Fascism rising: This IS exactly what it looks like

It's been a minute.  Maybe it's time to start writing again.  Shit ain't gettin' any better.

Here is something written by a friend of mine:

Let's do some quick math, friends:

- Antifa is not an organization; nobody belongs to it, there are no membership rolls. So you cannot prove you do not belong to it.

- If you have shown up to a protest, if you have been in a picture showing you were near a protest, if you have, like me, offered first aid at a political demonstration or shown up as clergy support or carried a sign or made a Facebook post or LIKED a post saying you're against fascism, you could be accused of being a "member of Antifa," and you can't prove it's not true.

- If this measure to declare "Antifa" "domestic terrorists" passes, that means you and I can be arrested and prosecuted as "domestic terrorists." No, really, you too. Which is funny, cause the fascists are the ones killing people and driving cars into crowds. Or lynching people or shooting up churches and I could go on for days.

Let me be clear here I love the idea of ANTIFA because ALL of the NAZI scum need to just go away forever. Freedom of speech is not a shield you can use when you are calling for the deaths of whole segments of society. The problem I have is the assholes who claim to be Antifa who go after people they don't like and muddy the waters, like when they wholesale attack the police. Yes, there are some seriously disturbed officers out there that need to be held accountable, but I have never been one to say fuck the police. I know some amazing police officers and I am related to a number of them and they are some of the best people I know. Another interesting fact is that there are and have been people posing as Antifa who perpetrate actions that besmirch the movement's activities and goals.

- We passed a bunch of laws and rulings back in 2002 or so declaring that accused terrorists don't get due process, and can be held indefinitely without trial, tortured, and so on.
(Patriot Act I and II)

- The Trump administration also just declared that they're opening up the death penalty for federal crimes, like terrorism, for the first time in years. (https://www.latimes.com/…/justice-department-executions-inm…/justice-department-executions-inm…)

- We have a whole bunch of new for-profit detention camps for holding people in indefinitely without trial, where people are dying right now from nightmarish conditions.(https://www.nbcnews.com/…/24-immigrants-have-died-ice-custo…/24-immigrants-have-died-ice-custo…)

- ICE is running around right now, without badges or uniforms or warrants, disappearing people--including US citizens--and locking them up, and fully half their agents belong to a Facebook group where they shared racist jokes, bragged about the violence they'd done to the subhuman animals they're locking up, and talked about how they wanted to assault and rape political figures they don't like.

- This is a license to lock up and execute political dissenters and community organizers without due process and the pieces have all been put in place to use it.

- We are running out of time to stop this train.

This is one of the better articles I've read on the real risks ANTIFA hold for our democracy: 
Newsweek: BAN ANTIFA? I'VE MET GOLDEN RETRIEVERS WHO SCARED ME MORE
https://www.newsweek.com/ban-antifa-cruz-cassidy-golden-retrievers-1451271

Darkness Rising: Why respectful debate is more important than ever

Like I've written in previous posts, for the most part this blog is dormant, though please follow the link on the right to check out the Facebook page, which has been very active recently...

However, this post grew out of some comments on a link that grew into a Facebook post of its own, and which I think is worth posting here:

It's amusing to me... Only in this weird year, after these horrible presidential campaigns, could I ever be labeled as a member of the "far left"... :) And if you knew much about my political views in the 1980s and early 1990s, I am pretty much a conservative compared to those days, by the standards in those days... But while I've moved to the middle, even past what used to be considered the center into what used to be the liberal right, the political climate in this country has changed so much that Nixon would be labeled a communist these days by the descendants of his own conservative movement... That being said, my political posts, here and elsewhere, are a lot less about advocating for one party over another, or even broader, more "left" and "right" ideologies. Really, it is more about this: There are certain ways "dark" instincts and power works that is pretty universal, and it adapts to every political and economic system. Most people don't recognize it, but they fear it, and they usually aim their fears at straw men and red herrings laid out for them by the folks gaining advantage from that darkness (whether they even recognize what it is or not). There are many moral, philosophical and religious terms used for this darkness, and I am trying to avoid them, to strip it down to the basics (and darkness is a bit of a moral judgment, wild might be better?)... When fear and resentment and dissatisfaction with life rises to the top in the masses' day to day lives, this wildness comes to the front and, generally, very bad things start happening. In the end, us normal citizens have very little idea about who the good guys and the bad guys are in this battle, and we do our best, which is hard these days with the disintegrating media and laughable standards of journalism that we encounter, to pick the candidates and causes that we hope will battle this dark, wild force. And if not to actively battle it, to at least slow its rise to dominance. I've picked my side, the causes and candidates I support, based on the best, though always flawed, information I have available. Others pick the other side, feeling those better battle the darkness. Disagreement and healthy debate is good and, I will always feel, are enemies of this darkness. However, the mood and the climate is changing in the western world, and the space that used to be filled, for the most part, with healthy debate is now filled with anger and fear, ignorance and blatant lies, which is only making the enemies of freedom stronger, which won't benefit any of us, regardless of who we voted for a few weeks back. So let's keep the conversations calm, let's, the average people just trying to make sense of everything, respect each other, even if we disagree... Let's keep our minds open to new ideas, new information, and let's reject lies and fake news, even when it appears to support our "side." In social media, more than anywhere, this is so important, because too many of our feeds are designed by the sites to only provide us with ONLY the opinions and "facts" that we support, and sometimes, unfortunately, depressingly, even, the comment threads are the only place where we can actually learn new the perspectives and gain the information we need to make the decisions we need to make to keep our country free and great. Finally, further food for thought on this matter:

