Game changer!

So the Tea Party faithful held a protest in DC today which was duly addressed by the leading Crackpot Cons who build their own personal reality for them. It was billed as a Million Man March but looking at the photos I'd say 2-3 thousand max at its height and I'm probably being over generous. And a dozen big trucks that showed up for the Ten Thousand Angry Truckers Convoy circled the park while a few dozen true conservatives tore down the gates around the War Memorial. But according to conservative math (real numbers are skewed!) close enough to live up to the billing. Besides, look at all the media there. Oh and those guys with the huge Confederate flags? Obviously librul plants sent in to taint their friendly, non-partisan gathering with the ultimate symbol of overt racism. (Not that we noticed anyone asking them to leave.)

Well, it was mostly friendly anyway. No doubt inspired to action by the surprise appearance of Tea Party temptress Sarah Palin, who is still writing important notes on her hand, (and perhaps a chance to make the nightly news), a group of excited Tea Party enforcers attacked police officers at the event.

It's being touted as a real game changer by the true conservatives on the internets. Suppose they're right. They're running the ball in the opposite direction of their own damn goalposts. They're about to score for the opposing team. Please proceed...

[photo via]

Pepper spray blows back on the perps

Sometimes, just saying you're sorry isn't enough. Especially when it's obvious you're mostly feeling sorry for yourself. So when you pepper-spray a few peaceably assembled students practicing passive resistance, this is what happens next:

The twitter machine tells me there was somewhere between 10,000 to 15,000 at the General Assembly. Hard to judge crowds, but this wider angle suggests it was certainly thousands.

Bless the brave protesters who put themselves in harm's way on the front lines. The harder the authorities crack down, the bigger the movement grows. [photo credit, photo credit]

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

And the beat goes on

Former poet laureate of the United States, Robert Hass tells the story of his beat down at the hands of California law enforcement:

Earlier that day a colleague had written to say that the campus police had moved in to take down the Occupy tents and that students had been “beaten viciously.” I didn’t believe it. In broad daylight? And without provocation? So when we heard that the police had returned, my wife, Brenda Hillman, and I hurried to the campus. I wanted to see what was going to happen and how the police behaved, and how the students behaved. If there was trouble, we wanted to be there to do what we could to protect the students.

Once the cordon formed, the deputy sheriffs pointed their truncheons toward the crowd. It looked like the oldest of military maneuvers, a phalanx out of the Trojan War, but with billy clubs instead of spears. The students were wearing scarves for the first time that year, their cheeks rosy with the first bite of real cold after the long Californian Indian summer. The billy clubs were about the size of a boy’s Little League baseball bat. My wife was speaking to the young deputies about the importance of nonviolence and explaining why they should be at home reading to their children, when one of the deputies reached out, shoved my wife in the chest and knocked her down.

My wife bounced nimbly to her feet. I tripped and almost fell over her trying to help her up, and at that moment the deputies in the cordon surged forward and, using their clubs as battering rams, began to hammer at the bodies of the line of students. It was stunning to see. They swung hard into their chests and bellies. Particularly shocking to me — it must be a generational reaction — was that they assaulted both the young men and the young women with the same indiscriminate force. If the students turned away, they pounded their ribs. If they turned further away to escape, they hit them on their spines.

NONE of the police officers invited us to disperse or gave any warning. We couldn’t have dispersed if we’d wanted to because the crowd behind us was pushing forward to see what was going on. The descriptor for what I tried to do is “remonstrate.” I screamed at the deputy who had knocked down my wife, “You just knocked down my wife, for Christ’s sake!” A couple of students had pushed forward in the excitement and the deputies grabbed them, pulled them to the ground and cudgeled them, raising the clubs above their heads and swinging. The line surged. I got whacked hard in the ribs twice and once across the forearm.

Those are just excerpts. Chilling story. Read it all at the link. But a charming ending.

On Thursday afternoon when I returned toward sundown to the steps to see how the students had responded, the air was full of balloons, helium balloons to which tents had been attached, and attached to the tents was kite string. And they hovered over the plaza, large and awkward, almost lyrical, occupying the air.

[photo credit]

The silent shaming

More powerful than the loudest chanting. UC Davis Chancellor Katehi leaves the building.



