The Democratic Machine vs OWS

I don't think we have to worry too much any more about the Democratic Party co-opting OWS. The elite of the DNC have pretty much shut up about it.  Emails from MoveOn.org, trumpeting solidarity with the movement and trying to fund-raise off its back, no longer appear in my inbox. If you're paying any attention at all to the Democratic leaks out of the SuperCommittee, you're finding out that they're bending over backwards, offering cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid -- even permanent extension of the Bush tax cuts -- in exchange for some loopy closings of corporate tax loopholes. I say loopy, because it's crazy to assume these little proposed wrist-slaps to the one percent will be permanent.  Lobbyists are already champing at the bit in salivating anticipation of ripping those loopholes apart at the seams the minute they're sewn shut with their cheap thread. But cuts in "entitlements" are forever. Poor people don't have a lobby. Yet.


That's the story under the Beltway Bubbledome: willful ignorance of the Occupy movement and the will of the majority, other than from the usual populist diehards like Bernie Sanders and Dennis Kucinich. But at the local level, in the cities, the encampments are under direct siege by..... Democratic mayors. And so, writes Paul Rosenberg in an excellent piece, it's about time we "Occupy the Democratic Party", too. Oakland Mayor Jean Quan has been the most egregious in instigating violence against the protesters. But, writes Rosenberg:

"... Oakland is hardly alone when it comes to Democratic mayors ordering mass arrests of Occupiers for exercising their First Amendment rights. In fact, aside from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg - a Republican turned independent - most of the mayors involved have been Democrats. Boston's Mayor Tom Menino had 141 people arrested on October 11. Under Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, roughly 300 Occupy supporters have been arrested in a series of attempts to set up a stable base camp. In Atlanta, 52 protesters were arrested on October 26 under orders of Mayor Kasim Reed, who said the “last straw” came when a man carrying an AK-47 joined the demonstrators. But the man was rejected by the Occupiers, and what he did was legal under Georgia law. Besides, no Tea Party demonstration was ever shut down because someone there was carrying an assault weapon."



Occupy Oakland Crackdown

 Part of the reason for Democratic reactions ranging from indifference to downright hostility, Rosenberg continues, are the dire economic straits most big cities are finding themselves in. Austerity is the rule. Babysitting the Occupy camps costs money.... money that no longer comes in from property taxes on homes that have been foreclosed, nor from Washington. Another factor is that so many cities have sold or leased themselves to private interests to make ends meet. The parking meters of Chicago, for example, have been rented out to the Kingdom of Dubai under a 75-year lease.


Just last night, Occupy St. Louis was forcibly shut down (by a Democratic mayor named Slay) at the urging of the private elite interests of the one percent.


The Republicans, of course, are simply, desperately off-the-wall, over-the-top nuts when it comes to trashing OWS. Americans for Prosperity, the Koch Brothers front group, had a kniption fit when protesters gathered around their hilariously named "Defending the American Dream" summit last weekend.  Tim Phillips, AFP spokesman, breathlessly sent out emails reporting the attacks of the rabble against the besieged One Percent:

"During our "Tribute to Ronald Reagan" dinner on Friday night, the protesters with Occupy Wall Street stormed the convention center trying to take away our 1st Amendment rights!!!....

Their violence, vile language, and disrespect for fellow Americans was outrageous. One of our activists who is wheel-chair bound was denied use of the ramp to depart the center.  A 78 year old grandmother from Michigan was assaulted and knocked down.  The 7 year old child of one of our AFP Foundation activists was cursed and jostled..... They (OWS) possess a vehement hatred of free enterprise and capitalism.  They openly call for socialism.  We know that free enterprise has lifted more Americans out of the muck and mire of poverty and despair than any economic system in world history.  They call for violence, break the law, and disrespect fellow Americans.  We respect the law and work to peacefully support sound policy for our nation."