When does it become too much? Some tea partiers are now calling for Obama’s “legal” assassination

Horrifying. This is what we get when the far right gets a free pass from the mainstream media. How about nightly fact checks on the evening news programs? These people are dangerous (the so-called journalists on the far right) when they inflame potential domestic terrorists so they can drive up ratings with their "info-taiment" shock talk, and then run from the responsibility when one of these nut jobs actually takes everything they've been saying as fact and starts building bombs or firing off shots.

Do they have the right to say the things they do? Well, I suppose they do. But the mainstream media, more so, has the responsibility of challenging what they say, from Fox News to Glenn Beck and beyond. Instead, they ignore it, or even worse, take it seriously and start reporting on the same "stories" these dangerous anti-journalists are fabricating without any real reporting to clarify fact and to separate truth from fiction.

When, not if, but when we have the next OKC, I'll be blaming the major mainstream news outlets as much as I'll be blaming the right wing "info-tainment" outlets. Perhaps even more so, because they truly are dropping the journalism ball where Beck and folks make it very clear that they are pandering to their viewers and listeners for the sake of the holy dollar and have little real interest in actually being journalists.

A lot of these folks cite the Bible for their political philosophies, well here's one for them:

Romans 13 (NSV): 1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of him who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain; he is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be subject, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay all of them their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

Christian Tea Party Terrorist Claims 2nd Amendment Authority To Shoot President Obama! | Americans Against the Tea Party:

GOP: Selling the American Dream and Winning Elections

This morning on OPB, the local NPR radio station, they had a brief clip from the president of the Portland State University Republicans...

Her main argument for the GOP and Romney, her main attraction to the GOP, was her perception that the Republicans’ primary ethic was success through hard work.  She said that this fit well with her family's worldview, since her parents were immigrants who achieved "the American Dream." She also felt the Republicans were more pro-American, more patriotic.

Of course, “arbeit macht frei” sounds familiar...  Where have I heard that before?

So, through all of the noise and clatter, what she is taking from the campaigns so far is that the idea of working really hard to achieve success is a Republican ethic.  I suppose, for the Democrats’ ethics, she probably shares Romney’s stated view on 47% of America, though, to be fair, she did not mention the Democrats at all.

This is how the GOP gets so many to vote for them, to vote against their best interests.  The message is to work hard, keep doing what you are doing, and we’ll get the government to quit supporting those who aren’t working as hard and to remove those who are standing in your way on the path to success.

Of course, in reality, most GOP policies do nothing to help these folks at all.  If anything, especially with the current platform, it harms them and takes away many of their protections.  And, likely, a Romney victory would result in these folks paying higher taxes, one way or the other, and students, perhaps even the one interviewed on the radio this morning, no longer being able to attend college due to higher costs and reduced financial aid availability.

I would spend the morning collecting stats and historical trends from Republican Congresses and Presidencies, but lets face it…  For voters like this young woman, those stats mean nothing.  They had her at "work brings freedom."

To be fair, this sounded like the ideas of someone very young who has not really had any real world experience.  I don’t know, but it’s what she sounded like to me. 

Now, I have no problem with people who are Republicans because they feel that the specific policies and platforms, economic plans, etc. are right for America.  I usually disagree with them, but they have their vote and I have mine.

What bothered me here was that she did not talk about economic plans or specific ideas on solving real issues our country was facing, she spoke only of vague generalities and meaningless, emotional slogans.  And, to her, the GOP is the party supporting the American Dream.

Of course, this young woman’s vote was probably never up for grabs this year.  Her reasons for being a Republican may be silly, but she is one and it is unlikely that she ever considered voting for Obama this year.  Party faithful tend to look for reasons to continue to support their candidate, even through disaterous campaigns, rather than looking for reasons to switch their vote to the other guy.

But this clip still tells me a lot about how this election is going, and how recent elections have gone down.

To me, this is a really clear example of how the two parties different ideas distill down to many people, dripping down through incompetent or biased media sources, through tea party / extremist sloganeering, to arrive, stripped of any meaning or sense, to wash and water the preconceived biases of the ordinary voter who does not spend hours, not even every day, but every election, picking their party and candidate…

What dripped down to this student was that the GOP is the party protecting the American dream.  Details on how they are doing this?  Not necessary.  She trusts the signs.