[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Who are these Occupy protesters?

The pictures are dramatic:

But the photo doesn't tell the whole story. Meet Elizabeth Nichols, another pepper spray victim of law enforcement run amok.

...Elizabeth Nichols, a 20-year-old originally from Arkansas who moved to the West Coast about six months ago and made her way from Seattle to Portland a month later. Her mother, Annie Nichols, said after the photo was taken, police threw Elizabeth to the ground and arrested her. Annie, who is housebound with multiple sclerosis, said Elizabeth joined Occupy Wall Street because of her parents' dire situation. "I have no medical care. I'm not eligible. My husband's disabled ... We live on one disability check. No, we don't live. We exist. Lizzie knows this. That's why she's doing this." Elizabeth, whose mug shot is posted at left, wasn't always an activist, Annie said. "She never took part in anything like this. Of course, it's Arkansas. There isn't a lot of that here." The Portland Police Bureau website says Elizabeth was charged with second-degree trespassing.

I'm sure we can all agree that such a heinous crime as "second-degree trespassing" justifies a face full of toxic chemicals delivered by the hand of those who swear to "serve and protect" the public.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Nearly poor

So they redid some census stats, using much better cost of living metrics. Much to their surprise they discovered there are millions of poor people in the United States.

All told, that places 100 million people — one in three Americans — either in poverty or in the fretful zone just above it.

They're calling them the "near poor." People who make just a little more than the official poverty level and when you factor in their cost of living, it's damn little. Shockingly, the Heritage Foundation disapproves of this designation. They feel it overstates their quality of life. After all, they're not actually starving. And don't forget they own refrigerators and cell phones. But moving back to the study:

Perhaps the most surprising finding is that 28 percent work full-time, year round. “These estimates defy the stereotypes of low-income families,” Ms. Renwick said.

You can bet most of the rest of the "near poor" are working part time year round as well. Because that's the only kind of job they can get. Those would be the really nearly poor, who also qualify for some social safety net assistance. Like Walmart employees. But wait, we have more surprises:

Another surprising finding is that only a quarter of the near poor are insured.

Shocked. Shocked to learn that people who are struggling to make ends meet for the bare necessities of life can't afford to pay exorbitant rates for private health insurance. Who would have thought?

News flash for all those on the fainting couch over these shocking statistics. These people have always existed and have nearly always been ignored. In the old days, we called them "the working poor." Don't make enough to get ahead, but make too much to qualify for social safety net assistance, which they're mostly too proud to take, even if they did qualify.

I know these people. Hell, I've been these people off and on in the course of my long life. This is the long standing reality for millions of Americans:

“Living paycheck to paycheck,” is how she describes her survival strategy. “One bad bill will wipe you out." [...]

Ms. Sheppard pays $2,000 in rent and says her employer classifies her as part time to avoid offering her health insurance, even though she works 40 hours a week. Unable to buy it on her own, she crosses her fingers and tries to stay healthy.

“I try to work as many hours as I can, but my salary, it’s not enough for everything,” she said. “I pay my bills with very small wiggle room. Or none.”

But Republicans say she should be paying more of civil society's costs so the ultra-wealthy "job creators" can keep more of their "own" money. This is the future most of our young people can look forward to. But still, the very serious people can't figure out why the Occupy movement protests.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Regulating Free Speech

UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi makes a statement about the horrifying attack on the peaceably assembled students at her university.

“We take this responsibility seriously,” Katehi wrote. “We are accountable for what occurs on our campus. Campus policies generously support free speech, but do included limited time, place and manner regulations to protect health, safety and the ability of students, staff and faculty to accomplish the university mission.”

This is so wrong on so many levels. Limiting free speech to "time and manner regulations" means it's not free. Restriciting dissent to only specific zones and only at specific times is not a generous policy. It's a subversion of free expression. The university must of course be concerned for the safety of all of its students and faculty, but it's impossible to see how the pitching of a few tents endangered anyone.