Of course, this isn't true.* As a matter of fact, one of the OWS protesters was hit by a car driven by a convention attendee. The only people paying attention to the Andrew Breitbarts and the right wing any more are the minority die-hard right-wingers themselves. They no longer control the narrative, despite the implicit acquiescence of the conservative Democrats.  OWS is on the ascendant.  The pendulum is swinging back in the right direction --- or, should I say, in the left direction.


*Update/Clarification: I found this undoctored video of the event in question. No actual video exists of the elderly woman being pushed down the stairs, only the aftermath.** The usual Breitbart-ish splice and dice versions are, of course, making the rounds in Right Wing Cyberspace. What is not true, by the way, is Tim Phillips's characterization of OWS, as well as the claim that unfettered capitalism has raised Americans "out of the muck and mire of poverty and despair." Quite the opposite: deregulation of the big banks led directly to the crash and the overnight loss of trillions of dollars of household wealth, the greatest income disparity in history, 20 percent defacto unemployment and one in five people "officially" poor.

** Update on update: Reader Ned has found more videos of the pushing incident. See comments.

For Veterans Day and OWS, A New Bonus Army

With unemployment among veterans far above the national average at 12% and fully one third of Iraq and Afghanistan vets saying the wars just weren't worth it, it comes as no surprise that our returning service men and women are being drawn to the various Occupy encampments throughout the country.

For many of them, the camps offer some solace for the pain that no VA benefits or PSTD counseling sessions can assuage. But tragically, one troubled vet has committed suicide at the OccupyBurlington site.  Police said the 35-year-old man shot himself in the head inside a tent at the Vermont encampment Thursday and died later in a hospital. 

According to the Veterans Administration, one service member commits suicide every 80 minutes. And according to the Center for a New American Security (CNAS, a neoliberal think tank) the statistics are even more horrifying when you consider that although only one percent of Americans have served in the military, former service members represent a staggering 20 percent of all suicides in the United States.

CNAS, which gets much of its funding from defense contractors and other war profiteers, last month released a study on military suicides, which I found a little jarring for a couple of reasons.  It was a tad on the self-serving side. For example, researchers working for this Military Industrial Complex NGO are quick to point out that about a third of military suicides are not related directly to deployment.  In other words, a third of the victims were emotionally troubled before even joining up.  That begs the question of how well recruits are screened: obviously, not very.  Additionally, about half of military suicides are committed using "private" rather than government-issued firearms. Phew, what a relief. And another thing: the Defense Industry does not want the reputation of its recruits sullied by the term "commit" suicide. It is politically incorrect, and it might prevent people at risk from getting help, say the study's authors.

And in big bold print they are quick to add: " Leaders in the armed services and VA deserve recognition for their actions to reduce the rate of suicide among service members and veterans, but face persistent obstacles".  So hooray for the DOD and don't blame the MIC, which truly deeply cares.  And don't blame Leon Panetta, who plans on cutting the defense budget by reducing health and pension benefits for veterans in order to save military bases and funding for Drone missiles. From The New York Times:

 

"In what he described as the most sensitive of the potential cuts facing an all-volunteer force, Mr. Panetta said the Pentagon was considering raising fees for the military’s health insurance program, Tricare. Today, military retirees and families, who are guaranteed Tricare for life, pay only $460 a year in fees — far below what they would pay if they worked for a private employer — although a modest increase for new enrollees began last month.

.... Mr. Panetta provided no details of potential reductions in military retirement pay for those who enlist in the future, but said he would consider supporting the creation of a binding commission to review such pay. He also indicated that he might support a change that would increase retirement spending, by offering some retirement pay to those who had served less than 20 years. Currently only those who have served at least 20 years receive retirement pay, which is 50 percent of their final annual base pay, for life."

Just in time for Veterans Day, the Senate did finally pass a smidgen of the president's Jobs Bill last night, giving a tax break to businesses hiring returning troops and funding a job retraining program for older vets. Patty Murray (D-WA) who serves on the Superduper Secret Supercommittee tasked with ripping open the social safety net in order to placate the quivering unconfident Markets, was very proud of this burst of bipartisanship. And well should she be.  She, along with the Center for a New American Security, is a big recipient of Defense Industry largesse. Gushed Murray: “It’s no secret that the House and Senate are divided on any number of economic and political issues facing average Americans right now. But . . . our veterans are the one issue that we should never be divided on.”

