Thank You Occupy Wall Street

Thank you

Thank you, for helping shift the economic narrative to the historic economic inequality in our country and introducing “income inequality”, “99%” and “1%” into the political lexicon.  It may not have supplanted the narrative of the ‘oppression’  of the mythical job creators, but it at the very least is on par.  Thank you for awakening many in the American public to the fact we have been getting fucked for several decades by those at the top of the food chain with the complicity of our government.

We have a very clear choice in which direction in which our country can go.  The choice is ours.  We can bemoan the effect of special interests, of the Citizens Untited decision, but ultimately we are free to vote for whomever we choose and as a populace are responsible for the government we have.

We can go down the road where we help the working poor maintain a dignified life and give them the tools – health care, food stamps, student loans – to better their lives.  We can choose to give a shit about those less fortunate than us and not demonize them for societies ills.  We can to choose to have clean air and water.  We can choose to regulate businesses so they don’t screw us, poison us, or injure us.  We can have good public schools and national parks. We can do all this without denying the wealthy the fruits of their ‘labor’ though the fruits will admittedly be somewhat smaller.  The only thing they will be denied is unfettered power, and THIS is what they are fighting tooth and nail against right now.

Or

We can go down the path the likes of the tea party and arch conservatives are advocating, where we gut the government, the social safety nets, environmental protection, all those things mentioned above. We can go down a path of economic and social darwinism.  At it’s heart the conservative adgenda for the country will turn our country into a modern day feudal system with “job creators” in place of noble lords and “workers” in place of serfs, where the majority of us are left fighting for the scraps from the 1%’s table, left to their tender mercies.

Personally, I would prefer the former, and have been wishing for so long that Americans would wake the fuck up en masse and see what is being done to them.  I wish that folks like the Tea Partiers would simply look at the numbers and realize that they are pawns of the Koch brothers and their ilk, being led by the nose to do their bidding.

This election will be that choice and set the die for the next decade on.  I hope we make the right choice, and believe that OWS had made that possibility much more likely.  Mittens being battered about Bain and his tax returns would have never happens if it had not been for OWS bringing these issues into the public consciousness.  If Obama wins he will owe a debt of thanks to OWS.

Thank You OWS.

 

Corporations Are People – Again

Willard gets hit up about the “corporations are people” comment again, and responds with his usual diatribe, trying to the word ‘people’ as many times as possible.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

hmmmm, Soylent Green was people too

 

The 2011 Lexicon

In 2011 we have seen the rise of three new euphemisms into the political lexicon.

         The first is “Job Creators.” It is the Conservative/GOP term for very wealthy people. It is used in their lame ass attempt to convince those of us who are not very wealthy that that these people are noble creatures who want nothing more than to be freed of the chains of taxation and regulation so that they can create jobs for the rest of us … so that we lowly workers can pay our underwater mortgages, buy their shiny trinkets and generally eek out a living. The problem with this is twofold.

    One is that the whole premise is demonstrable bullshit.  Taxes are at their lowest levels since before the Great Depression (no this does not include payroll taxes, but those make nary a dent in a Job Creator’s wallet).  This fallacy is evidenced in the fact that the top one percent have seen their incomes and wealth rise dramatically in the last thirty years, even during the Great Recession, and that corporations are currently back to record profits overall and are sitting on historic amounts of cash.  Companies are collectively sitting on more than 1.2 trillion in cash (1).  That is approximately 9% of the GDP.  So why aren’t they out hiring? Maybe it is the regulations?  Nope not that.  The level of regulation has not increased appreciably under the Obama administration (2) (3).  Well, what then is it preventing these Job Creators from hiring? Oh Yeah! it is the fact that the rest of us are either broke or unemployed, hence we are not buying stuff, hence companies are not hiring.   A company is not simply going to hire employees for the sake of hiring.  They are going to hire when people buy more shit, such that they need more employees to make more shit to meet people’s increasing demand for shit.  Real simple, Econ 101.  You could lower the taxes on the top 1% and companies to zero and it wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference to anyone except Tiffany’s, Bentley, Gulfstream and the like.

    The other problem with this is the narrative that conservatives and the GOP have set up.  If you look at the underlying premise, it is that we, “the 99%”, are lazy peons who should lie before the Job Creators, grateful for the scraps from their table.  “We” are completely devalued as being contributors in the society since we are not wealthy, and are reduced to wards of the state and of capitalism itself.  It should piss each and every one of you off every time a politician blathers on about helping Job Creators, for they are telling you that you are dirt, and not worth direct consideration.

