Demonstrators supporting the Occupy Wall Street movement against corporate power protest Thursday, Oct. 6 2011, at Pioneer Square, in Portland, Ore. Demonstrators marched downtown Thursday afternoon, disrupting traffic and businesses. [AP Photo]
There's something happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear, but we may, at long last, be seeing the rise of a popular movement that, unlike the Tea Party, is angry at the right people.
...With unions and a growing number of Democrats now expressing at least qualified support for the protesters, Occupy Wall Street is starting to look like an important event that might even eventually be seen as a turning point.
...Now, it's true that some of the protesters are oddly dressed or have silly-sounding slogans, which is inevitable given the open character of the events. But so what? I, at least, am a lot more offended by the sight of exquisitely tailored plutocrats, who owe their continued wealth to government guarantees, whining that President Obama has said mean things about them than I am by the sight of ragtag young people denouncing consumerism.
Bear in mind, too, that experience has made it painfully clear that men in suits not only don’t have any monopoly on wisdom, they have very little wisdom to offer. When talking heads on, say, CNBC mock the protesters as unserious, remember how many serious people assured us that there was no housing bubble, that Alan Greenspan was an oracle and that budget deficits would send interest rates soaring.
Mr. Obama, in a series of recent hard-edged speeches around the country, has channeled many of the grievances of the movement known as Occupy Wall Street: deepening economic inequity, a tax code that gives breaks to the wealthy and corporate interests and banks that profit from hidden consumer fees.
Yet the president also oversaw a bailout of those banks, appointed a Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, who is viewed by the protesters as a shill for Wall Street and pushed a reform of the financial industry that many in the movement condemn as shamefully inadequate in curbing its excesses.
David Dayen has a good piece on Obama just not getting it: "Obama also added this, approximately: 'I expended a lot of political capital to keep the banks afloat, and I have the scars to prove it. And I still think it was the right thing to do, because otherwise our economy would have been worse off.' This is the President taking ownership of TARP, which did not pass under his Presidency but which he whipped as a candidate for President in 2008. He took ownership of the extraordinary financial support given to banks as they teetered on the verge of collapse. And this is a central grievance of the protesters on Wall Street and across the country." (Emphasis original.)
TPM—Geithner Dodges on Sympathy for Occupy Wall St; Expresses Shock at Wall Street Antipathy to Obama: "Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told an audience of the country's elite Wednesday that he sympathizes with the underlying loss of faith anti-Wall Street protesters and other Americans have in the country's ruling class—though not specifically for the growing 'Occupy Wall Street' protest movement itself. But at the same time he expressed astonishment and dismay at Wall Street's loss of faith in President Obama and the administration. The juxtaposition is striking, and illustrates how at odds the anti-Wall Street movement is with the administration."
Think Progress—House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) Smears Occupy Wall Street as a "Mob": "Speaking at the social conservative Value Voters Summit today, [Cantor] maligned the Occupy Wall Street protests and the wider 99 percent movement as a 'mob' that is out to 'divide Americans': 'I for one am increasingly concerned about the growing mobs occupying Wall Street and the other cities across the country. And believe it or not, some in this town have actually condoned the pitting of Americans against Americans.' ...Cantor has—by his definition—'condoned the pitting of Americans against Americans' when he endorsed the Tea Party movement."
Right Here All Over
Video Description: Various scenes from the occupation.
Directed by Alex Mallis + Lily Henderson
Cinematography by Ed David
Edited by Lily Henderson + Alex Mallis
Assistant Camera: Andrew McMullen + Diana Eliavoz
Assistant Producers: Dana Salvatore + Jillian Mason
Titles by Jason Drakeford.
Via Occupy Wall Street.
The Nobel Peace Prize for 2011 was awarded on Friday to three campaigning women from Africa and the Arab world in acknowledgment of their nonviolent role in promoting peace, democracy and gender equality. The winners were Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf — Africa's first elected female president — her compatriot, peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman of Yemen, a pro-democracy campaigner.
They were the first women to win the prize since Kenya's Wangari Maathai, who died last month, was named as the laureate in 2004.
Most of the recipients in the award's 110-year history have been men and Friday's decision seemed designed to give impetus to the cause for women's rights around the world.
"We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society," said the citation read by Thorbjorn Jagland, a former Norwegian prime minister who heads the Oslo-based Nobel committee that chooses the winner of the $1.5 million prize.
In a subsequent interview, he described the prize as "a very important signal to women all over the world." (Link)
Earlier today, I read that studios were already scrambling to acquire rights for a Steve Jobs biopic. No disrespect to Mr. Jobs, who was an interesting and influential guy, but it made me think about all the fascinating people who make a difference in this world with less name recognition (and less money), whose stories will never be told in the way Jobs' almost certainly will be.