But back to Occupy. Much to the chagrin of the political elites, it is changing the conversation from the almighty deficit to income disparity and corporate greed. And veterans are getting the attention they deserve, not because of MIC policy papers and a few crumbs from politicians, but because of the vibrant force they are bringing to the OWS movement.  "At Occupy Camps, Veterans Bring the War Home" is the title of a piece in The Atlantic written by Tina Dupuy:

"It was a surprise to meet Iraq war vets at these protests. There are only, after all, around a million Americans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan in what was once dubbed the War on Terror.
Their presence became national news when Iraq vet and former Marine Scott Olsen's skull was fractured by a non-lethal round fired by police in Oakland in late-October. A week later in New York, around 30 vets held a solidarity march from Zuccotti Park to the Stock Exchange. They had a rally at the park afterward where Bordeleau spoke. 'This is the first major movement for social change we've seen in this country since the '70s,' he said to me.
At Occupy DC, a painting of Scott Olsen in uniform is draped on the side of a tent. He's become a symbol of the Occupation Movement -- he fought overseas only to be injured when exercising his "freedom" of peaceful assembly at home. His name has become a shorthand to talk about why so many vets are at Occupy Wall Street.
'There's a reason Scott Olsen got shot in the head,' says Patterson, looking down at his chain-restaurant hot cocoa. "Because he was out front.'"

To mark Veterans Day, OWS is holding a rally and concert featuring Joan Baez today in Foley Square in New York. It's being called "Honor the Dead and Fight Like Hell for the Living."

War Against Women

New York Times columnist Gail Collins has a running shtick of always including the story about how Mitt Romney once strapped his dog to the roof of his car during a family vacation. Today was no exception, as she lambasted the freak show that purported to be the umpteenth Republican presidential debate.

And here is part of what The Times moderators saw fit to publish from reader-commenter Richard Luettgen of New Jersey:

But you continue to misinform the public about Seamus, the dog that has achieved immortality by allegedly being strapped to the roof of Mitt's car during a family jaunt to Canada. The only dogs that Mitt ever strapped to the roof of a car were Herman Cain's old girlfriends.

It's posted at Number 15 and as of this writing has six reader recommendations, probably from six conservative men (including its own author).* It's just one small ugly part of the backlash against the victims of Herman Cain's predatory paws. And it's not just coming from men. New York Daily News columnist Andrea Tantoros says that women are hurting "the sisterhood" by coming forward to complain. In an article headlined Ladies: Time to Man Up!, she writes:

Let me be clear: I’m not saying that Cain isn’t guilty of sexual misconduct that took place when he was the head of the National Restaurant Association in the late 1990s. But this scandal should have every woman asking: At what point do women need to take some responsibility?.... Whining that an off-color comment or a clumsy attempt at a date is abuse undermines real charges of assault, not to mention real issues that this country should be focused on during an election season, like a nuclear Iran, our toxic debt and a sputtering domestic economy.

Tantoros even manages to get a dig in at the OWS Zuccotti Park women. "Rather than go to the authorities," she sniffs, "women have reportedly been told to not take complaints to the police so that the incidents can be handled 'internally,' whatever that means. But the National Organization for Women doesn’t seem to be making a big stink about that."

Even female reporters confronting Cain on his behavior are getting abused. CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo was booed by the audience at last night's Republican debate when she questioned him. (and she's not exactly an anti-greed liberal). And this morning, the right-wing American Thinker crowed: "Weak Field Spanks CNBC Liberals."  

Even worse: in the corporate journalistic spirit of telling both sides of a story, Cain's criminal defense attorney was given a platform in the New York Times to warn women to "think twice" before coming forward. "I'm not here to scare anyone off," Lin Wood smarmily told The Times. "I've been brought in to bring an element of fairness to the accusations being brought." 