        As a counter to “Job Creator”, a few months ago the terms “The 1%” and “The 99%” rose out of the fledgling Occupy Wall Street protests.  These monikers gave a simple way in which to express the terms of the economic divide and class warfare that has been growing quietly in this country for three decades.  Now there was an opposing view.  Now “the 1%” were no longer noble Job Creators, but simply the uber wealthy that had rigged the system for their own advancement at the expense of the rest of us, “the 99%”.  I think the effectiveness of these two terms and their quick adoption into the political  lexicon is the fact they are divisive.  It is laid out as an us versus them situation, which frankly it is.  The narrative here is that “the 99%” find themselves in their current lot, in the worst economy since the Great Depression NOT because “the 1%” were crippled by taxation and regulation, not because they are lazy,but because the Job Creators rigged the system and drove the entire economy off of a cliff in order to enrich themselves; and that “the 99%” are worthy, caring, hardworking people who deserve to be treated decently and fairly by the government and the Job Creators

We will see over the next year which of these narratives wins the day.  Personally I hope it is the later.

 

Overkill

The latest bitch about the Occupy movement is that it’s cost municipalities across the country in excess of 13 million dollars. ( I won’t bother questioning where that number came from right now,.. although I most certainly do question it)

Of course, not-so-much mention of the trillion+ that what they’re protesting cost this economy. That would be gauche, because we all know that shit just happens when the “job-creators” get on a roll.  ( Somebody has to explain to me someday how big finance guys that create and trade financial documents that aren’t worth anything to anyone but themselves,  … somehow are “job-creators”. Somebody explain that to me, please.)

Back to the Occupy deal.—– I’m going to suggest a couple of things that would cut the police expenses considerably.

>  Adjust the cop to protestor ratios—- If you are dealing with maybe a thousand peaceful people who are only armed  with signs, laptops, video cameras, and smartphones, I would think you could whittle the number of police down to maybe a one to three ratio. If you’re fully armed, and maxed out in full riot gear, you probably can contain these protestors violent tendencies. Because they actually don’t have any violent tendencies.

>You can also save on equipment expenditures—- I’ve seen a few instances of overuse as far as tear gas, pepper spray, flash grenades, and rubber bullets are concerned. (luckily, tasers can be recharged, and batons will last through several beatings if you’re careful)  I think that a few of the officers might be taking the opportunity to have a little fun with their work. I wouldn’t condemn them for it normally, but they do have to realize the expense. Just bring it back a little, guys. You can still have your fun, but be a little more discerning.  The pepper spray seems to be a particular problem. It’s more expensive than you think. I would suggest that when you use it, it’s much better to be within 8 to 10 inches of the protestor’s face, for maximum effectiveness. Otherwise, a lot of it ends up in the air.

That is just a couple of suggestions that would bring the bill for this down to a more reasonable number. I will point to this photo of the LA police taking down an Occupy encampment last night, as a model to work by. You’ll notice that the officer has his rifle pointed within a few feet of the subject,– by doing this he maximizes effectiveness. No wasted rubber bullets. (assuming he’s using rubber bullets)  This is an example of good, cost-conscious police work. I’m going to go out on a limb, and guess that the protestor coming out of his little pup tent most likely decided not to make any trouble, with that rifle barrel in his face. I know that I would think twice before firing up my video camera.

Police Raid ‘Occupy L.A.’ Camp

 

Pepper Spray a ‘Food Product’

are you fucking kidding me?

 

What is OWS?

I keep coming back to two scenes in Fight Club when I think of the movement.  Yes this is a simplistic way of looking at things, but in a wine fueled Tuesday night, I do think it captures the essence of betrayal that is felt towards the great con that the GOP and the “job creators” have been trying to sell us for oh so many years …

 

And Our Dick of the Week Is ….

Belatedly, Newt Gingrich

Actually, he’s always a dick, but he’s got some beauts this past week …

• Laws preventing child labor are ‘truly stupid’

“I tried for years to have a very simple model. These schools should get rid of unionized janitors, have one master janitor, pay local students to take care of the school. The kids would actually do work; they’d have cash; they’d have pride in the schools. They’d begin the process of rising.”

