Tin Soldiers & Mayor Bloomberg Coming
November 15, 2011
Freedom of Assembly,
Freedom of Speech &
Freedom of Press Suspended
Early this morning, peaceful, non-violent Occupy Wall Street citizens were cleared under orders of New York City Mayor Bloomberg.
“Military Madness”
Crosby & Nash: Live at Occupy Wall Street
“Military madness is killing our country"
"How can you run when you know?"
Call Mayor Bloomberg NOW at 212-639-9675 to express your solidarity with the occupiers and let him know this action will only make the protest stronger.
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable."
~~John F. Kennedy, October 26, 1963
by Thrasher Wheat@PermaLink: 11/15/2011 07:53:00 AM
23 comments
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23 Comments:
give me a massive break.
these folks had their say.
the park is for everyone not just them.
military madness, ohio..........the comparison is a joke.
Amen there Tom. I guess Thrasher's definition of peaceful protesting includes rape, drug dealing, theft, and tuberculosis.
Be careful though Tom. Thrasher believes in freedom of speech until you disagree with him. Then you will be attacked as a racist, bigot, homophobe, 1%er. In other words, he's a typical leftist who will change the subject and then attack when confronted with facts.
Oh and Tom, you obviously are a robot being controlled by the Koch Brothers - lol...
Hello anon,
For the curious benefit of non-Americans, could you please back up these "rape, drug dealing and theft" claims. These problems occur every day in major city parks, so I'd like to see evidence that these incidents you speak of were committed by protesters.
Thanks in advance.
Mr. Kite,
U.K.
It appears to me that while both sides want to demand their rights, there must be limits to the 'rules of engagment' here relative to park hours, loitering, littering, etc, THE LAW. I don't pretend to know the individual circumstances, nor the claims of ANYONE who is not there to witness/observe or whatever. Baseless claims from both sides are inevitable.
Who's dividing the country into colors now? Red white or blue? Is this a homesteading state? Is this public property? Are there curfew laws to the parks? Is there a leader here among us?
Mob rule doesn't work. You may say it has in the Arab spring of things relative to overthrown dicators abroad....is this what we're after? WAR? Are guns and bombs and death next?
"And I have no answers, no patented path to set you free, besides I wouldn't know where you wanted to go, but it's probably not the same place as me" ~ David Crosby/1000 Roads
Peace brothers and sisters. Peace be with you.
The law that created Zuccotti Park required that it be open for the public to enjoy for passive recreation 24 hours a day,” the mayor said in the statement. “Ever since the occupation began, that law has not been complied with” because the protesters had taken over the park, “making it unavailable to anyone else.”
“I have become increasingly concerned — as had the park’s owner, Brookfield Properties — that the occupation was coming to pose a health and fire safety hazard to the protesters and to the surrounding community,”
The mayor said the protesters have a right to protest but they do not have a right to set up an encampment in the park.
”Protesters have had two months to occupy the park with tents and sleeping bags,” he said. “
Now they will have to occupy the space with the power of their arguments.”
Kent State this is not.
May 4 1970 - Four students shot to death protesting an unjust war.
Nov 15 2011 - After two months folks told they can't live in a public space while protesting ... life in general?
They got to send their message, loud and clear. They weren't silenced. They just can't live there.
The most stupid thing I'v read on this site and have seen many.Lets bring up ohio a few more times this month.Anything Neil stands for he does..anything Neil hates he hates..think for yourself
Throngs of Occupiers were shown readmitted to the park on the news tonight. I liked the sentiments of them..." I don't see why we can't work in shifts"...."Why do we have to sleep"....Peacefull Valley Blvd indeed...let's keep it that way.
Is this website about Neil Young the musician? Seems lately it's about something totally different It's time to once again abandon this site till real news about NY comes again to the forefront.
hmmm.
did we hit a nerve? Are we supposed to apologize for having an opinion?
So now we know where you stand relative to the 99%. fine.
but why the hate if you have all the power?
As for Ohio? Has it ever dawned on you why Neil plays this year after year? Why its prominently featured in his new film?
If we have to point out the parallels then you just don't get it.
or maybe you do? which is why you attack & hate.
peace
ps - take your fears and smears somewhere else.
the Kent State KILLINGS by the National Guard is STILL a tragedy...getting kicked out of a PRIVATELY OWNED park? By all means let's compare apples to screwdrivers...
@asg - so how exactly is the gov't crushing Freedom of Assembly,
Freedom of Speech & Freedom of the Press @Kent & @Occupy comparing apples to screwdrivers?
pls be specific.
peace & love from the 99%
hmm...my comments were addressed to anyone who sees the OWS Movement as their big chance to relive the groovy 60s...IMO the Movement DOES HAVE a legitimate beef with the "fat cats"--I believe it's "pay your fair share of the income taxes we ALL have to (theoretically) pay..." but it takes more than people getting mad about something to change things...I believe it's already a LAW--if you make more than X amount of money, you must pay income tax...ENFORCE THE LAW, simple as that...*I* see no connection between Kent State and OWS; peaceful protest is one thing, trespassing on private property is another...
law enforcement officials (policemen) overreact--that should no longer be a surprise...provoking them surely doesn't help the cause...now if all you're doing is shouting a slogan and you get assaulted THAT is altogether different than trying to videotape someone who (for whatever reason) doesn't wanna be videotaped; it should be no surprise by now that America's law enforcement community, like its' Gov't, is full of bad apples...but (I want to believe)not all the apples are rotten...