In the spirit of independent blogging, I will add that to its credit, The Times also rehashed all the conservative slime from the likes of Rush Limbaugh and even included a few quotes from the victims.  All in the spirit of fairness and accuracy, of course.

* Update: Enough readers have flagged and/or complained about this offensive remark to have it removed from the comments thread. Trust the readers to do the right thing. Hurray for the spirit of interactive journalistic democracy! One small step against misogyny -- one giant leap for human decency.

Horticulture of the Vanities

(Reuters)

Today in Oligarchy: You're so Thain, you prob'ly think the trees are about you. 

That would be John Thain, the chairman and CEO of CIT, who recently paid to restore a 50-acre section of the Bronx Botanical Gardens. Naturally, he renamed it the "Thain Family Forest." But even that doesn't quite cut it. As David Dunlop wryly chronicles in the New York Times, you cannot take a leisurely stroll through this plutocratic Sylvania without encountering The Thain Family at every turn, on every twig, on every piece of bark. It's hard to see the forest for the sleaze:

They turn up on prohibitory signs, too. “Please Stay on the Path: The Thain Family Forest is a fragile ecosystem.”One expects donors’ names at entrance ways and on directional signs and maps. It’s more unusual to find donors’ names woven into the interpretive narration. At the garden, however, the words “Thain Family Forest” are slipped into signs about black oaks, hemlocks and hillside blueberries (“a favorite of birds and small mammals in the Thain Family Forest”); about vernal pools and great horned owls; about mound formations and forest layering; and even about snags, as standing dead trees are called, which help “reveal the Thain Family Forest’s great age.”

Indeed, by the time you reach the sign beginning, “When a tree falls in the Thain Family Forest —,” you may be tempted to finish the thought yourself, “— does it make a Thain Family Sound?”

Truth be told, John Thain himself is a fragile egosystem. You may remember John, formerly of Goldman Sachs, as the tycoon who was put in charge of the financially troubled Merrill Lynch and then proceeded to loot the company of more than $1 million for furnishing his office -- just as the financial world came crashing down on everybody else. Even as Thain self-pampered, and was firing people right and left, he himself was on his way out: Bank of America was already in the process of taking over the company and releasing him with a golden parachute. From the Daily Beast, here's a sampling of what he indulged in while Wall Street's victims were losing their jobs and their homes:

1) $2,700 for six wall sconces.
2) $5,000 for a mirror in his private dining room.
3) $11,000 for fabric for a "Roman Shade.”
4) $13,000 for a chandelier in the private dining room.
5) $15,000 for a sofa.
6) $16,000 for a "custom coffee table.”
7) $18,000 for a “George IV Desk.”
8) $25,000 for a "mahogany pedestal table.”
9) $28,000 for four pairs of curtains.
10) $35,000 for something called a "commode on legs.”
11) $37,000 for six chairs in his private dining room.
12) $68,000 for a "19th Century Credenza" in his office.
13) $87,000 for a pair of guest chairs.
14) $87,000 for an area rug in Thain's conference room and another area rug for $44,000.
15) $230,000 to his driver for one year’s work.
16) $800,000 to hire celebrity designer Michael Smith, who redesignied the White House for the Obama family for "just" $100,000.

When Thain was caught out by the media, he reimbursed the moribund company out of his own personal $83 million compensation package. An investigation into whether Thain used TARP funds to pay himself and his cronies bonuses even as Merrill was imploding was started by then-Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.  Unsurprisingly, it came to nothing. It might have upset the confidence of the markets.

Hey, Zuccotti Parkers! How about we occupy The Thain Family Forest!!


A Tree Grows On Wall Street 






Live from D.C. -- Mayor Shrillionaire!

The Center for American Progress will be livestreaming Mayor Bloomberg's lecture this morning, beginning at 10 a.m.  So if you were unable to show up to occupy and slurp your free coffee, you can watch it here.


(see previous post for background info).


Update: King Michael is upset with everybody in Washington. Here's the snippet that had me snorting the coffee out of my nose:

“The international business community is beginning to whisper comparisons about the U.S. Congress and the Greek Parliament, and if the Supercommittee falls victim to the same kind of partisan paralysis that increasingly defines Washington, those whispers will grow louder."