This election will be decided by 5% of the voters in five or so states.  If they have not made up their mind yet, they are probably relying on semi-hysterical and mostly meaningless sound bites on the evening and morning news shows, vague notions bantered about by late night comics, Facebook graphics, and water cooler talking points for their information. 

What is distilling down to these people is important.  It will decide this election.  It is easy to laugh and dismiss people who sound like this student sounded this morning, and that is a huge mistake because whichever candidate does the best job at targeting voters like her, albeit ones who have not made up their minds, will win every time.

Historically, the Republicans have the process down.  The Democrats are slowly catching up, but still tend to fall into the trap that they can win on the intelligence and strength of their ideas and that sound bites are petty and worthless.  No, they can’t win this way. 

It is why so many Democrats were baffled by Romney’s “defeat” of Obama in the first debate.  Obama brought the facts, Romney brought the persona, and Romney “won.”

As much as I hate to say it, to win, the Democrats must become masters of the very broken, very evil, sound bite and slogan driven PR machine that removes all thought and depth from their arguments and promises everyone success and happiness and ponies as a reward for voting Democrat. 

Unfortunately, for the last twelve years or more, the Democrats seem incapable of actually winning elections.  The only times they actually win, including the mid-term congressional elections as well as the presidency, is when the GOP screws up so bad that the voters come crawling back to give the Dems one more chance. 

Before the first debate, the widening lead in the polls was not due to the strength of the Democrats’ arguments, but due to the ineptness of the Romney campaign.  He seems silly, I am not voting for him!  Tax codes?  Health care?  Foreign policy?  Nope.  Mitt looked silly.  Now that Mitt doesn’t seem so silly, these voters are torn again.

This election will be decided by Leno and Letterman and the like, not even by Fox News or The Daily Show, whose viewers were never really in play to start with.  The candidate who wins will be the one who provides the least fuel for the jokes, not by the campaign that offers the best, or, at least, the most coherent, ideas for the future of our country.  It is sad and it is why, I can’t see for a long time, calling this blog anything but Democracy In Distress.

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It’s a Trap! Thoughts on the 1st Obama / Romney Debate

Well, it’s going down about how I expected… 

(How Mitt Romney will win tonight’s debate)

After taking a little time last night and this morning to read some reactions and taking some time to process my own thoughts, I am ready to throw my two cents into the ring.

First of all, I hate it when a team loses a close game and then all the fans blame the officiating.  Bad form.  If the game wasn’t close, the refs’ calls would not influence the outcome.  Bottom line, whomever won or lost the debate, leave poor Jim Lehrer alone!

Second of all, did Obama really lose?  Or, more importantly, could Obama have won this at all? 

As I wrote yesterday, there is no way that Romney was going to look bad last night.  After everything that went down in September, even those of us who knew better were half expecting a drooling moron to stumble out onto stage with his shoelaces tied together.

With the expectations so low, there was no way that Romney wasn’t going to come off surprisingly well.  Let’s not forget, one of the biggest selling points for him early on in the primaries was that he looked and spoke the most like a president out of anyone else in the GOP clown show field of contenders this year.

Yes, Romney looks and talks like a president.  Casting a movie?  He is your guy.  Hiring a real president?  Well, that is a different story. 

My point is, Romney was made for last night.  Obama does well, and I think he did well last night, more on the President later, but Romney’s a candidate perfectly built for this debate format.  Stand up there, look and sound “presidential,” and don’t worry a bit about the hollow content of the words. 

The way these debates are “judged,” and I use the term loosely, the candidate whose performance most resembles a cardboard cutout movie president is usually declared the winner in debates with last night’s format.

Couple this with the low expectations on Romney and Obama didn’t stand a chance last night.

Going in, I think his campaign knew it.  And these guys and gals are true pros from Dover.  2008 and this year are two of the most seamless campaigns I’ve ever seen.  No real mis-steps at all.  Almost perfectly planned and executed.  So, was this the first big “gaffe” of the campaign?

I think not.

I know a lot of Obama supporters were hungry for a decisive, knock out blow last night and mistakenly thought that Romney was primed to receive just such a blow, but he was not.  As I said, there was no way Romney was going to lose this debate. 

The only real question was how badly the President was going to get beaten last night, and how badly the loss was going to damage his re-election odds. 

If Obama went in swinging, he would have looked desperate and cheap to many Americans, would have provided fodder for the Romney campaign through the entire month of October, and potentially would have walked away from last night with his campaign in real trouble.

Yes, the left was hungry for red meat, but the rest of the country wanted to see what Romney had to say.  If Obama went after Romney hard last night, I think instead of the President being criticized for seeming a little off his game, a little tired, a little out of practice and, maybe, even a little nervous, I think the criticisms would have been much more harsh if he seemed angry, combative, or, God forbid, mean.

Such a performance would have been called “unpresidential.”  And that is the worst label you can take away from one of these debates.

