Operation Occupy Wall Street

[Scuzz]

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…you…you DO know what a “sit in” is correct? I mean…I’m not drawing a direct correlation but I’m vaguely sure Rosa Parks was told multiple times to get to the back of the bus…

Yeah, nobody was surprised because the police have trained us for decades to expect an inappropriate response

So no one is saying it’s a surprise. We’re saying it’s not right.

And I doubt, you fucker, that we found the world’s only group of protesters who get off on being pointlessly beaten despite your expert analysis.

Am I the only one who finds the constant correlating between the way the civil rights demonstrators were treated and the way the occupiers are being treated to be idiotic and simplistic. Civil Rights demonstrators had a much worse time than anything the occupiers have come close to facing. Civil Rights demonstrators had attack dogs sent after them, they were beaten by police and townsfolk, they were killed. They “disappeared” in the middle of the night.

[Scuzz]

You seem to be missing the entire context of the oppression of the Occupy movements.

Consider how many crimes the police are missing or mishandling due to their focus on intimidating through massing a presence at the occupy camps. If a cop is at one location he can’t be somewhere else.

Crimes are crimes, regardless of whether they exist in the context of the occupy movement.

The purpose of the oppression of the occupy movement however, is to stop the movement.

Imagine for a moment if you had a cop following you around 24/7 and would always throw the book at you. So you get arrested for littering, jaywalking, and other minor infractions you normally get away with due to police not noticing/having more important things to do.

Your real “crime”, in this scenario, is not littering or jaywalking, but whatever you are being oppressed for.

Likewise, noone is suggesting that the Occupy movement should be given special treatment under the law. What I am saying is that the Occupy movement is receiving oppressive treatment under the law, part of a long-term strategy on the part of the rulers and their enablers (the police themselves) to break the movement.

Paranoid much. The Occupy groups are asking for special treatment. There is no getting around that fact. Whether you agree with them or not, whether you actually know what they want or not, they are asking for special treatment.

[Alstein]

Am I the only one who finds the constant correlating between the way the civil rights demonstrators were treated and the way the occupiers are being treated to be idiotic and simplistic. Civil Rights demonstrators had a much worse time than anything the occupiers have come close to facing. Civil Rights demonstrators had attack dogs sent after them, they were beaten by police and townsfolk, they were killed. They “disappeared” in the middle of the night.

I’m sure if there was no Youtube you’d be seeing the same thing today. This is a big reason SOPA is such a worry for me.

[Murbella]

That’s because, regardless of your prejudices, Tea Party rallies were overwhelmingly properly permitted, completely peaceable, and utterly lacking in the sort of civil disobedience that, for better or for worse, tends to lead to the police taking action (disproportionate or not). You really can’t compare the two.

Tea party rallies were also full of people VERY openly carrying firearms in an attempt to get attention as well.

Calmly pepper spraying a bunch of non violent young men and women sitting on the ground is one thing, trying to do the same against angry extremists who feel the need to point to the fact that they are carrying a gun is another.

[Scuzz]

I’m sure if there was no Youtube you’d be seeing the same thing today. This is a big reason SOPA is such a worry for me.

You really think it’s because of Youtube? I doubt that very much. The level of hatred and violence isn’t even close to being the same thing. You know there is still a large part of society that could care less about youtube?

[Scuzz]

Tea party rallies were also full of people VERY openly carrying firearms in an attempt to get attention as well.

Calmly pepper spraying a bunch of non violent young men and women sitting on the ground is one thing, trying to do the same against angry extremists who feel the need to point to the fact that they are carrying a gun is another.

I can only speak of the local Tea Party rallies but they were held in areas paid for by the groups. They were supported by sponsership dollars. They were insured. They attracted local politicians. In fact they were aimed at politicians instead of being aimed at some generic finance industry. They had an identifiable message. And those carrying guns, which was a very small percentage, were doing it legally.

The cops had no reason to even show up as no laws were being broken.

[Lizard_King]

Am I the only one who finds the constant correlating between the way the civil rights demonstrators were treated and the way the occupiers are being treated to be idiotic and simplistic. Civil Rights demonstrators had a much worse time than anything the occupiers have come close to facing. Civil Rights demonstrators had attack dogs sent after them, they were beaten by police and townsfolk, they were killed. They “disappeared” in the middle of the night.

Am I the only one who finds your concern trolling and machinegun posting idiotic and simplistic.