In the 60s they were protesting bad government policies and now they're doing the same ... in the 60s the government was using a draft to ship off young people to an unpopular war ... today young people, even those that have been diligent about gaining an education and developing skills, can't find gameful employment.
Obama has brilliantly deflected the blame onto "millionaires and billionaires" (which practically speaking he defines as families making over $250k per year) and suggesting that if they only paid their 'fair' share of taxes everything would be fine ...
But thats a red herring ...
Let us not forget that Bush, Obama, Pelosi, they are the 1% ... and the Washington DC suburbs are the richest in all of the US. Coincidence? Our elected officials = the 1%. John Corzine? Wall Street (Goldman) > Governor > Wall Street (MF Global) ...
I think an important question is what should the 99% stand for? I think it should be for a government that puts the people's interest ahead of their own ... that means creating jobs for us and our kids instead of focusing on keeping theirs.
And hopefully stand for a government that allows for free assembly and protest.
I support the occupy movement and i was a college student in 1970. The similarities are there some should read Mario Savio speech at Berkly in 1964 on the machine. ANON number two needs to watch something other then Foxnews all the time . Yeah i can tell what you watch .THis isnt the rally the march this is Occupy Wall Street look up what Occupy means that why they stay . Thrasher good job on the sight . Some of you remind me of people on the Freedom Of Speech tour . "Why all that political stuff" "Just sing the pretty songs " theese people did not really know CSNY they wre radio fans. One of the most political bands around at that time was CSNY . I know i was 16 in 1968 and 20 when Harvest came out .
The Searcher
In Michigan
Responding to Tom's words, but it applies to all the fools who post here ragging on Thrasher for daring to have the audacity to feel something and speak his mind about it.
"These folks had their say."
What do you mean by that? What do you mean they had their say?
Revolutions don't just stop and go away because some crying, uptight Manhattan yuppies don't want to see protesters when they look out the windows of their inane, coddled lives.
Revolutions don't just happen for a day and then everyone goes home. It's an occupation, not a nice little demonstration, and these folks definitely are NOT DONE HAVING THEIR SAY.
Sometimes speech is a lot more than a few words or a nice saying on a sign about how mad you are.
Now and again you have to defend your country from power-hungry, wealth-mad oligarchs who profit on murder and destruction. That's the price of freedom.
The park is for everyone?
Oh my, someone might not get to walk through that glorified slab of concrete they call a park without having to be surrounded by angry protesters?
The last time I was down there, anyone could walk into that park and do whatever they wanted, so what do you mean, "The park is for everyone, "not just them""?
I think you misspoke. You must mean, "The park is for everyone, but not them."
Because they're not stopping anybody from using it. AND they're still there protesting, so nothing has changed except for the lack of tents, and there's still a huge crowd of people, so how does this suddenly make the park usable in a way it wasn't before the gestapo came in and beat, dragged, pepper-sprayed and brutalized people like a bunch of lawless thugs?
I just don't get that comment at all.
Furthermore, there is absolutely no excuse for police officers to beat and brutalize peaceful people, throw their possessions in the garbage, and treat them like human trash.
Do you think that cops should be allowed to just beat people for exercising their rights?
WTF is wrong with people? Aren't you angry about Americans across this country getting shot at, degraded, dragged, clubbed and injured by police officers who are sworn to protect the very people they are oppressing?
If you people don't see the VERY OBVIOUS correlation between what's happening now and what happened back in the 60's, then you must be willfully ignorant.
No, four students haven't been shot yet. Only one, and he allegedly had a gun. Oh, and then there was the soldier who was nearly murdered by a cop shooting a tear-gas canister, but I guess that doesn't count, does it?
Shouldn't we be smart enough to know that eventually some more people WILL get killed? So I guess the question is, who will you blame for it?
Will you blame the people speaking up for what they believe in, against an oppressive system of lawmakers and corporate oligarchs?
Or will you blame the baton-wielding, violent police force?
Or will you blame Mayor Doomburg and his band of merry 1%ers who keep siccing their attack dogs on the protesters?
I suspect you'll blame the peaceful people who dared assemble to challenge the status quo, for not hiding with you in your hole of fear and obsequiousness while rampant corporate greed destroys America.
@Dan1, Shadow/Searcher, & Matthew:
Thanks for your comments.
As with many things, the most important thing here is that folks are highly engaged. we'd much rather see that than the apathetic "nothing to see here, move along, what's on TeeVee, have another beer" mentality".