Oh no.  Not the dreaded whispering campaign by the oligarchs.  The whispers are soft but are soon to become loud PSSSSTs, I reckon.  Bloomberg has an acute sense of hearing as well as a preternatural sense of smell when it comes to Occupy events.  He naturally went on to blather about class warfare, and the big lie about "uncertainty" in the markets  -- the lack of hiring, says he, is caused not by corporate greed and concentration of wealth in the top one percent, but by Big Guv.

But when it comes to suggesting  equal parts revenue to balance out federal cuts, Bloomberg is very much a NIMBY kind of guy.  As in, let the New York State millionaire surtax expire at the end of the year so that Wall Street doesn't just up and leave Wall Street.... for maybe its second untaxed luxury home in Washington, or the Bahamas, or the middle of the ocean.

And he is a great believer in the centrist canard that impoverished Grandmas should share the sacrifice equally with hedge fund managers. Bloomberg, who just last year called for the Bush tax cuts to be made permanent, has flip-flopped and says everybody's tax cuts should expire.  Even Warren Buffett's secretary's.

Want more? You can read the entire transcript here.    

The Shrillionaire Mayor

You'd think that a guy so filthy rich that he changed the law on term limits and bought himself a third stint as mayor would feel a little more secure and sanguine over a protest movement. This is, after all, the man whom Forbes magazine has just ranked as the most powerful person in New York, surpassing Rupert Murdoch for the first time in the plutocratic heft department. But Michael Bloomberg appears to be finally losing it, big-time, over a street protest in the backyard of his fiefdom. 


His latest whine on a long list of whines: OccupyWallSt protesters are just awful people for not having called the cops about a vagrant groper who may have been dumped in Zuccotti Park by the cops themselves in their ongoing and hapless efforts to break up the camp.  Fumed Bloomberg: "Instead of calling the police, they form a circle around the perpetrator, chastise him or her and chase him or her out into the rest of the city - to do who knows what to who knows whom."


He then went on to plagiarize Daffy Duck."It's despicable! I think it is outrageous and it really allows the criminal to strike again making all of us less safe."


Bloomberg's comments came the same day that he said Occupy should blame Congress for "forcing" the poor banks to give out liar loans to greedy unqualified homebuyers.  According to Hizzoner, Wall Street had nothing to do with the economic meltdown.  They never bundled subprime mortgages into toxic investment packages and single-handedly made trillions of dollars of household wealth disappear overnight. Nah. that must have been Reagan welfare queens who had the nerve to take out mortgages they couldn't afford.


Bloomberg has always been carefully PC about Occupy's right to exist (calling it "cathartic and entertaining" for the participants). But, but, but: “My personal view is, why don’t you get out there and try to do something about the things that you don’t like, create the jobs that we are lacking, rather than just yell and scream," he uttered from both sides of his perfectly centered mouth.


According to Bloomberg, residents in the area have complained about quality of life issues. Only trouble is, there are only a few dozen residents in the immediate vicinity, which is a business district. Restaurateurs, he said, complained business was suffering because of the encampment. Then it turned out business is suffering because of the heavy police presence and their metal barricades preventing access to the establishments.  The barricades have been moved and removed any number of times in a continuous game of musical chairs.


Bloomberg's X-ray vision can apparently see rivers of urine running in the streets, and his patrician nose can smell the stench of feces from blocks miles away in his Gracie Mansion digs*. His olfaction is as sensitive as the Princess and the Pea's tush. The very thought of non-rich people getting attention in his back yard is obviously causing a major attack of oligarchic angst and a shattering blow to his sense of entitlement.


Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi has called Bloomberg's reaction to the Occupy phenomenon his "Marie Antoinette" moment. Read his latest blog post for a scathing takedown of Hizzoner. Here's a snippet recounting a typical celebrity centrist soiree that had the "No Labels" crowd liberally laughing:

And it wasn’t hard to see why. Bloomberg’s great triumph as a politician has been the way he’s been able to win over exactly the sort of crowd that was gathering at the HuffPost event that night. He is a billionaire Wall Street creature with an extreme deregulatory bent who has quietly advanced some nastily regressive police policies (most notably the notorious "stop-and-frisk" practice) but has won over upper-middle-class liberals with his stances on choice and gay marriage and other social issues.

But back to that predatory vagrant that Bloomberg insists is endangering him. According to The Daily News, the 26-year-old victim of that incident is walking around carrying a sign that says: "I was more victimized by the NYPD who handled my sexual assault case than I was by the assaulter."


Lauren di Gioia told the newspaper that police kept her waiting for hours after she reported the attack, even telling her she was to blame for sleeping outside.  The same old "you asked for it" crap that prevents a lot of sexual assault victims from ever coming forward."I'm a perfect example of somebody who went through the process. I followed all the steps of the law, and I felt victimized by it. I felt like I was a criminal, too," the paper quotes her as saying.


Correction: in my last blog post, I listed Bloomberg's net worth at $18.1 billion.  I was off a bit. According to the New York Times, he is actually worth $19.5 billion, making him the 12th richest person in America out of a nation of more than 300 million.  He is in the top one percent of the top one percent, or the top .000000001 percent. 


And he doesn't think a millionaire surtax to help save the jobs of teachers or prevent the closings of fire stations is such a fiscally prudent idea.






The Bloomberg Motto: Not One Porta-a-Potty Shall Go to Zuccotti. Let Them Wear Depends.

Update:  I just got my invitation from the White House's favorite Democratic think tank, The Center for American Progress, to listen to Bloomberg give the freaking keynote address on how to reduce the deficit at its "American Action Forum" next week.


This ought to be good.  The gazillionaire who just blamed Congress for the biggest banking fraud in American history will now proceed to advise Congress how to make amends and slash Medicare, Medicare and Social Security.

As the work of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, also known as the super committee, comes to a head, the prospect for an agreement remains uncertain. On Tuesday, November 8 in an event co-hosted by the Center for American Progress and the American Action Forum, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg will present his views on how Congress should address the pressing issues facing the committee, the economic implications that are at stake, and his ideas on how a pragmatic, growth-oriented consensus can be forged.

For any Occupiers in the D.C. area who would like to attend this event, here is the lowdown. (Don't forget to RSVP and get there early for your free coffee):

November 8, 2011, 10:00am – 11:00am

Space is extremely limited. RSVP required.
Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis and not guaranteed.

Coffee will be served at 9:30 a.m.

Center for American Progress1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor
Washington, DC 20005Map & Directions

Nearest Metro: Blue/Orange Line to McPherson Square or Red Line to Metro Center.

For more information, call 202-682-1611.

* Correction: Bloomberg has never lived in the official mayoral residence. He has, however, graced Gracie Mansion with his presence on occasion. For example, when he performed some of the first same sex marriages in the state. Thanks, Purple Girl, for providing his correct address (see comments).

Zuccotti Park Asylum

It's no secret that much of the nation's homeless population is made up of the untreated mentally ill. Since a wave of "deinstitutionalization" in the 60s closed down state-run psychiatric hospitals, the sight of bag ladies and tramps sleeping under bridges has become a common one in most urban areas.


The epidemic of foreclosures and unemployment during the past few years has added members of the middle class to the homeless population.  Homelessness among returning veterans who suffer from PTSD and alcoholism and drug addiction and other war-induced illnesses has skyrocketed too.


So is it any wonder that Zuccotti Park and other "Occupy" sites have become magnets for homeless people looking for a little food, warmth and companionship? 


The New York Daily News , which has been right on top of the day-to-day coverage of all things Zuccotti Park, ran a piece by Harry Siegel yesterday claiming that NYPD has been "dumping" skid row denizens into the park. Protesters suspect that Mayor One Percent, Michael Bloomberg, is behind an orchestrated campaign to disrupt the encampment by filling it with the dregs of humanity.  However, as with every other ploy that he and his minions have used to try to destroy Occupy, Bloomberg's alleged move is having an unanticipated effect.  Far from causing fear and loathing among the "normal" occupiers, the disturbed arrivistes are getting some help and tough love from the park's own security detail.