So, I believe, Obama intentionally stood back a little and let Romney have his night.  The goal was damage control, in a sense.  Let Romney have a little win, not a big win, and then hang him with his own words over the next couple weeks.

In fact, this is probably the second part of Team Obama’s strategy last night. 

Let Romney feel good about how things were going, gently chide the worst of the attacks and spins, but just let him roll on, providing more and more amorphous “details” while contradicting his own stated policies over and over with more and more confidence, and then completely devastate him with swing state ads over the next few weeks before the election.

When looking at last night’s debate from this perspective, it would seem like Obama did achieve these goals. 

Romney “won” his inevitable victory without really damaging Obama and the President didn’t give the Romney campaign much, if anything, to use against him later.  And Romney flip flopped on issues to such a degree that there may not be enough time left in the campaign to call him on every point and detail, but more than enough time to effectively hang him with his own words.

It was a trap, I tell you…  Now we’ll see if it worked.

A final thought on Obama’s performance.  Perhaps some of his nervousness and apparent discomfort early on actually came from his feelings about last night’s strategy.  Maybe Obama, too, wanted to go after Romney and wasn’t entirely comfortable with the strategy of laying low and letting Romney have his night.  However, he showed a lot of poise, overall, in trusting his team and sticking to the game plan.

Of course, the Democrats’ ace in the hole is the format of the second debate.  If Romney is the perfect candidate for last night’s format, then the town hall format of the next debate is Obama’s.  The embarrassing Romney performance that many Democrats were hoping for last night may still be on the schedule…  Just not in the time slot they expected.  Romney has a bit of explaining to do to 47% of America, and it will be interesting to see how he handles their questions in the next debate.

I think we can all agree, dealing with the “public” is not one of Prince Romney’s strong points.

Then, if needed, Obama can always go after Romney hard in the third debate when the playing field is leveled and the expectations on Romney are higher, when he needs to do more than just show up with his pants on to win.

Let’s face it. The image of Romney as an incompetent moron was an unexpected gift keeping his campaign down and out through September, but it was unexpected and unsustainable. Let’s move past it now, early, and get back to the strategies that are really going to matter, really going to decide this election in the long run.

As for the embarrassing media commentary last night, I’ll leave it with this…

Right Off A Cliff: Status Update:

President Obama sucked it up tonight....

But we feel it was done on purpose. The key issues against Romney such as the 47% comment, offshore bank accounts, the ER health care comment, his tax returns...none of this was mentioned. Which even on a bad night you'd mention at least 1...if not more.

It seems Obama came out knowing Romney would go full out and decided you know, people have short memories it's better to hammer him on these issues the last 2 debates than explode with them in the first debate and have them forgotten weeks later.

Romney, to his credit, was well prepared. Though anyone who knows what's been going on knows that more than half of what he said tonight is a complete contradiction to what he's stood for the last 18 months. Hearing him say he likes regulation is something you have NEVER heard him say...ever. It's a complete 180 on what he's run on since the beginning.

The moderator was flat awful as well. The topics were disorganized and format was terrible.

Make no mistake though...Obama must come out stronger the next debate or Romney is going to close the gap in a hurry.

Mitt Romney Gives Obama All The Lies He Needs to Hang Him With:

As Ed Schultz loses his mind on MSNBC and claims that Obama didn’t try to “win” the debate, the reality is that Romney gave the Obama people a treasure trove of lies to attack the Republican nominee with from now until the next debate. For Barack Obama this debate wasn’t about getting into some sort of ugly street fight. Voters like Obama exactly because he doesn’t do that. For Obama this debate was about who do you trust more?

Mitt Romney stood up and lied to the American people repeatedly. Obama is the trusted candidate with the vision. Romney is the challenger who had to be in chase mode because he is losing.

This debate wasn’t a game changer for Romney, despite what Republicans may think. His biggest problem is he is still Mitt Romney. While the media may give it to Romney, voters are still likely to stick with Obama."

Debates don’t move polls. Debate winners do. | The Signal - Yahoo! News:

…debates have a reach beyond the immediate bump or slide in the polls as they seep into the narrative and offer up ammunition for campaign commercials. With nearly two full weeks until the next presidential debate, the results of this one have a long time to hang around. Romney's solid performance can lead to new donations that, in turn, lead to better poll numbers in the following weeks.

In this way, debates are the opposite of conventions, in which we advise you to ignore the bump in the polls since it inevitably fades. After debates, we advise you to ignore the nonbump in the polls, because it may grow.

A note on the above clip:  In this case, I think the Democrats come away with much more in the way of “ammunition for campaign commercials.”  I suspect that this “victory” for Romney may turn out to be a fairly bittersweet one.

Colorado presidential debate: Media piles on moderator Jim Lehrer - Mackenzie Weinger - POLITICO.com:

The consensus: Lehrer did not control the debate, failed to enforce the time limits, did not press the candidates enough and generally was steamrolled by the presidential candidates, Mitt Romney in particular.