This didn't just happen this week, or this year. There's been a growing trend on campuses nationwide, especially since 9/11, to cage free expression in narrow, and often literally caged in, free speech zones. Absent a clear and present threat to bodily safety, this seems to me to be a direct violation of not only the spirit, but also the letter of long standing law.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Police attack passive protesters

The media insist on describing every interaction between law enforcement officers and Occupy protesters as confrontations. This was not a confrontation. This was an unprovoked attack by police against passive protesters.

Look at the videos:





It's clear the cop sprayed these kids directly in the face because he told them to move and they decided to engage in the time honored practice of passive resistance. The police were free to simply remove them physically. There was no need to spray them with a toxic substance as if they were nothing more than a swarm of pesky insects.

The police defend this needless attack, citing fear:

UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza said officers used force out of concern for their own safety after they were surrounded by students.

“If you look at the video you are going to see that there were 200 people in that quad,” said Chief Spicuzza. “Hindsight is 20-20 and based on the situation we were sitting in, ultimately that was the decision that was made.”

By all means, watch the long version video. The police weren't surrounded until after they pepper sprayed defenseless students. The police were armed with high powered guns. The students were not armed with anything but their voices. The students made no menacing moves towards the police. And pay special attention to the pepper spraying cop in these videos. Even as the police are leaving, he's still obviously agitated and brandishing the pepper spray can in a threatening manner. It appears to me, his fellow officers are urging him to back down.

And by the way, this is the "huge encampment" that the university considers such a threat to the learning environment. This necessitated an armed police response? Really? [Many more photos at the link.]

Meanwhile, though I didn't see it on the video, there are reports of students injured by being pepper sprayed directly into the mouth and Joshua Holland of AlterNet reports, "One of those UC Davis students, a brave young woman, was reportedly hospitalized w chemical burns."

Similar incidents are happening all over the country where concerned citizens are exercising their right to peaceably assemble in protest. This is not what democracy looks like. It does however pretty well fit the description of a police state.

HIPPIES!

By Capt. Fogg

With the Florida Coven of the Republican Party making the Visigoths look like Cub Scouts these days; arguing that a prohibition of "Dwarf Tossing " is destroying American jobs, I think I'm more than justified in a certain lack of restraint when describing the moral character of that party as having everything to do with gaining power by any and all means, and having nothing whatever to do with making the US a real Democracy. These days it's as much about making the news a series of passion plays meant to obscure and often reverse the facts as it has been about suppressing votes and Gerrymandering.

The practice of dirty tricks has come a long way since Richard Nixon. Tricky Dick used the media to convince us that the media was lying and that the vast and silent majority was a small and unpatriotic minority. That hasn't changed. What has changed is the confidence level that allows them to strongly support something one day and denounce it in hyperbolic tirades on the next according to tactical needs.

It's possible to denounce Wall Street brokers and banks; insist that we let them die and scream about it in the streets with tea bags stapled to three-cornered hats, yet support the same corrupt and unpunished entities passionately by denouncing the same sentiments; associating them with "hippies" in fine old 1968 style two generations after the last real hippie got a haircut and went to work on Wall Street.

And yes, you're damned right that Fox News is the Joseph Goebbels of the new Right. You'll remember how ACORN was smeared and destroyed by patched together video, You'll remember fake video made to look like millions were at Republican rallies, but you're less likely to remember that fake video was used by Brit Hume to denounce Iraq war protesters in 2003 as "hippies" -- Protesting the Protesters documentary and other fake documentaries like Indoctrinate U that was intended to show how righteous "conservatives" were being censored at those hotbeds of hippieism, the Universities. You may then not be surprised that the same saboteur behind those atrocities, one Evan Coyne Maloney, has been at work on the sidewalks of New York, handing out rolling papers with pictures of Che Guevara and bongs so that the recipients can be filmed with them and another invidious documentary can be patched together so that we can be Foxed again.

Never mind that the streets are filled with veterans and economists, businessmen and others who demand respect and deserve to be heard, Fox wants them out of the way and can think of no better way than to dredge up hoary straw men in tie-died T-shirts. Look! that investment banker, that war veteran, that Nobel Prize winning economist: HIPPIES! COMMIES! DRUG FIENDS! HATERS OF OUR SACRED CAPITALIST VALUES!

Has any nation been able to stand; been able to avoid catastrophe, been able to maintain the illusion of freedom under such an internal assault?