By all accounts, the park "police" have a lot more heart than the city in dealing with the troubled souls. There are social workers in the park population who know just what to do and who to call. And if the new arrivals cause enough trouble, they're being kicked out under a newly enacted "Code of Conduct."  From today's News:

“If you want to be part of our group, you have to be civilized,” said Paul Isaac, 45, who is part of Occupy Wall Street’s security team. “Unfortunately, some people come to disrupt the peace.”

The list includes rules against stealing, sexual harassment and hurting others - including their feelings. The group also put a ban on fuel, weapons or drugs in the park..

“Basically, we want people to respect one another,” Isaac said.

The alleged dumping of the destitute and the addition of the homeless to the Occupy sites has finally forced the previously invisible reality of extreme poverty into the national spotlight.  Poor people never had a lobby or a voice before, and now they do.  "Nickel and Dimed" author Barbara Ehrenreich writes: 

What occupiers from all walks of life are discovering, at least every time they contemplate taking a leak, is that to be homeless in America is to live like a fugitive. The destitute are our own native-born “illegals,” facing prohibitions on the most basic activities of survival. They are not supposed to soil public space with their urine, their feces, or their exhausted bodies. Nor are they supposed to spoil the landscape with their unusual wardrobe choices or body odors. They are, in fact, supposed to die, and preferably to do so without leaving a corpse for the dwindling public sector to transport, process, and burn.

Homeless people never had neighbors with cell phones to record police brutality as they were rousted from their tent cities, and now they do.  They never had a reporter walk up to them and ask them about their lives, and now they have a chance to tell their own stories.  For every abusive or obnoxious derelict, there are ten more who are living lives of quiet desperation as the cold winter closes in. People in this movement are watching out for one another at the same time they're being mad as hell at the banksters and the thieves. 

And you can take the NYPD's non-denial denial about the dumping allegations with a grain of salt too. Police, hospitals and prisons all over the country have been caught in the act on numerous occasions literally discarding the humanity who just don't fit into "normal society." The most egregious case ever caught on film was that of a confused woman, still in hospital gown, being abandoned on a Los Angeles city street by an ambulance.  LAPD said it was common practice for outside law enforcement agencies to act as taxi cabs to bring derelicts from outside the city limits for dumping on skid row.

The jackbooted storm troopers of the NYPD, the pepper spray, the orange kettling mesh, the mass arrests have only served to solidify public support of the protesters. So the latest ploy of exporting addicts and drunks to the camp sites may simply be the next phase of the Oligarchy's attempt to destroy the movement. This, from Allison Kilkenny of "In These Times":

This action forces OWS to focus its energy internally rather than externally. Now, the group is busy managing its own people, worrying about drug deals and dangerous behavior from possibly foreign enemy forces. This was focus that had previously been aimed outward and upward - targeting what OWS calls the "one percenters."

Like when a magician uses a distraction technique to draw the audience's attention away from a sleight of hand, the NYPD and Bloomberg's administration may be using addicts to distract from what they're actually doing, which is attacking OWS on multiple levels, and ingeniously, making it look like they're not attacking the group at all.

 One of the precursors to Occupy Wall Street was a campout protest over the summer called "Bloombergville."  Demonstrators had planned to "occupy" the front of the mayor's residence one night, but then called off their plans as a token of respect when Hizzoner's elderly mother passed away. NYPD later arrested the group for blocking a different sidewalk and they disbanded. Temporarily, as it turned out.

Bloomberg may be one of the richest of the overbearing overlords of the universe, but that doesn't mean he has any class. He can't hold a candle to the humanistic souls he professes to despise, and so obviously fears.



"And no matter who you are, if you believe in yourself and in your dream, America will always be the place for you." -- Michael Bloomberg, net worth: $18.1 billion.