[Scuzz]

Am I the only one who finds your concern trolling and machinegun posting idiotic and simplistic.

Probably, but I don’t mind. I respect your right to post crap.

[Fishbreath]

Tea party rallies were also full of people VERY openly carrying firearms in an attempt to get attention as well.

Calmly pepper spraying a bunch of non violent young men and women sitting on the ground is one thing, trying to do the same against angry extremists who feel the need to point to the fact that they are carrying a gun is another.

This is an absolute pile of steaming crap (as is about 99% of what people say on this subforum about the Tea Party), but I’m not in the mood to get into the slanging match pointing out exactly why would inevitably turn into.

[tiohn]

Am I the only one who finds your concern trolling and machinegun posting idiotic and simplistic.

You are definitely not. Just when Brettmcd seemed to have backed off on the constant concern trolling, a new challenger appeared.

[mrmolecule88]

Am I the only one who finds your concern trolling and machinegun posting idiotic and simplistic.

You’re not. It also makes it tough to respond to him when things like this get caught in the muddle and remain unchallenged.

Paranoid much. The Occupy groups are asking for special treatment. There is no getting around that fact. Whether you agree with them or not, whether you actually know what they want or not, they are asking for special treatment.

The lazy bums, amirite? I wasn’t aware asking for a bigger piece of the pie counted as special treatment. I guess pie isn’t very special when you’ve had a whole 3/4 to yourself already.

[Kolonial]

Probably

Incorrect.

I think you initially came to these discussions trying to play both sides of the fence while leaning toward an anti-OWS stance, but you’ve given up the pretense. So I salute you on your honesty but describing your approach as “simplistic” is doing you too much of a favor.

[Lizard_King]

This is an absolute pile of steaming crap (as is about 99% of what people say on this subforum about the Tea Party), but I’m not in the mood to get into the slanging match pointing out exactly why would inevitably turn into.

I agree, I don’t think the extent to which Tea Party protestors carried weapons was a significant variable in determining the level of police response to them.

[Scuzz]

Incorrect.

I think you initially came to these discussions trying to play both sides of the fence while leaning toward an anti-OWS stance, but you’ve given up the pretense. So I salute you on your honesty but describing your approach as “simplistic” is doing you too much of a favor.

I realize that not going total lefty or total righty somehow confuses many of you but I really don’t give a shit. I don’t have to swear by either extreme.
If that bothers you put me on ignore, I really don’t give a damn.

[AaronSofaer]

Am I the only one who finds your concern trolling and machinegun posting idiotic and simplistic.

I have no idea who you’re talking to or about, because I have the VBulletin plugin which hides their posts entirely.

[Brettmcd]

I have no idea who you’re talking to or about, because I have the VBulletin plugin which hides their posts entirely.

Thats nice, I am sure every one here really cares so much who you do and dont have on ignore.

[Valentine]

Am I the only one who finds the constant correlating between the way the civil rights demonstrators were treated and the way the occupiers are being treated to be idiotic and simplistic. Civil Rights demonstrators had a much worse time than anything the occupiers have come close to facing. Civil Rights demonstrators had attack dogs sent after them, they were beaten by police and townsfolk, they were killed. They “disappeared” in the middle of the night.

“I’m not drawing a direct correlation but I’m vaguely sure Rosa Parks was told multiple times to get to the back of the bus…”

Aaaaaaaand you’re not worth talking to any longer

[Lizard_King]

I have no idea who you’re talking to or about, because I have the VBulletin plugin which hides their posts entirely.

Then I would like to note that the ungrammatical period was there for the sake of mimicry.

[The_Mad_Hatter]

I’m sure if there was no Youtube you’d be seeing the same thing today. This is a big reason SOPA is such a worry for me.

That’s deeply silly on so many levels. These comparisons with the Arab Spring, the civil rights movement, etc are completely absurd.

[Lizard_King]

That’s deeply silly on so many levels. These comparisons with the Arab Spring, the civil rights movement, etc are completely absurd.

It’s no more absurd than the opposite extreme you are presenting, where you claim they have nothing in common. It can be useful to analogize specific aspects of popular protests and the response to them by authorities, but it’s too easy to get sidetracked with smears and attempts to trivialize OWS by aggressively polarizing the extent to which they resemble x every time it comes up.

Threadonanism aside, the NYT had a nice piece on the challenges of having a movement with a somewhat adversarial relationship to the media. Also makes a case for the Bloomberg/Homeland Security approach to OWS being its own worst enemy.