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How Mitt Romney will win tonight’s debate

Looking at the build up for tonight’s debate, well… Hee! I can smell the desperation from here...

However, I beg everyone, remember 2000 & 2004. Gore & Kerry were supposed to destroy W. as bad as Obama is expected to destroy Romney tonight... And those first debates were spun into "wins" for Bush, pretty much because he held his own and didn't start crying like a two year old.

Expectations are so low for Romney tonight that it will be called a win for him if he doesn't embarrass himself, and since most Americans will only check out the talking head soundbites, not the debates themselves, they will believe it.

Yes, it is looking good for Obama right now, but this is not over yet.  And, chances are, unless Romney completely blows it, most Americans will hear that Romney wins tonight.  That is my prediction.  Will it be enough to even him up in the polls?  Who know…

Just remember, listening to the media (not just Fox), and it sounded like there was a real battle for the GOP nomination this year.  When you look at the real numbers and how they were accumulated, it was an pretty clean and decisive cake walk to the nomination for Romney.  Less of a battle than Clinton / Obama in 2008, and even less than McCain / Huckabee in 2008 and Bush / McCain in 2000.

As was just being discussed on NPR, in 2000, Gore went into the first debate with Bush holding a five point lead.  After the debate, he was behind five points, and everyone expected Gore to destroy Bush in the debates before they actually happened.  Sounds like a familiar scenario, right?

Of course, I do not think Obama will be sighing and checking his watch… 

More so than what happens on stage tonight, what happens next really depends on media spin.  Not the partisan talking heads, but the producers, writers, editors, reporters and directors out there.

The media wants a story to tell.  If the election is pretty much settled a month out, that leaves four weeks of dead air time…  Which they will fill by trying to create the feeling that the race is much closer than it really is.  The problem?  People will start believing it, and everyone loves a come from behind underdog, right?

This is a process that will probably start tonight.

This thing is not over and Romney still has a real chance of taking office in January.

Why debate is crucial for Obama, too - CNN.com:

It would appear, then, that Obama can simply go for caution, choosing a clinch in the center of the ring over hard punches, and walking away with a tie. But on closer examination, Obama ought to be pressing for a victory, too.

In some polls over recent weeks, especially from key states, the president has now opened up a second possible path to re-election. For a long time, his campaign advisers have assumed that he would win but that his margin of victory would be narrow -- less than three points. Even now, his advisers -- even as they are quietly confident about the ultimate outcome -- are running scared, assuming the race will likely close significantly in the final weeks.

Debate coach: Obama, Romney are top performers - CNN.com:

If you've been hearing the spin, the only reason to watch the inevitable train wreck of the upcoming debates would be to see just how inept both President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are at debating. And that spin is self-criticism. Their own campaigns would have us believe that these two candidates can't piece together a complete sentence between the two of them.

But I'm here to tell you: It ain't so.

These are two of the better presidential debaters we've witnessed, and I'm anticipating excellent debates. If you haven't watched Obama, I can assure you that he more than held his own four years ago in the debates against John McCain.

And if you haven't seen Romney, then take my word for it. He debated poorly in only two of his (almost 20) debates this past year. His game is consistently solid.

THE RACE: Few knockout punches occur in debates - Yahoo! News:

But unlike election results or prize fights, there are seldom knock-out punches or clear-cut winners in debates. Sometimes it takes days for a consensus to emerge — if ever.

Richard Nixon's haggard appearance vs. John F. Kennedy's vigor is widely cited as contributing to a Kennedy victory in the first 1960 debate. But polls showed that was true mostly for those who watched it on TV, while those listening to the radio generally picked Nixon as victor. And Nixon did better in three later debates.

Few gaffes are as striking as President Gerald Ford's 1976 erroneous claim that Eastern Europe was not under Soviet domination. But Ford had held his own in an earlier debate, and many other factors contributed to his defeat by Jimmy Carter.

Michael Dukakis in 1988 and John Kerry in 2004 were generally deemed superior technical debaters — but both lost to a George Bush.

10 debate moments that mattered - CNN.com:

Goodwin describes 10 key presidential and vice presidential debates that made a difference:

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The 8 Worst Examples of Fox News Election Journalism Malpractice (In Just 8 Weeks) | Alternet

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A video from Anonymous: We are Humanity - A message to the World

Amen.

I really needed to see this today.  This is why we all keep on keeping on.

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• Retrovirus Lab: Photo of the Day by the King of Spamalot & "Mountain Cats" by Talkdemonic
• Suburban Eschatology Part Two: ~26,181 Views Last Month: October Statistics Wrap-Up
• Suburban Eschatology Part Two: Rubble: Death and Re-Birth... Welcome to Rubble Redux

from tag Class

• Democracy In Distress: Occupy Portland: F29 – Occupy the Corporations Grab-Bag
• Democracy In Distress: Occupy Portland / Occupy Wall Street / Occupy Together: A proposal for the next phase
• Democracy In Distress: Occupy Portland: De-escalation Proposal
• Democracy In Distress: Chart: Corporate Profits vs. Unemployment, 2001-2010 - The Top GOP Myth And What You Can Use To Fight It

(more..)

