WASHINGTON – The CBS report says it all, no hedging: part of a day of mass gatherings in response to efforts to break up Occupy Wall Street camps nationwide. At two months, that’s where Occupy stands, with political and corporate establishment forces utilizing law enforcement at all levels to stop the movement.
Occupy Wall Street people understand that not only are more difficult times possibly around the corner, they know that the current government will likely do as it has historically done, which is to protect the rich and powerful at the expense of the long term interests of the middle class. Some of the most financially successful people in America continually remind us all that capitalism is a contest. There are winners and losers. And the winners want to enjoy their success and they want the losers to keep it down. The noise of the vanquished is spoiling the victors’ fun. – Alec Baldwin
Occupy protests across the country are being targeted, because they threaten the two establishment parties and the businesses that back our corporate political system. It all sounds so cartoonish when bluntly written. However, the dire economic situation people are facing today has torn the private American discontent away from the silent suffering, giving a voice to the 99%.
The ground has been laid for Occupy protests to get very bad PR. Public Policy Polling now reveals it in “Occupy Wall Street Favor Fading.”
The controversy over the protests is starting to drown out the actual message.
Democratic and Republican lawmakers, fueled and backed by big and small business, putting pressure on mayors and other elected officials, as everyone looks at the holiday shopping season, means more pressure to discredit the Occupy protesters, as the 99% look on believing in the core principles that continue to bring people out into the cold.
You can blast negative images, as cable yakkers rant about the rabble, but the core message of Occupy resounds.
Sean Hannity on his radio show yesterday actually said one goal of Occupy Wall Street protesters was to destroy Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and ruin it for families. The hyperbole on wingnut radio has gone nuclear. That’s because the 1% Rush and Sean represent know that if Occupy continues to take hold Republicans have more to lose than Democrats, even if both parties are to blame for our current economic plight.
Police in riot gear, while protesters mark two months, send a frightening message, but then it’s been planned that way. Can’t have democracy breaking out in America over something as silly as income inequality, now can we?
The establishment business class is doing their best to help.
But it’s this report earlier this week by Rick Ellis in the Examiner out of Wisconsin that is getting deserved attention, because it points to the escalations we’re seeing.
‘Occupy’ crackdowns coordinated with federal law enforcement officials
Over the past ten days, more than a dozen cities have moved to evict “Occupy” protesters from city parks and other public spaces. As was the case in last night’s move in New York City, each of the police actions shares a number of characteristics. And according to one Justice official, each of those actions was coordinated with help from Homeland Security, the FBI and other federal police agencies.
The official, who spoke on background to me late Monday evening, said that while local police agencies had received tactical and planning advice from national agencies, the ultimate decision on how each jurisdiction handles the Occupy protests ultimately rests with local law enforcement.
Scary pictures and videos on TV going out to middle America, along with right-wing radio blasting the dangers of Occupy protesters, all of this is how a movement is discredited.
What’s the dangers to people if peaceful protests were allowed to continue without interruption, as is their right?
The fear is to businesses impacted by Occupy protesters presence wherever they rise up, as well as the message that continues to build, which threatens politicians not able to help their corporate sponsors. That freaks the establishment, with the loss of business revenue enough to inspire engagement by the federal government and Homeland Security to become involved in helping locally.
Our democratic republic isn’t what it used to be.
Taylor Marsh’s new e-book, The Hillary Effect – Politics, Sexism and the Destiny of Loss, the view from a recovering partisan, has been chosen by Barnes and Noble as one of 4 books in the launch of “NOOK First” Featured Authors Selection. Marsh is a veteran political analyst and commentator. She has reported from the White House, been profiled in the Washington Post, The New Republic, and has been seen on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, CNN, MSNBC, Al Jazeera English and Al Jazeera Arabic, as well as on radio across the dial and on satellite, including the BBC. Marsh lives in the Washington, D.C. area. This column is cross posted from her new media blog.