Occupational Hazard

By Capt. Fogg

I first heard of it a few days ago from a blogger noted for outrageous claims, but I have been late to pick up on the ploy, even though it has been used against liberals and liberal causes for some time. Similarly overbearing "conservative" commentators once assured me that of course Bill and Hillary Clinton were obvious anti-Semites and if you're old enough to read this you'll remember that Barack Obama was of the same racist, intolerant and bigoted stripe and perhaps even a Hitler Sympathizer and Muslim terrorist.

Of course there's always an anecdote, a selected collection of irrelevant or even fabricated 'facts' to prove the point -- and of course and strangely, those making the claim aren't often Jews. I've learned to discount these attacks, of course, you should pardon the metaphor, for many reasons including the observation that the accusations most often come from iron fisted defenders of a faith only they call Christian and who have only suddenly and temporarily stopped accusing Jews and other infidels of persecuting them. ( Sorry Muslims, you'll have to wait your turn for forgiveness.)

So for now, this week only and especially for you, I'm offering 99.99% off (what a deal) on the notion that the Occupy Wall Street people are really there to express their anti-Semitic notions about bankers and brokers and not their antiestablishmentarian anger at those who accepted massive and expensive rescue only to continue their shoddy practices to the detriment of the public and national survival.

That's a sentiment strangely similar to the Tea Party disdain for government bailouts, and the strange bed-fellowship implied here is difficult to sweep under the rug for those who need to look like the only ones discontent with the status quo on Wall Street. So how do you make the Tea Party look good and other people with the same idea look bad? You find something or someone atypical or irrelevant and promote it or him as the prototype.

The Jewish Journal today reminds us of the infamous "protocols of the Elders of Zion" that was used by Czarist supporters to identify the feared and hated Jews with socialism, a practice not unknown to this day and a book that was printed by "Christian" organizations around the world until recently -- if indeed they've stopped. I certainly remember the promotion of Abbie Hoffman to leadership of the many disparate and mostly respectable protesters in Grant Park during the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. I was there and I'd never heard of him until I heard on the news that he was my leader, but of course it was enough to taint the many clergymen, Vietnam veterans and business leaders with the yellow star.

The fear of being labeled a racist of any stripe is, I think, being used quite deliberately to downplay the legitimacy of this protest. It isn't enough to play up the numbers of people who are making a mess of the city and its public and private facilities, particularly for a party trying to wear the mantle of some 18th century destructive, anti-Government protesters. It's hard to convince us that they're really secretly Mexican illegals or African Americans demonstrating their disdain for enterprise and civility, but anyone can be a Jew, or at least accused of it and so the sudden concern by the Religious right that their best friends are being offended on these holiest of holy days, by those unwashed, free loading, anti-Semitic hippies who seem to be gathering around the world calling for regulation.

And of course President Obama we already know to be a Jew hater and if he tries to impose regulations on the Jew-Dominated financial and banking interests, we have additional proof that regulation equals bigotry and not just Communism - just don't think about it too carefully and you won't notice the absurdity -- and if you do, the Tea Party will turn on you too, you bigot

Big protest in Arizona, media MIA

Any time 3 or more tea party people show up in a public place the media swarms in with wall to wall coverage and ponders on the message sent by these "real" Americans. But I'm told thousands showed up in Arizona today to march in protest of the Arizona's "show me your papers" law and as far as I know, not one cable network showed up to tell the story.

Guess this crowd is too "colorful" to cover. [photo]

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]

Oh Baby, Ohio

It was 40 years ago today that four American students were gunned down by our own National Guard. They wrote songs about it.



Kent State remembers, Ms. F remembers and so do I -- like it happened yesterday. I can still feel the same horror welling up today as strongly as it felt on the day the news broke.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]

No, the White House didn't shut down DADT protest

This is depressing. Politico throws up an incendiary post yesterday implying the White House shut down a DADT protest and chased reporters from the scene. The problem is the White House had nothing to do with it, which the Politico added as an update once they bothered to get a statement from the Park Police. They didn't note the update in the headline and numerous blogs and media websites still feature posts with the incorrect insinuation that ran for hours uncorrected on the Politico site.

