We Don't Obstruct and Detain Credentialed Reporters in America, Unless We Do, I Guess

I'm finding reports of detaining credentialed reporters at Occupy Wall Street events disturbing. It concerns me. When Bloomberg suggests credentialed reporters are kept away from the protests by police officers "to keep them out of harm's way", it concerns me.

And it's not just ONE. It was TWENTY SIX.

In this country, we do NOT detain or obstruct credentialed reporters who are trying to do their jobs. That's what they do in North Korea. That's what they do in Iran. That's what they do in China. In the United States of America...we do not do that.

I don't take obstruction of justice lightly. And I don't take obstruction of the press lightly.

I know the boys in blue have a tough job. And I know protesters aren't the only ones getting injured at the Occupy Wall Street scuffles between protesters and police. Me...I am a believer in the laws of men. The police officers out there aren't exactly there to enact, question, or interpret laws. Their job is to enforce them. They are law enforcement. And more often than not, they keep the peace and put their lives on the line to do it.

So you haven't seen me doing a lot of blogging or reposting about police brutality at OWS camps.

But THIS...obstructing and detaining reporters? That's not something I can look the other way on. Unless that credentialed reporter was throwing stuff at an officer or knocking the hat off his head, you LEAVE THE REPORTER TO DO HIS JOB.

We do NOT DETAIN or OBSTRUCT credentialed reporters trying to do their JOBs.

The suggestion that it's for their own protection is both creepy and complete nonsense...

"American foreign correspondents routinely put themselves in harm's way to do their jobs, in some of the most brutal dictatorships in the world. And their NYC colleagues deserve the freedom to make the same choice," Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said. "Zuccotti Park is not Tiananmen Square."

Bloomberg's office made a statement that, sure...26 reporters were arrested, but in the City's defense only FIVE of the arrested had NYPD Press Credentials.

Well, gosh. That makes me feel so much better to know that at MINIMUM, five NYPD Credentialed reporters were detained and obstructed from doing their jobs in a free an open society.

Occupy Wall Street Seems to be Drawing Fire Away from the Prez

I've been pondering Occupy Wall Street this morning, post 2011 elections.

Yesterday we say

• The first Michigan State level representative recalled in 28 years
• Folks in Mississippi reject a "life starts at conception" law
• The architect of the extreme Arizona immigrant crackdown recalled
• Ohio's union busting law overturned by public demand

Overall, great news. Somehow it seems the tide is turning. Some of that tide shift is definitely due to Occupy Wall Street highlighting the problems of America's wealth disparity and corporate corruption.

Where main stream media outlets once shied away from wealth disparity talk, they are now venturing into that territory. Where media outlets once shied away from talk of bank and mortgage fraud, they are now venturing into that territory -- my father, for example, was contacted by Bloomberg News who wanted to interview him about his experiences as a lawyer helping people through bank fraud.

OWS has signaled that talking about wealth disparity and the trouble in the middle class isn't just acceptable...but that it's on the minds of millions of Americans.

I'm starting to think OWS has had one more side effect on American political discourse: It's redirected the attention of the conservative noise machine to Occupy Wall Street instead of at Barack Obama. As much of a juggernaut as the conservative noise machine is, it's designed to pound on one idea at a time. Over and over, repeating and repeating. Though it's never seemed to me to be terribly good at walking and chewing gum at the same time, not great at pounding out more than one message at a time.

Now with OWS to draw the fire, the endless stream of fabricated conservative nonsense against Obama seems largely to have taken a back seat. He's able to spread the message that the Conservatives have been deliberately sabotaging our economy for short term political gain...and it's an idea gaining traction, with 50% of Floridians believing Conservatives are selling America out this way.

Plus it certainly helps everybody involved that Obama is now starting to pick up the populist message OWS has been laying down.

Shout Out to all the Small Town Occupy Movements

Far away from the Fanfare of the New Yorks and Bostons, Chicagos and Seattles...

Far from the attention of the national media fray...

Far, far from from large groups of hundreds or thousands of fellow protesters...

...all over America in smaller towns there are smaller camps of ten or six, or less, protesting in small camps. They're out there in the cold October nights in their tents showing their dedication to a better world night after night after night, maybe feeling at times like they're on the other side of Pluto, far from the bright center of the solar system.

It's cold out here. And getting colder.

But there they are. Camping out in a smallish downtown that's been trying to revitalize itself for decades. There they are in a muddy lot just off the road, and down a hill, behind an old brick building. There they are, every day, every night, fighting the good fight for people in a blue collar town that's been kicked in the ribs again and again as it tries to get back up.

I can't claim to be one of those dedicated folks. I bring firewood. I bring food and water. I attend the occasional General Assembly and voice my support.

But I'm not camping in a tent or carrying my sign.

While these smaller towns are out there showing their solidarity with Occupy Wall Street. I'd like the folks in the larger towns to take a moment to think about the tiny, but dedicated camps all around America...and make the occasional shout out about how Occupy Wall Street is showing solidarity with Occupy Springfield, Occupy Muskegon, Occupy Wichetaw, Occupy Missoula...and all the smaller town across this nation where people are standing up, not afraid to say what needs to be said.

In the meantime, here's a Johnathan Coulton song I love,

Maybe You Just Have No CONCEPT of What a Democratic Grassroots Movement Looks Like

I need to vent a bit.

After attending the Occupy Muskegon event I'm reading tons of comments from the news and in the comment threads about how the Occupy Muskegon event, which I considered to be wonderfully inspiring and successful, was disorganized and directionless.

To those folks I say, Piss Off.

Disorganized and directionless?

Ya know what? YOU may be happy being told what to stand for. YOU may be happy to be told what kind of ridiculous, cartoon hat to wear. YOU may be happy to be told what to chant and when. YOU may be happy to be told what to believe and when to believe it.

