Two weeks into Occupy Wall Street protests, movement is at a crossroads

October 25, 2011, 12:55 pm
Say Anything

Over the last couple of days, I’ve been getting mail accusing me of consorting with Nazis. My immediate reaction was, what the heck? Then it clicked: the right wing is mounting a full-court press to portray Occupy Wall Street as an anti-Semitic movement, based, as far as I can tell, on one guy with a sign.

At the same time, the claque is claiming that OWS is responsible for a crime wave. To believe this, you have to believe not only that a few thousand non-violent protestors are deeply straining a police force with 35,000 officers, but that all the rapists and murderers in the outer boroughs are saying, “Hey, the police are busy chasing hippies! Let’s party!” Oh, well.

My first thought was that OWS must have the right really rattled. And there’s probably something to that. But actually, this is the way the right goes after everyone who stands in their way: accuse them of everything, no matter how implausible or contradictory the accusations are. Progressives are atheistic socialists who want to impose Sharia law. Class warfare is evil; also, John Kerry is too rich. And so on.

The key to understanding this, I’d suggest, is that movement conservatism has become a closed, inward-looking universe in which you get points not by sounding reasonable to uncommitted outsiders — although there are a few designated pundits who play that role professionally — but by outdoing your fellow movement members in zeal.

It’s sort of reminiscent of Stalinists going after Trotskyites in the old days: the Trotskyites were left deviationists, and also saboteurs working for the Nazis. Didn’t propagandists feel silly saying all that? Not at all: in their universe, extremism in defense of the larger truth was no vice, and you literally couldn’t go too far.

Many members of the commentariat don’t want to face up to the fact that this is what American politics has become; they cling to the notion that there are gentlemanly elder statesmen on the right who would come to the fore if only Obama said the right words. But the fact is that nobody on that side of the political spectrum wants to or can make deals with the Islamic atheist anti-military warmonger in the White House.

Strap yourself in; this is not going to be fun.

parados wrote:

Meanwhile

Occupy Maine camp attacked with chemical bomb

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article/177145/314/Occupy-Maine-attacked-with-chemical-bomb

Didn't that used to be called a "stink bomb?"

Occupy Yom Kippur

In previous years, we've highlighted interesting places for those observing Yom Kippur to get their pre-fast meal (2008) and where to find services that don't require tickets (2009). Yom Kippur posting took a year off for 2010; there's only so many new options for praying every year.

But, there is a new last-minute option for 2011. With the convergence of the Day of Atonement, which begins tonight, and the Occupy movement's arrival in D.C., there will be a Yom Kippur Kol Nidrei Service at Occupy DC in McPherson Square at 6 p.m. Thrown together only this morning -- though you would barely be able to tell by the extensive notes outlined on the Facebook event page -- over 50 people are signed up to ask God for forgiveness in the square.

The narrative ties the liturgical asking of forgiveness with the active ethos of the protest. "Thus rather than spending the holiday safe and warm in our cozy synagogues thinking abstractly about human suffering," suggests the call to prayer, "perhaps we should truly afflict ourselves and undertake the fast of Isaiah, by joining the demonstrators in McPherson Square (15th and K NW), and holding our Yom Kippur services there amongst the oppressed, hungry, poor and naked." The page asks participants to bring their own prayer books, suggests ways for telling passers by they don't wish to be photographed while praying, and warns of the unlikely possibility of arrest.
There's no official pre-fast meal though. So, in the spirit of DCist's past Yom Kippur coverage, allow me to pass on some recommendations on where to feast before the fast. A pizza and pasta carboload at Potenza Bakery? Or perhaps an order of Pad Thai (hold the shrimp) at Bangkok One? Gmar chatima tova!

My whole problem with the OWS people is the fact that they don't seem to be concerned about who they are hurting.
I have seen and heard reports that some of the smaller businesses around the park are having to close, because customers are staying away. How does that help?

Also, do these people plan to occupy public Parks all winter? It gets real cold in the winter in some of these places.

And what about anyone else that wants to use the Parks? Are they allowed to?

But I keep getting told that the OWSters are not out to tear the whole damned thing down, and that perceiving that they are is sign of being a dupe for capitalists.

What the hell is OWS all about?

Is it an expression of righteous anger by mainstream America that the conservative media is desperate to portray as being under the control of a bunch of Che wannabes, or is it the revolution finally come round, the time to tear down the whole rotten structure and build something new?

Apparently it’s against the rules of the revolution to tell anyone

Fido, you're a master of pseudo-revolutionary rhetoric, and so I'm not surprised that your recommendation is for more gibberish.

parados wrote:

Meanwhile

Occupy Maine camp attacked with chemical bomb

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article/177145/314/Occupy-Maine-attacked-with-chemical-bomb

Didn't that used to be called a "stink bomb?"

Quote:

What the hell is OWS all about?

It's about banks not being held responsible for their role in wrecking our economy, and the financial structure that pushes these executives to take ever-increasing amounts of risk - no matter what the cost to the rest of us.

Pretty much every 'demand' that you hear anyone make there is a facet of this overall problem.

Cycloptichorn

I'm far more interested in discovering whether or not you think the demands of OWS are, in fact, smart ones.

Cycloptichorn

Quote:

What the hell is OWS all about?

It's about banks not being held responsible for their role in wrecking our economy, and the financial structure that pushes these executives to take ever-increasing amounts of risk - no matter what the cost to the rest of us.

Pretty much every 'demand' that you hear anyone make there is a facet of this overall problem.

Cycloptichorn

OK - maybe we're getting somewhere.

What does the OWSters want to happen as a result of these demonstrations?

What needs to happen before they will believe Wall Street was properly held responsible?

I disagree, Cyclo.

Fido is hitting so many nails right on the head, I'm gonna nominate Fido for carpenter of the year for sure.

I disagree, Cyclo.

Fido is hitting so many nails right on the head, I'm gonna nominate Fido for carpenter of the year for sure.

Meanwhile, in Zuccotti Park...

Because nothing says "Take Me Seriously" like dressing up in a funny costume and confronting a banker!

Or, as one commenter put it, "What's next? Toilet-papering their houses?"

Twinkles down!

Builder wrote:

I disagree, Cyclo.

Fido is hitting so many nails right on the head, I'm gonna nominate Fido for carpenter of the year for sure.

It's just a suggestion, not a criticism of the overall thrust of what he's writing.

I would also be more interested in seeing actual policy proposals, than nebulous discussions of the rot in our society, which are interesting but ultimately unenlightening.

Cycloptichorn