Politico also stated, "People who have covered the White House for years tell me that's an extremely unusual thing to do in an area that regularly features protests." Well, maybe they should have asked someone who has been protesting in the park every day for 27 years. Doubtin' Thomas recently died, but his co-protester "Concepcion Picciotto, continues to hold vigil in Lafayette Park [24/7] with photos of victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings." Thomas's diary notes numerous occassions when the park was arbritrarily closed during protests during decades past.

In 1990 demonstrators protestind Iraq sanctions were arrested for attaching signs to the White House fence, "violating a ban on such stationary protests." Just a month ago, Cindy Sheehan and others were arrested there and the sidewalk was closed when they attempted to paint on it with mud. It would appear that shutting the park is SOP when the fence or sidewalk is "breached."

The only one I saw exercising due diligence on this story was Tommy Christopher at Mediaite. Unlike Ben Smith, he called the Secret Service and confirmed they had nothing to do with it, before he posted his piece. It appears this was nothing more than an over-zealous park cop enforcing existing regs.

In any event, the press wasn't kept out for all that long. Mark Knoller prevailed on one of the cops to call his superior officer and clarify the reason for keeping the WHPC at bay and they were allowed back to the fenceline shortly thereafter.

Personally, I think the most telling part of the Politico video is the reporter who can be seen "calling the move 'outrageous' and 'ridiculous.'" He also said something along of the lines of, sure it's okay to move the civilians out, but we're the White House press corps and deserve special treatment. You think leaping to blame the White House has nothing to do with the fact they're pissed off Obama isn't giving them exclusive access to his every move? I think it has everything to do with it.

Related: Wonkette discovers a hilarious one paragraph summary of Politico's win the morning technique.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]

For What It's Worth

The best protest song -- ever. Kind of works for the tea party tantrums, but in reverse.



Didn't get back here last night because I was on the phone with a long lost friend and we had a lot of catching up to do, but I have a couple of good links if you're interested in how the tea party went. I'm kind of burning out on the whole thing myself. I have a feeling the movement will implode long before November except for the GOP front group Tea Party Express.

For instance there was supposed to be a big demonstration in my little city yesterday from 1:00-4:00. It was organized by some local radio shock jock who told the local press it was going to be big. I strolled down with my camera at about 2:30 and there wasn't a soul there. In fact there wasn't any sign that it even happened and there's nothing in the local paper about it, at least not on line.

The local fail aside, the DC event went on as planned, though I've heard it wasn't as big as the last one. Certainly the breathless media coverage has been toned down a bit as well. Much as I hate to link to WaPo, they posted some good interviews with the protesters. Astounding to see a lawyer expound such deluded views. It does take a certain amount of intelligence to pass the bar, yet this guy was talking just like any kool-aid soused FoxBot. Why don't these people ever fact check?

The other most interesting piece is this short video of counter-demonstrators marching through the tea party with a sign thanking President Obama for the tax cuts that 98% of Americans received. I find it especially telling that these teabag thugs who want everyone to listen to them are so intolerant of anyone who disagrees with them that they hound them off publicly held land with threats of violence. It's their protest. Apparently only their dissent is patriotic - or something. Yet they wonder why normal people accuse them of being clueless and selfish.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]

Activism Matters

Some updates on various protests I've flagged here in the last week. Glad to see the anti-Bankster demonstrations getting some tradmedia exposure. LAT covers the angry crowd outside of the annual Bankster confab. It seems I mistakenly said earlier it was in NYC. It actually happened in Chicago.

I was glad to see TPM cover the 350.org protest. They posted a a good slideshow with some photos I hadn't seen yet. But the motherlode of pictures can be found at this 350.org Flickr page. They are literally hundreds of shots. Just looking at the thumbnails of the various albums turns up some really lovely shots. Heartening to see this is an international grassroots effort.

Meanwhile, via The Grand P it seems 75 GOP House members introduced a resolution to honor the "gazillions" of people who took part in 9/12 Teabag protest. The GOP is so funny. They're worse with numbers than I am. Underestimate the impact of stimulus spending, ignore the savings of a public option for health insurance, but see 50,000 protesters and it looks like millions.