I AM NOT.

The first meeting of the Occupy Muskegon General Assembly was meant to ASK people what they want, not TELL us what we SHOULD WANT.

WOW.

WHAT a concept.

A movement that ASKS Americans what they ACTUALLY WANT and then decides as a group how they're going to address those issues.

Holy crap. That almost.....ALMOST...sounds like a Democracy. Directionless. Disorganized. MESSY. With all these people having a VOICE and DISAGREEING with each other sometimes.

OH for the LOVE of GOD, NOT THAT. NOT DEMOCRACY.

ANYTHING but DEMOCRACY. ANYTHING but an actual demonstration born of ACTUAL PEOPLE and ACTUAL DEMANDS without a CENTRAL DICTATOR.

Why...this DEMOCRACY thing sounds an awful lot like ANARCHY. If no single person is in charge? It MUST be anarchy! Right? Because the will of the general populace couldn't POSSIBLY have anything useful to say or have even the remotest capacity to SELF GOVERN.

OH.

Oh...YOU feel like our meetings are directionless and disorganized.

Well thanks for the input.

We'll write it down on our big whiteboard and take your criticism under advisement.

You know what...maybe...just MAYBE...YOU are not comfortable with Democracy. MAYBE you NEED somebody to tell you what to believe. WHAT to stand for. And how.

Or maybe you just have NO CONCEPT...


NO CONCEPT

...of how an ACTUAL grass roots, democratic movement works.

Two Hundred Occupy Muskegon

Today began Occupy Muskegon. The General Assembly met at Hackley Park with around two hundred in attendance.



I overheard a friend of mine speaking with two very friendly police officers who were simply trying to inform people of an ordnance requiring people be out of the park by 11:00 PM.

The officer asked my friend "We need to speak to the person in charge."

"In charge?" My friend looked around "Well, there's not really anybody in charge. We're all sort of in charge."

The police officer persisted "We need to speak to the organizer. The person who called this protest together."

"There were at least a dozen of them..." He looked around again "Yeah, I don't know who you'd talk to."

The officer continued "We need to speak to the person leading this thing...we're supposed to tell them that there's an ordnance requiring people out of the park by 11:30"

"I'm no trying to be difficult, but there's really nobody in leading it. We're talking agenda items right now. I guess you can put your name on the list to speak and tell the General Assembly."

The police officer smiled and declined saying "Can you spread the word for us, then? And, try to keep it down to a dull roar."



A dull roar is right.

There were around 200 people there in downtown Muskegon on a very cold, windy day. Folks of all ages. My mother was there with me, and she ran into several of her friends. I ran into the mother of one of my high school friends and we chatted for a while.





What few people realize is that the Occupy movement is as much or more about a style of protest as it is a set of demands. It's a style of protest that exemplifies the type of democratic process we'd like to see in our government, where everybody's voice matters, and everybody's voice is HEARD.

The critics don't get that.

Heck. I didn't fully get that until today.

We had started discussing when our next assembly would be when somebody spoke up telling the speaker she was out of order...that we hadn't discussed what our next topic of discussion would be. She suggested discussing whether or not we'd march today at noon as a show of support for and solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, and ultimately that became the first point of discussion.

This crowd-sourced Democracy is a beautiful thing.

So folks can criticize the "directionlessness" of the Occupy movement all they like, and all it serves to do is show that they really have little understanding of what's going on in the movement.

Ultimately...there was a small march on this windy, windy day.

Join Us for Occupy Muskegon, Next Saturday.

Show your support for America’s future and the Wall Street protests this Saturday, October 15th , at Hackley Park at 10:00 AM. Cities and towns all over America are standing up to voice support for the Occupy Wall Street movement, holding local gatherings of their own. Chicago, Boston, and Seattle are doing it. Detroit, Lansing, and Grand Rapids are doing it. And now Muskegon, Michigan is joining its voice with people who want Washington to focus on regular, hardworking Americans.

Nearly one month ago, thousands of people started a long-term protest on Wall Street, frustrated that our leaders were not listening to ordinary Americans. The protests were born of a deep concern that our leaders are more focused on the interests of the banks and multinational businesses than the interests of American voters and mom and pop businesses.

The peaceful show of support for regular American workers has continued night and day since it began September 17th, and continues to grow in scope and size. More than 15,000 Americans assembled on Wall Street last Monday, with hundreds of thousands showing their support all across America in similar gatherings. Another 10,000 assembled in Seattle alone.

If you feel your voice no longer matters in America, join us at Hackley Park in downtown Muskegon, this Saturday, October 15th, at 10:00 PM, and make your voice heard with hundreds of thousands of others gathering across our nation.

Glad to See Muskegon, Michigan Represented at Occupy Wall Street

For as long as I can remember, my mother has made the occasional remark about how mass protests seem to be a thing of the past. It's not a constant concern on the front burner of her mind. But now and then, when we discuss politics and the evils of the world she wonders aloud where the passion is. Where are the people who should be taking to the streets?

So I was happy to tip her off to the Occupy Wall Street protests. And she was happy to hear about them. As we all know, it's not really being covered by the major media outlets and unless you're cued in to the right points of the blogosphere or the right twitter feeds, you're not going to find them.

We sat around and watched the live stream yesterday as one protester after another was arrested from the Brooklyn Bridge.

She later spent more time digging around on YouTube to learning more about this Occupy Wall Street thing and quite by random accident she ran across this vid featuring a young woman from Muskegon, speaking up, making her voice heard, and taking some hell from the police.

Jump to 3:00 mark below...



I'm glad to see somebody representing Muskegon at those protests. Glad to see people in general representing working Americans at these protests.

I don't know you Anna Kathryn Sluka, but thank you for doing what you're doing. You've got tons of support.