Occupy Portland: F29 – Occupy the Corporations Grab-Bag

I have many pictures and videos that are currently loading up on my computers for editing.  I will be posting these ASAP, not letting them sit forever like the Eviction and N17 photos and videos, which I also want to be done with by the end of the weekend.

Yesterday I had to bug out early, around 2 PM, to take my son to an appointment.  Before I left, I saw no incidents with the police, though there might have been a little incident down around the federal courthouse that I did not witness directly, being distracted by taking pictures of the umbrella in the antlers…

Anyway…

Occupy protesters take to the streets, march against corporations | Local & Regional | KATU.com - Portland News, Sports, Traffic Weather and Breaking News - Portland, Oregon:

Wednesday’s protest was called “F29,” as in February 29. Demonstrations were held in Portland and across the country to draw attention to a group called the American Legislative Exchange Council, also known as ALEC.

The Occupy movement’s biggest issue is with large corporations that they say use ALEC to craft legislation that favorable to them. The proposed laws are then forwarded to state lawmakers where they’re introduced in individual states.

Occupiers say that gives the appearance of popular support across the nation for any one particular issue. The protesters argue that’s essentially rigging the nation’s political system.

“Our goal today is to draw attention to the companies that are involved in ALEC and to expose that the biggest companies in the world are writing as much as 10 percent of the legislation that passes through our House here in Oregon,” said Brian Sloan with Occupy Portland.

Those behind the Occupy movement say ALEC allows corporations to influence laws without being held directly accountable for what those laws do.

 

7 arrests in Occupy Portland F29 protest | kgw.com Portland:

Portland Police called the demonstrations well facilitated, generally peaceful and largely non-contentious. Lt. Robert King says F29 organizers designated a police liaison which made for reduced tension and more effective communication between police and protesters.

In all, seven people were arrested throughout the day. At the Wells Fargo Tower, three people were charged with criminal trespassing after they chained themselves to property with bike locks.

Two were arrested along SW Broadway for vandalism after jumping on a Verizon van. At a Bank of America at NE 12th and Broadway, two people were arrested for criminal trespassing after they refused to leave.

 

While I was there, the only riot police I saw were staying about six blocks away from the march. As the march moved through the city, they would move as well, but keeping their distance unless legitimately needed. This sort of staging plan seemed to work well from what I saw, since closer proximity always seems to provoke people rather than deter people.

This article refers to an event late Tuesday evening or early Wednesday morning…

Anarchists, Occupy split over bank vandalism | kgw.com Portland:

On their twitter account, Occupy fired back Wednesday morning at the vandals. "To the rock tossers: Thank you for not hiding behind Occupy and forcing peaceful marchers to take a beating for you this time."
Earlier this month, Occupy Portland activists called out anarchists who resorted to vandalism during a march on police use of force. Some marchers turned on each other as windows in cars and a restaurant were broken.

An anti-bank march last November called N17 turned ugly, with activists accusing the police of excessive force and police saying they were trying to keep roadways clear. The conflict received national attention because of a dramatic use of pepper spray by police. An image from that protest captured by an Oregonian photographer received worldwide distribution through social networks.

'F29' protesters take aim at corporations during march - KPTV - FOX 12:

The group spoke out specifically against the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, which is comprised of America's largest corporations like ExxonMobil, Wells Fargo and McDonalds.

When the demonstrators approached a building housing one of those corporations, they chanted and waved signs at those inside.

…

A group appearing to be separate from Occupy Portland vandalized two banks and a Starbucks shop overnight, and then emailed a statement to media in which they wished the Occupy movement good luck with its protest.

 

Just for giggles, I checked Fox News.com…  There is nothing on the landing page about any Occupation activities anywhere yesterday.   

I suppose if they mentioned the F29 actions, they would have to mention ALEC, which would probably anger their dark overlords.  (The local Portland affiliate is much less evil.)

Fox did have room on their home page for this today: “Escorts claim Utah law makes acting sexy illegal.”  Insert your own joke about Fox News on-camera “talent.”  Nothing from Fox on the politics page, either, though they did have room, again, for the article I mentioned above. 

To be fair, I could not find mention of any actions on CNN.com or MSNBC, either.  I guess the other actions around the country were not as big of a deal as was hoped.

If the main goal of the protest was 1) to call attention to ALEC, and 2) to remind people that people are still pissed off and that the Occupation is still active, then I think the day, in Portland, at least, was a success.

The next several videos are from someone who seems to be looking for dirt on the occupation.  I do respect the fact that he actually went down and took a look at what was going on, but I am not sure that these videos actually accomplish his goals.

Uh oh, dude put on a bandana.  The barbarians are at the gates! 