And as I said, I'm just not going to get worked up yet about the reform bill based on media speculation but it wouldn't hurt to keep the pressure on the obstructionists. Via Adam Howard, these are the Senators who could still kill the public option.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]

Pros and Cons

Worth a thousand words. Reform supporters.


Anti-reform protesters


And then, at the same rally -- this:

One sight was perhaps a little un-nerving to those in charge of making sure everybody remains on their best behavior.

A man, who decided not to give his name, was walking around the pro-health care reform rally at 3rd and Washington streets, with a pistol on his hip, and an AR-15 (a semi-automatic assault rifle) on a strap over his shoulder.

"Because I can do it," he said when asked why he was armed. "In Arizona, I still have some freedoms."

Two police officers were staying very close to the man.

"What he is doing is perfectly legal," Detective J. Oliver, of the Phoenix police department said. "We are here to keep the peace. If we need to intervene, we will intervene at that time."

Photo at the link. Judging from his comment, assuming the gun guy is anti-Obama 2nd Amendment activist. I'm not a person who believes stricter gun control laws will protect the public, but I can't help but think it's the false rhetoric stoking up anxiety about guns being taken away that precipitates this sort of display. There are days that I begin to think we might need to rework the "incitement to violence" aspects of the First Amendment. [photos via Mark Knoller]

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]

With a bullet in their head...

I have a long linky post at DetNews listing all the death threats and guns and such at the town hall meetings I've collected over the last few days. It's a long list. But I found this video to the most disturbing illustration so far, of the crazy that has taken over the far right.



The man in the white shirt with the megaphone is shouting:

“Why are we bankrupting this country for 21 million illegals who should be sent on the first bus one way back from wherever they come from. We don’t need illegals. Send them home once. Send them home with a bullet in their head the second time. Read what Jefferson said about the Tree of Liberty — it’s coming baby.”

Never a good sign when a guy like that starts calling you baby. But I'm just as struck by the woman, who bears a remarkable resemblence to Michelle Malkin from behind, calling Obama a dictator. Not the barest flicker of memory or recognition that under Bush they wouldn't have been allowed on the streets.

I have to tell you, I'm not easily frightened but these people are really starting to scare me. There is no proof you can show them to change their minds. In fact, if you show them proof that can't be refuted logically, they just call it a lie and get even crazier. A bill will be passed. No telling what they'll do then. I'm really starting to get scared.

[via Shakes]

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]

Oh baby, Ohio

The massacre at Kent State happened 39 years ago.



I remember the horror I felt when I watched the live footage, like it was yesterday. They died for peace. May they rest in it also.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]

Tea Party follies

Media Matters has more today on Fox *News* going all out to promote the Tea Baggers, going so far as to run screens behind the anchors calling them "FNC Tax Day Tea Parties." I guess it's a good thing that the Foxsters are defining the mission for them because clearly, the participants don't have a clue what they're mad about, they just know they're mad.

They're learning how to get into protest mode though. An NYT editorial reports on a recent party and finds they have slogans now.

“Liberty, yes! Tyranny, no!”
“Keep your socialistic dance! We don’t want to live in France!”

And it notes the obvious irony.

Before you could say “Marquis de Lafayette,” it was time to hurl tea. A man with a megaphone gave a warning about littering. Then a bagpiper led the crowd through the harbor town’s loveliest taxpayer-supported amenities, from the municipal gazebo in the municipal park, across the municipal parking lot and down the municipal dock.

They cheered raucously for the symbolic tea toss and in a great show of commitment to the cause, immediately left for Skipper’s Pub before the ceremony was over. Apparently to show their support for the drink specials.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]

Stop Loan Sharks

This revolution will be televised.

Hundreds of people trying to save their homes from foreclosure flocked to Connecticut's wealthy Gold Coast this weekend to give financial kingpins a piece of their mind. [...]

"We can’t let them live quietly in a lap of luxury while they throw hard working Americans out on the street," NACA explains on its Web site. "This action is within our legal rights as Americans to peacefully protest and meet with those who control our family’s livelihood."

The title of the post is the slogan on their bright yellow tshirts. I figure we'll be seeing more of them. Surely, it's only a matter of time before the Red State Army Strike Force starts staging counter-protests. Should be colorful.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News.]