The Occupied Winter of Our Discontent

The only thing better than the Occupy movement refusing to go into hibernation is watching the panicked reactions of the political and media elites to this deviancy.  They are shocked, shocked at this failure of people to go dormant. The protesters simply have no respect for political caucuses and commercial events like the Rose Bowl Parade, and Lady Gaga giving tongue to Mayor Bloomberg at New Year's Rockin' Eve.  Nothing -- not police batons, not encampment breakups,  not public derision, not attempted co-optation, not pretending they just don't exist -- is making the 99% shut up and go away.


Take DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, for example-- all fired up and ready to go with her Pro-bama talking points as she arrived in Iowa.  And the first thing reporters asked was if she will meet with the protesters. She was visibly miffed at being forced off-message. "I just got here at one o'clock in the morning!" she fumed. "I mean, really!"


She grudgingly admitted that Occupiers "have a right to be frustrated."  She carefully did not add that they also have a right to protest and demonstrate, probably referring to the "die-in" at a Des Moines hotel in which 50 Occupiers lay down in protest of Obama's signing of the NDAA.  This factual event simply does not jibe with the campaign propaganda that Obama is a warrior for the middle class and not an eviscerator of the Bill of Rights. Wasserman Schultz's claim that Occupy is in Iowa to protest mainly against Republicans does not hold water, and she knows it.  So the Democratic machine is taking the "maybe if we ignore them, they will go away" route.


Not so some Republicans, just itching at the chance to do real, physical damage to the protesters. The Heartland shall not be outdone by the paramilitary thugs on the liberal coasts, by golly!  From Politico:

Iowa state Rep. Clel Baudler predicted that potential protestors at his caucus site in Adair County should expect a response that "will be swift and it will be sure."
"Since I'm not a state trooper anymore, they probably won't be handcuffed - but I have friends," Baudler said. "If an officer asks for help, I will help, believe me."
"We're just not going to tolerate in rural Iowa what's going on in the big metropolitan areas," Baudler said. "A little thump therapy never hurt anybody."

Meanwhile, if you watched yesterday's Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, you may not be aware that Occupy had its own floats in its own parade.That's because corporate TV network CBS chose not to include the giant vampire squid of Wall Street float in its show. (Though they made sure to include the dead stuffed horse of Dead Roy Rogers.  His name was/is Trigger. That was to subliminally remind the political class that the rentier class wants those spending cut triggers of the failed Supercommittee to be pulled, post-haste). Here is how Dave Dayen of Firedoglake described it (h/t Kate M.):

The alternative march, known as Occupy the Rose Parade, (happened) in full view of the attendees in the stands who (were) asked to remain seated as the protesters promenaded down the avenue. It’s part of a larger movement featuring remnants of the core of several Southern California occupations as well as disaffected activists, all struggling to figure out how to advance what burst onto the scene this fall and best achieve meaningful political and social change.

(Pics and video can be found here.)


And while you may have been watching coverage of the docile herds of New Year's Eve corporate-logoed zombie revelers in Times Square on TV the other night, there was no coverage of the attempted retaking of Zuccotti Park and the ensuing police brutality and crushing of press freedom we have come to expect from Bloomberg's fascist fiefdom. The cops are telling The New York Times that they have unlimited power now.  And they like it.  Like pitbulls who are born and bred to clamp down and never let go, they have developed an addictive taste for blood.  Be sure to read what Times reporter Michael Powell (one of the best writers they have, in my opinion) has to say on this frightening state of affairs, which has most people reacting with a yawning "so what?"  Here's an excerpt from his most recent "Gotham" column:

And three nights ago, at a New Year’s Eve demonstration at Zuccotti Park, a captain began pushing Colin Moynihan, a reporter covering the protest for The Times. After the reporter asked the captain to stop, another officer threatened to yank away his police press pass. “That’s a boss; you do what a boss tells you,” the officer said, adding a little later, “You got that credential you’re wearing from us, and we can take it away from you.”
Reporting and policing can be high-adrenaline jobs. . But the decade-long trajectory in New York is toward expanded police power. Officers routinely infiltrate groups engaged in lawful dissent, spy on churches and mosques, and often toss demonstrators and reporters around with impunity.
When this is challenged, the police commissioner and the mayor often shrug it off and fight court orders. The mayor even argued that to let the press watch the police retake Zuccotti Park would be to violate the privacy of protesters. “It wouldn’t be fair,” he said.

United States of the Homeland circa 2012



Weimar Republic, circa 1931