I disagree with calling the cops assholes.  I, however, agree that the horses and cars are owned by the people.  Using the banners to provide a safe barrier between the horses and the crowd was a well-planned part of the action and a great idea.

This appears to show the tensest part of the day.  It was after I left, so I am not sure.  This is nothing compared to N17, and it looks like the police handled themselves well.  (No pepper spray!)

With this next video, I saw this and I am actually on this video in the background (black hood with camera, 1:02), taking a picture from the other side of the horses. There was no incident here.

Ah, shucks.  Vandalism!

Hee, hee…  I love this next one.  The only thing I don’t like is that there were as many photographers in there as there were protesters!  McDonalds…  Not worth risking jail for? 

This person finally caught some real dirt on this last clip.

Yes, the fellow with the umbrella is a moron and you have called him out. My only disappointment with the protesters here is that no one pulled him aside and shut him down. The whole point of actions like this is to bring media attention to issues such as ALEC, and this sort of behavior does nothing to support the cause.

I've seen some idiots get really out of line, much worse than this, with the Fox 12 crews, which is very lame. Fox 12 is very balanced compared to the cable network and many other local Fox affiliates around the country.

I've also witnessed many of its staff expressing a lot of sympathy and support, off camera, for the Occupy movement, at least earlier on. This includes on-air personalities.

If these were the worst incidents of the day, then it was a very good day indeed.  Good behavior marks all around, to both the protesters and the police.

My take is that the mood was very different than the November actions.  It felt a lot more like the opening rally and march on October 6.  Obviously the eviction was going to be a tense and violent time, but I think the feelings from that night and day spilled over to taint the actions of N17, both with the police and with the protesters, more than they would have if the two events had a little more space between them.

 

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(more..)

A dysfunctional system goes Super… And fails.

From 2011-11 (Nov)

On Howard Kurtz’s Reliable Sources this morning, Kurtz was asking if the media was over-hyping and over-blowing the consequences of the “Super Committee's” failure to come up with a debt reduction plan.

He asks if all these “terrible things” that may happen as a result of this failure are “just media hype?”

In these teasers for the segment, it seemed to me that he was missing the real punch line here, but after a weak panel discussion on the topic, he did get to the point I feel needs to be made.

The real story here is how the failure of the “Super Committee,” which was set up to actually succeed without a lot of the procedural chains that bind the rest of Congress, brings into sharp relief the fact that, in Kurtz’s words, “nobody seems to be able to get anything done in Washington.”

He points out how this failure “highlight[s] the utter dysfunction of Washington.”

To me, this is the real story here.  Of course Congress will find a way to avert the “disaster” of across the board budget cuts, of course tax codes will remain ridiculously full of loop holes for the richest individuals and corporations…  Of course the traditional and non-traditional media will make a lot of noise about small political maneuvers that distract everyone from the real issues and problems facing our country and binding our system…

Nothing much will change.  Few real problems will be solved (or even mentioned), problems manufactured for use as political weapons will be howled about…

And nothing much will change.

This is the story that is not being covered. 

I saw this quote earlier, from Andrew Sullivan, explaining the Occupation and Tea Party movements… 

"The theme that connects them all is disenfranchisement, the sense that the world is shifting deeply and inexorably beyond our ability to control it through our democratic institutions. You can call this many things, but a “democratic deficit” gets to the nub of it. Democracy means rule by the people—however rough-edged, however blunted by representative government, however imperfect. But everywhere, the people feel as if someone else is now ruling them—and see no way to regain control."

The system has become nearly impossible to change.  The far right’s reaction is to just break it.  The left wallows in ineptitude.  The center rolls its eyes and simmers in a weak broth of futility.

For awhile, I’ve been thinking that if I ever took a sign to an Occupation event, it would be this:

The Status-Quo is

working for someone.

Is it working for you?

What is the solution?  Well, there are no big universal fixes.  But this is the conversation that we need to be having.

Finally, I loved this quote from Kurtz this morning: “miillions and millions unemployed and that is becoming an old story and that does bother me.”

Exactly.  It should bother everyone.

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Occupy Portland Eviction: Photos

I haven't made it through them all yet, but here is the first batch...

I feel that the stories, photos, and videos that the people took that night tell the story in a much clearer way than the story we've been hearing through the media about the city's intentions and actions that night and the next day.


These shots were taken from the evening of November 12 through to the apparent victory at 6 AM on November 13.

It was a short lived win but, for a few hours, the occupation successfully defended the parks. Those remaining in the early hours of the 13th started the day feeling victorious.

2011-11 Occupy Portland Eviction - Photo

Occupy Portland Eviction: Video of police clubbing occupiers as park is cleared

Not my video.  I was asleep when this happened.  Found here: http://occupyportland.org/2011/11/14/missed/

This was the peaceful transfer of the park from the occupation to the city that we heard so much about on the news yesterday.

More...