So you get rid of unionized janitors – kick them out of a job – so you can pay some kids shit money to do the same job.  I see, and applying this at a non-public level and you have a lovely justification for union busting and lowering salaries.  It’s a generational outsourcing if you like.  Of course it is all for the good of the kids

• Newt Gingrich On Occupy Wall Street: Protesters Should ‘Get A Job’ And ‘Take A Bath’

• Newt Gingrich was a lobbyist, plain and simple

No matter how he tries to spin this he is a hypocrite.  He/His company took $2 million from Freddie and Fannie … to be a “historian” ???  Now we see that he got money from Big Pharma,

So we know he was paid consultant for drug makers. That’s the first criterion for being a drug lobbyist.

Here’s the second criterion: While some consultants simply provide strategy or advice, Gingrich directly contacted lawmakers in an effort to win their votes.

I think those are three fine criteria for Dick of the Week

 

Pepper Spray Guy

 

200 Kids — A “Riot”

Militarization of Campus Police

This is an excellent article from Bob Ostertag, a professor at UC Davis.

On Friday, the UC Davis Campus police,— decked out in full riot gear to deal with a couple hundred peaceful protestors, for some reason,— made the unconscionable decision to pepper spray a group of about 10 students who were sitting on the ground with arms linked in a refusal to leave when told.  A digustingly mean, cowardly, and completely unnecessary act.

I, for one, am really disturbed at what I’m seeing as a significant move towards something that could only be described as a Police state. A place where anyone questioning the system or it’s authority get dealt with pretty severely.

I don’t like it. I think that trend needs to be reversed. Video of the pepper spray assault on those kids went viral. I’m sure a large part of the country has seen it by now. The UC Davis police will have to answer to that.  Plus the negative publicity will make other police departments think twice before using excessive force like that. That in itself is a win.

Bob Ostertag gives a close perspective from someone who teaches at the school.

>>>>UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi sent a letter to the university last night. Chancellor Katehi tells us that:

The group was informed in writing… that if they did not dismantle the encampment, it would have to be removed… However a number of protestors refused our warning, offering us no option but to ask the police to assist in their removal.

No other options? The list of options is endless. To begin with, the chancellor could have thanked them for their sense of civic duty. The occupation could have been turned into a teach-in on the role of public education in this country. There could have been a call for professors to hold classes on the quad. The list of “other options” is endless.

Chancellor Katehi asserts that “the encampment raised serious health and safety concerns.” Really? Twenty tents on the quad “raised serious health and safety concerns?” Has the chancellor been to a frat party lately? Or a football game? Talk about “serious health and safety concerns.” <<<<

 

Fearing For His Life

In an obvious act of self-defense, this UC Davis police officer pepper sprays some students who were threatening him with bodily harm. Most people know that this ‘sitting on the ground with arms linked’ was a tactic used in the 60’s by protestors which often resulted in injuries to law enforcement officials. The very people sent there to protect them.

It was a horrible state of affairs then, and, as you can see from the picture, — is still a danger today.

I commend this officer for doing what was needed to keep the peace and prevent harm to himself and his fellow officers.

If you would like to learn more about this heroic act, you can view the article here.

And I found this article that contains 7 helpful suggestions from Ann Coulter about the #Occupy movement.

Here is number 6 from that list: 

6. “Remember the lesson from my book: It just took a few shootings at Kent State to shut that down for good.”

 

Talent + Imagination =

This is amazing.
Just a great effort by some of the #Occupy people at the Brooklyn Bridge Thursday night.
Interview wth one of the guys that put it together here

 

“He has a right to speak,” said the cop to the banker

This just warmed my little tiny heart

cop to a BoA bank manager who complained of a protester handing flyers out in front of the bank

“He has the right to speak and the right to hand out flyers. Unless he blocks you or causes a disturbance, he has the right to be here – please don’t call the police again if he is not bothering you. If you don’t like free speech you should move to another country”

YEAH!

 

And the 1% wonders ….

… why the other 99% are ‘annoyed’ with them.

Pricks

Someone at the Chicago Board of Trade issued another message to the Occupy Chicago protesters by blanketing them with these McDonald’s job applications. The protesters are understandably offended by both the message and by the hundreds of pieces of new litter around them.

 

Yeah,… I’m Confused Too

An Open Letter to the Citizens of Oakland from the Oakland Police Officers’
Association

Oakland’s general strike is tomorrow. Should be interesting.

 

Love It

The Absolute Coolest Costume You’ll See At Occupy Wall Street Today

Paul Krugman with his macro-mallet, holding the head of a supply-side  monster.

Image: Robert  Johnson