DHS cannot say, on its own initiative, "we are going after these scruffy hippies". Rather, DHS is answerable up a chain of command: first, to New York Representative Peter King, head of the House homeland security subcommittee, who naturally is influenced by his fellow congressmen and women's wishes and interests. And the DHS answers directly, above King, to the president (who was conveniently in Australia at the time).
In other words, for the DHS to be on a call with mayors, the logic of its chain of command and accountability implies that congressional overseers, with the blessing of the White House, told the DHS to authorise mayors to order their police forces – pumped up with millions of dollars of hardware and training from the DHS – to make war on peaceful citizens.
But wait: why on earth would Congress advise violent militarised reactions against its own peaceful constituents? The answer is straightforward: in recent years, members of Congress have started entering the system as members of the middle class (or upper middle class) – but they are leaving DC privy to vast personal wealth, as we see from the "scandal" of presidential contender Newt Gingrich's having been paid $1.8m for a few hours' "consulting" to special interests. The inflated fees to lawmakers who turn lobbyists are common knowledge, but the notion that congressmen and women are legislating their own companies' profitsis less widely known – and if the books were to be opened, they would surely reveal corruption on a Wall Street spectrum. Indeed, we do already know that congresspeople are massively profiting from trading on non-public information they have on companies about which they are legislating – a form of insider trading that sent Martha Stewart to jail.
Since Occupy is heavily surveilled and infiltrated, it is likely that the DHS and police informers are aware, before Occupy itself is, what its emerging agenda is going to look like. If legislating away lobbyists' privileges to earn boundless fees once they are close to the legislative process, reforming the banks so they can't suck money out of fake derivatives products, and, most critically, opening the books on a system that allowed members of Congress to profit personally – and immensely – from their own legislation, are two beats away from the grasp of an electorally organised Occupy movement … well, you will call out the troops on stopping that advance.
So, when you connect the dots, properly understood, what happened this week is the first battle in a civil war; a civil war in which, for now, only one side is choosing violence. It is a battle in which members of Congress, with the collusion of the American president, sent violent, organised suppression against the people they are supposed to represent. Occupy has touched the third rail: personal congressional profits streams. Even though they are, as yet, unaware of what the implications of their movement are, those threatened by the stirrings of their dreams of reform are not.
Sadly, Americans this week have come one step closer to being true brothers and sisters of the protesters in Tahrir Square. Like them, our own national leaders, who likely see their own personal wealth under threat from transparency and reform, are now making war upon us.
Rogue
Posts: 8197/11918
They're being "evicted," as it were. Can't say I really have any pity for them, in all honesty.

While corruption is obviously a massive foe to fight, I don't know what hanging around in the streets banging on bongos will do to convince anyone of anything.

Oh well. Enjoy some Triumph the Insult Comic Dog:
Elara
Posts: 7445/9734
So what do you guys think of the violence that is happening around the Occupy camps? Especially in Oakland. I don't see this ending well.
Katana
Posts: 3312/3649
This "Occupy" shit is pissing me off.

These bastards are in my way to and from school and work. And it pisses me off. I mean, I am ALL for people speaking up for what they believe in. And these "Occupy" things have good, non-violent intentions. Which I both recognize and respect, even if I don't agree with their mindset.

The ones I have trouble with, are the ones I'm running into that have next to NO idea why they're even there. It's infuriating to see that they fumble over their answers when I've asked some to explain themselves. Like...seriously...go the hell home if you're not going to be informed. And the next asshole that tries to get me to donate something to them while I'm going to work, is getting set on fire.
天国JOE
Posts: 2963/2999
Waaah I don't have a free ride these bongos and rasta hats won't buy themselves you know!!
Rogue
Posts: 8117/11918
Originally posted by Nelrith
I was of the assumption that Operation: Occupy Wall Street first started to protest getting Corporations out of Congress... when did it devolve to this?

The whole Occupy thing really has no unified mission. I mean, sure there's the whole being against corruption, but thus far there hasn't been any real demands. You know, unless you count all the drum circle stoners screaming the rich people give them all their money.

This video is just one of many different cries in the crowd.

The Daily Show briefly touched on how the Occupy movement has no real focus or agenda:


They also covered the protesters exploiting the bathrooms of the businesses nearby:
Cteno
Posts: 2445/3409
I was of the assumption that Operation: Occupy Wall Street first started to protest getting Corporations out of Congress... when did it devolve to this?
True Flight
Posts: 4643/5243
I have been paying attention to the news and I don't believe in ending the Federal Reserve. It's just... my pay comes from you guys at the moment. No offense I barely can live with the pay I get from your taxes anyway.



It really hit home though it kinda sucks that people don't understand that we make our money through sending out contractors and soldiers to the Middle East.

Here's a tip for every one if they listen. The reason people invest in certain corporations in the stock market right when we leave out is because they are WARFARE COMPANIES. Seriously if we are going to war what are you going to invest in?

HESCO (duh)
LANDWARRIOR (Double Duh)
The companies that make T Walls and Jersey Barriers (TRIPLE DUH)
and any metal crafting company for tanks and what not

=.=
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