Occupy Portland: Violence

Last night when I got home from taking my 11.11.11 pictures and videos, we were talking about the Occupation. My twelve year old told me that the news was saying that the camps were "building weapons," that he saw it on the news. I poo-pooed him. This morning, I apologized after seeing some of the news clips from yesterday.

I am sensing a disconnect between the news coverage and the reality of the situation in the camps. But I haven't been there, so I do not know for sure.

Survival stores busy ahead of Occupy Portland eviction: 

Protesters tell FOX 12 that some demonstrators are gearing up for a fight.

Police remove plywood, concrete from Occupy Portland:

A skirmish erupted this afternoon when officers went into the Occupy Portland camp to remove plywood and concrete, police say.

I suppose anyone planning violence is still a part of the 99%. But they are not a part of the occupation movement.

One thing that I have been concerned about with this movement since day one is it being used by other groups or individuals as an excuse or an opportunity for violence.  So far, these occurances accross the country seem to be limited, though, and relatively contained.

However, any time something does happen, as in Oakland (Occupy Oakland: Tear Gas, Spray Paint, &  Fireworks), the mainstream media has a very hard time telling the difference between the occupation movement itself and the outside extremists.  Another critical issue is that the actions of the few extremists can often be the catalyst for disproportionate police action, which can trigger a very nasty cycle of violence.

Both of these things happened in Seattle during the WTO/N30 protests, and I fear seeing this happen with the occupation movement.

Timeline of police confrontations involving Occupy Portland: 
For the most part, police and Occupy Portland protesters have co-existed without incident, but there have been several confrontations.

Top Ten Ways Teachers’ Unions Caused The Economic Crisis | Progressive Political Cartoon by Barry Deutsch

Top Ten Ways Teachers’ Unions Caused The Economic Crisis | Progressive Political Cartoon by Barry Deutsch:

A video by Softbox : Federal Government Deficit & War: What Eats Up 53 Cents Of Every Tax Dollar?

I post this coming from neither a pro nor anti war angle, but when both sides in Washington sit around and start pointing fingers at each other about who caused the deficit and wailing about how their party is not to blame, there is one gorilla in the room everyone tends to ignore...

I'm just saying, you know...  The Republicans were in office when we went in.  Still, someone should have thought about how we were going to pay for this back in the day...

Chart: Corporate Profits vs. Unemployment, 2001-2010 - The Top GOP Myth And What You Can Use To Fight It

Found on MotherJones. Originally submitted to MoveOn.org by volunteer editor Jessica S.

The Top GOP Myth And What You Can Use To Fight It | MoveOn.Org:

Do lower taxes, and therefore higher profits, mean more jobs? See for yourself:

'via Blog this'

Another great video: "Why Occupy Portland?" by Softbox

Occupy Oakland: Tear Gas, Spray Paint, & Fireworks

Dear Media: you missed this information regarding Oakland | Occupy Los Angeles: 

Please attempt to help others keep a rational head today. What is being blatantly demonstrated here is how the media will manipulate the message away from the facts, and why. Again, this is a protest and movement against the corporate influence and corruption of the government caused by the few, by reminding everyone of the resulting disaster it has wreaked on the economy and the effects of which the rest of us feel. When that same collection of corporate entities also own the media which ultimately creates the message for the masses, the most true aspects of everything to do with the movement will never be covered, and instead be misrepresented to influence public opinion away from the underlying facts.

Oakland port reopens after night of Occupy protests - CNN.com:

Before dawn, authorities used tear gas on the anti-Wall Street protesters who defied orders to disperse after earlier shutting down the port, police said.

In the violence, a crowd of several hundred people threw rocks and shot fireworks at officers after being asked to leave the scene, prompting officers to fire tear gas, authorities said.

After the port protest, Occupy Oakland demonstrators returned to a city park and nearby streets, where violence broke out.

Hazy video from the scene, posted on the Internet, showed a fire burning and fireworks exploding as at least one protester threw objects.

'via Blog this'

Dear Media: you missed this information regarding Oakland | Occupy Los Angeles: 

Some important facts that you will not find in the mainstream (corporate) media today which (completely co-incidentally I'm sure) will be the total polar opposite message we'll hear from the blowhards who only get their information from that corporate owned media bent on misrepresenting this movement:
- None of the "violence" of yesterdays demonstration was planned by, condoned, or in any way sanctioned by the general assembly at Grant Plaza...

...

- Do a Google search for "Oakland Liberation Front" right now. They are a self invented, radicalized, pseudo-anarchist group styled after Black Bloc that attempted to subvert the protests yesterday. They have not been involved in any way with holding space in Grant Park

...

- This is the flyer they were handing out around Grant Park the day before the General Strike  

'via Blog this'

The Flyer...

Dear Media: you missed this information regarding Oakland | Occupy Los Angeles: 

When "Oakland Liberation Front" Black Bloc provocateurs acted against the principles of the actual movement by inciting vandalism during the march, the crowds turned against them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rWm2ZJbATHc

From a few days ago...