We'll say that we didn't title this post "Tin Solidiers & Mayor Bloomberg Coming" lightly.
Neil called out Nixon for crimes & violating the Bill of Rights in "Ohio". Like wise, we're naming names too.
We find it very hard that we need to actually spell out exactly how Kent & Occupy parallel one another.
But we'll say this. As blogger, we are outraged and will not let this aggression stand.
An NYPD inspector took a press badge from an NBC4 reporter. Only credentialed press were permitted to stand on the sidewalk in front of Zuccotti. However, CNN’s Poppy Harlow reported via Twitter the police were not letting press through to Occupy Wall Street protesters. According to New York Observer reporter Hunter Walker, CNBC, NBC, CBS, Wall Street Journal and Reuters reporters were all blocked from viewing the raid.
The air space over Zuccotti Park (which the occupiers renamed Liberty Square) was closed to all news helicopters. Both the NBC and CBS news choppers were grounded.
Journalists were shoved around for being present. A few reporters and photographers were even thrown to the ground.
AP reporter Karen Matthews and AP photographer Set Wenig were arrested. New York Daily News Matthew Lysiak was arrested. Jared Malsin, a reporter for the Local East Village, was arrested, even though he showed his press credentials. NPR freelancer Julie Walker was arrested.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg downplayed or outright ignored the instances of press suppression. He contended the press was kept from the park area to “prevent a situation from getting worse” and to protect the press. Bloomberg celebrated the “professionalism” shown by the NYPD during the raid.
Crushing what free press we have left is one the final steps towards fascism.
beware.
"First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up, because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me."
~~Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1945
there IS a similarity between the National Guard in 1970 and the NYPD in 2011--they both panicked and overreacted...but I do think the REASONS for the protests are different, IF ya wanna be specific...It's got to be more than just "the Establishment sucks..." and I think many (but not all) of the protesters have expressed their dissatisfaction eloquently...and I don't think there would be a problem if the Gov't enforced the law regarding income tax...
I love how the poster says 'Resist Austerity' - that pretty much sums it up. I doubt most of the kids down there even know what that word means. Yes I'm making a broad sweeping judgement on thousands of people that I don't know. But whoever designed that poster knows what it means. It means deficit cutting, lower spending, etc. Common sense. Yes Wall Street got away with horrendous financial tricks and it's still happening today. But it was all legal via the laws created by a corrupt Congress - on both sides of the aisle. There has been a revolving door between Wall Street high finance and the political establishment in Washington. Both parties. Bush 43 and Obama have stacked their inner circle with people who got extremely wealthy at places like Goldman Sachs. It's sickening.
But the fact that this movement isn't protesting on Capitol Hill is a bit curious to me. Why are they ignoring the foundation of their grievances - Congress? Wall Street and its practices are the direct by-product of Congressional actions. Yet somehow OWS isn't targeting them. Why?
The notion of moving beyond the left vs. right paradigm is a noble one. However, there is a fundamental difference between a society based on individual freedom & liberty and one where an all powerful government controls people's lives either directly or indirectly through its actions.
I'm 38 years old, have two kids under the age of ten, and between my wife & I, we make around $120,000 a year. We have been blessed. Are we the 1% in our little suburban life? I struggle monthly trying to pay bills - not much left after taxes and endless bills. But if one of us got sick or lost our job, it wouldn't be long before our little world would begin to crumble. I get that. I get that there are tens of thousands of Americans who feel that there isn't a future out there for them in this money chasing society.
It's the alternative that scares me. If capitalism goes down, the only thing that will fill the void is a tyrannical government - by definition. Human beings are flawed and generally self-serving by nature. The Founding Fathers understood that a society where citizens look after their own interests is a good one where prosperity can flourish.
I remember when Eddie Vedder used to beat himself up on stage because he had become extremely wealthy. I never quite understood that - his guilt about it was perplexing.
If Michael Moore, and Jay-Z, and Tom Morello, and Eddie, and Neil all want to support this cause, then great. But until I hear that Michael Moore, for example, has donated every last penny that he has to charity and has decided to live at a homeless shelter, then I will continue to roll my eyes as the hypocrisy of the 1% label rings out louder than Old Black.
Just standing around won't change the world...
give me a massive break.
these folks had their say.
the park is for everyone not just them.
military madness, ohio..........
the comparison is still a joke.
i think SOME of the media-saavy protesters WANT a confrontation with the police.
GREAT thing about America is you should be able to disagree and still be freinds!
vive la différence!
The Real problem as I see it is That CORRUPTION seems to be a way of life that all the worlds people accept & embrace the world over. Witness difficult to prove but obvious violations of planning Laws in the UK, The MP'S expenses saga in the UK. PLUS, and this is the most important of all, the unlawful or at the best shady deals all people conduct or condone over goods,property and food every single day of their lives the world over. THE POINT IS until every single one of us stops doing this; there will always be those who get away with doing it on a massive scale eg. wall street etc. Human greed is our biggest threat to our Human existence and NONE of us are guilt free.
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