So, of those unlikely candidates for major motion picture recognition: Whose biography would you love to see (but probably never will)?
(Your nominee can be living or dead. And, if you feel inspired, go ahead and cast the role, too!)
As I've written before, I've been bombarded with racist messaging since the day I was born, everywhere I've been in the world, and it would have to be some kind of extraordinary bit of magic if I, a human being designed to be an intellectual sponge and socialized in a culture steeped with marginalizing narratives, had absorbed none of the racism (and other bigotries) pervading my environment. Like everyone else, I've internalized those negative messages so profoundly that even those biases of which I am a target get turned in on myself. The question is not whether any of us—especially those of us with white privilege—have internalized racism; the question is whether we leave that internalized racism unexamined.
Which is why, as Pam suggested, Perry (and his pals) should not be reacting defensively to charges of racism, or privilege, but instead
just explain the truth — like many Americans, you simply didn't know any black people as peers to find the term offensive, that your parents didn't pass on the values of equality when it came to people who didn't look like you. This is part of our country's sad history; to own up to your own ignorant past — and presumably a change in mindset in the present day (now that may be a problem if it hasn't transpired, who knows) — helps generate the kind of dialogue on race that is needed. In literally trying to cover up "N*ggerhead" it's an attempt to bury the truth rather than explaining it, for good or ill.
American militants like Anwar al-Awlaki are placed on a kill or capture list by a secretive panel of senior government officials, which then informs the president of its decisions, according to officials.
There is no public record of the operations or decisions of the panel, which is a subset of the White House's National Security Council, several current and former officials said. Neither is there any law establishing its existence or setting out the rules by which it is supposed to operate.
Emphasis mine. I don't even know where to begin addressing how comprehensively fucked-up this policy is, nor how absolutely disgusted I am by it. It is deeply illiberal, profoundly unjust, and fundamentally anti-democratic policy.
The role of the president in ordering or ratifying a decision to target a citizen is fuzzy. White House spokesman Tommy Vietor declined to discuss anything about the process.
Whooooooooooooops! So much for ushering in a new era of transparency in Washington.
In an ironic turn, Obama, who ran for president denouncing predecessor George W. Bush's expansive use of executive power in his "war on terrorism," is being attacked in some quarters for using similar tactics. They include secret legal justifications and undisclosed intelligence assessments.
I was just watching the NBC5 Chicago news at noon, and snapped this picture of the telly, as reporter/meteorologist Alicia Roman reports from outside the Wrigley Building, and Chicago's Marilyn Monroe sculpture bares her underpants in the background, still "a giant, silent avatar of non-consent, posed forever to be a sexual object for the pleasure of passers-by." And viewers of the news.
[Trigger warning for implied violence.] Since Marilyn was erected, she has repeatedly been vandalized. Two weeks ago, two men rode up to the statue on bicycles and threw red paint on her, which ran down her leg like streaks of blood.
When I was talking with Paul the Spud about that incident, I noted that it could have been a cool feminist statement, if it had been intended—and placed—as blood speaking to her womanhood and humanity. But it was instead just randomly and aggressively sloshed on her, which is a very different message indeed.
And still Marilyn stands, washed clean of the evidence of the violence done to her, showing off her bottom on the afternoon news.
Winter's going to clobber Chicago again, hitting us with colder than normal temperatures and nearly twice the normal amount of snowfall.
That's according to long-range forecasters at AccuWeather.com.
"People in Chicago are going to want to move after this winter," long-range meteorologist Josh Nagelberg said.
...AccuWeather forecasts 50 to 58 inches of snow for Chicago, in line with the 56 inches we got last season. But snowfall during a normal winter is closer to 30.2 inches.
On October 5th, America lost civil rights leaders Derrick Bell and Fred Shuttlesworth, and personal-computing innovator Steve Jobs. Condolences to their families, friends, and colleagues.
From The New York Times: "Derrick Bell walking with a group of Harvard law students after taking a voluntary unpaid leave of absence to protest the lack of tenured minority women professors." There is a personal remembrance of Professor Bell by Keith Boykin at the Huffington Post as well.
Image and caption from the Encyclopedia of Alabama: "Fred Shuttlesworth, crouching center, and Freedom Riders discuss plans at the Birmingham Greyhound Terminal after drivers refused them service." More on Reverend Shuttlesworth from The Washington Post and The New Yorker.
These men were not perfect, and my mentioning their passing is not a claim that they were. But Bell, Jobs, and Shuttlesworth each changed America, and yesterday, they died. Rest in Peace.
New York Observer—Occupy Wall Street Megamarch's Aftershocks: Senior Police Officer Beats Protesters With Baton: "A video of a lieutenant, captain or inspector-rank police office hitting protesters with a baton ... emerged from the scene [last night] near Occupy Wall Street's headquarters at Zuccotti Park in the Financial District, where police [were] barricading the protesters with metal fences in order to control the large and agitated crowd." [Below video, which shows police brutality, as described, may be upsetting.]
Via Andy, below is video of a black female police officer setting up a barricade, and she turns to say something to a white or Latino male police officer (off-screen at that point), who says, "My little nightstick's going to get a workout tonight." The person holding the camera asks, "Why?" as the female officer says what sounds like, "I've never used it." The male officer replies, "I have," and then hits the ground with it. The female officer looks visibly uncomfortable.
More video and news items below the fold...
Fox New York (that's the local NY Fox affiliate, not the conservative Fox News Channel)—Occupy Wall Street Arrests; Fox 5 Crew and Protesters Hit by Mace, Batons: "While covering the Occupy Wall Street protests on Wednesday night, Fox 5 photographer Roy Isen was hit in the eyes by pepper spray from a police officer and Fox 5 reporter Dick Brennan was hit by an officer's baton." [Below video, which shows police brutality, as described, may be upsetting.]
CNN—Wall Street protests mark 20th day Thursday: "Thursday marks the 20th day of Wall Street protests and the grassroots demonstrations against income inequality, corporate greed and other social ills appear to be picking up steam. The crowds at the 'Occupy Wall Street' rally on Wednesday seemed to be the largest since the protests started. At the event, protesters and officers scuffled and New York police arrested 28 people for various offenses including one facing charges of assaulting an officer."
Esquire—What They've Come to Find at Occupy Wall Street Is America: "It is entirely possible—even likely—that the protests themselves will sink into history. Already, there's an effort underway to marginalize them in the public mind, and not entirely because so much of the media is owned and operated by the same corporate class that runs the institutions against which these protests are aimed. This a movement based on class, which, as an issue, most Americans don't much like to confront, largely because to admit that it is an issue is to admit that a great part of the American self-image is a delusion. We do not all have an equal chance. The game is rigged. The economy has been turned into a casino and the house always wins, and we are not the house any more. Not for a long time. Not by the longest shot. And if that's all these protests ever say, if that's all that ever gets shouted into the rising autumn wind, then that's an effort worth making."
Rich Yeselson, "research coordinator at Change to Win, a skilled organizer, and a thoughtful historian of social movements in America and Europe," in the WaPo—The four habits of highly successful social movements:
[T]he emergence of the Wall Street movement is a reminder that the liberal left has not in quite a few years actually driven anything like a mass social movement in this country. When Obama was elected, some people made the mistake of thinking that an election-bounded jolt of energy that conflated a charismatic candidate with a popular political vision was such a movement. Nobody thinks that anymore.
The left does have something important however: a coterie of several thousand intellectuals, academics, writers, and engaged professionals who articulate liberal public policy, generate empirical and analytical expertise through the Internet, the media, and universities, and staff the offices of advocacy groups and progressive politicians on the local and national level.
Palin made the announcement in a letter to supporters Wednesday night.
"After much prayer and serious consideration, I have decided that I will not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for President of the United States," she wrote. "As always, my family comes first and obviously Todd and I put great consideration into family life before making this decision."
...In late September, Palin said she worried running for president might "shackle" someone like her, because she was "a maverick."
As Palin's former running mate (good times) John McCain firmly redefined "maverick" to mean violentopportunist, Palin certainly fits the bill. Of course, by that definition, so does every Republican currently running for their nomination.
Anyway! You can read her whole letter, in which she promises to "help coordinate strategies to assist in replacing the President, re-taking the Senate, and maintaining the House," here.
A photo snapped by an Occupy Chicago protester of the 8th floor of the Chicago Board of Trade, in the windows of which are hung signs reading: "WE ARE THE 1%."
I don't know what assholes at CBOT thought that bit of smug belligerence would be hilarious, but it's almost certainly not people who are actually part of the 1%, or anywhere close to it. Which makes that message as self-defeating as it is needlessly provocative.
"I am truly sorry for offending anyone in any way. I never meant to. It was a poor choice of words on my part in an effort to explain a feeling," Depp said in the statement. "I understand there is no comparison and I am very regretful. In an effort to correct my lack of judgment, please accept my heartfelt apology."
Nope! Because the problem for which Depp needs to apologize isn't a "poor choice of words." It is instead a fundamental misunderstanding and repeated minimization of rape, which allows him to say bullshit like: "[Roman Polanski] is not a predator. He's 75 or 76 years old. He has got two beautiful kids, he has got a wife that he has been with for a long, long time. He is not out on the street."
When Depp wants to apologize for perpetuating the rape culture by engaging in rape apologia and using the language of sexual violence as his casual metaphor, then I'll be ready to accept his apology.
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