As complaints rise over mass arrests by Boston police in the Occupy Boston protests, Mayor Thomas Menino decided to add a rather draconian note by announcing ” “Civil disobedience will not be tolerated.” It was a moment reminiscent of former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley announcing in the 1968 Democratic Convention protests that “the policeman isn’t there to create disorder; the policeman is there to preserve disorder.”
Of course, civil disobedience has long been a respected form of protest from Henry David Thoreau to Martin Luther King. The framers seemed keen on such rights when including in the first amendment that “Congress shall make no law…abridging…the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
It is painful to watch the reaction to these protests. I remain co-lead counsel in the World Bank case (Chang) where we are still litigating the mass arrest of hundreds of innocent citizens without probable cause in Freedom Plaza and Pershing Park.
While offering passing sympathy for protester, Menino draw a bright line regarding any exercise of free speech that crosses the line into civil disobedience: “when it comes to civil disobedience, I will not tolerate civil disobedience in the city of Boston.”
Menino’s comment will only serve to heighten tensions and could be viewed as an encouragement for harsher treatment of protesters. As the home of the Boston Tea Party and John Adams, the comments seem tragically misplaced in both location and time.
Source: Think Progress
Protesters Dressed As Robin Hood Kayak Up Chicago River To Protest Mortgage Bankers Association
By Zaid Jilani on Oct 11, 2011
Think Progress
Excerpt:
This weekend, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) held its annual meeting in Chicago. The MBA represents some of the nation’s top foreclosure mills, and has over 2,400 members, including “mortgage companies, mortgage brokers, commercial banks, thrifts, life insurance companies and others in the mortgage lending field.”
In order to protest the practices of the MBA member companies represented at the meeting, a group of 40 protesters from National People’s Action, working with a coalition called Take Back Chicago, decided to dress as Robin Hood and kayak up the Chicago River. Once the protesters reached the Michigan Bridge, they unfurled a banner that read: “Wall Street: Steals from the 99%. Gives to the Rich. Let’s take it back!”
Methinks da mayor forgot that the Revolution began in Massachusetts. Has his Honah forgotten about the Boston Tea Party and the battles at Lexington and Concord?
What’s behind the scorn for the Wall Street protests?
By Glenn Greenwald
September 28, 2011
http://politics.salon.com/2011/09/28/protests_21/singleton/
Excerpt:
It’s unsurprising that establishment media outlets have been condescending, dismissive and scornful of the ongoing protests on Wall Street. Any entity that declares itself an adversary of prevailing institutional power is going to be viewed with hostility by establishment-serving institutions and their loyalists. That’s just the nature of protests that take place outside approved channels, an inevitable by-product of disruptive dissent: those who are most vested in safeguarding and legitimizing establishment prerogatives (which, by definition, includes establishment media outlets) are going to be hostile to those challenges. As the virtually universal disdain in these same circles for WikiLeaks (and, before that, for the Iraq War protests) demonstrated: the more effectively adversarial it is, the more establishment hostility it’s going to provoke.
Nor is it surprising that much of the most vocal criticisms of the Wall Street protests has come from some self-identified progressives, who one might think would be instinctively sympathetic to the substantive message of the protesters. In an excellent analysis entitled “Why Establishment Media & the Power Elite Loathe Occupy Wall Street,” Kevin Gosztola chronicles how many of the most scornful criticisms have come from Democratic partisans who — like the politicians to whom they devote their fealty — feign populist opposition to Wall Street for political gain.
Some of this anti-protest posturing is just the all-too-familiar New-Republic-ish eagerness to prove one’s own Seriousness by castigating anyone to the left of, say, Dianne Feinstein or John Kerry; for such individuals, multi-term, pro-Iraq-War Democratic Senator-plutocrats define the outermost left-wing limit of respectability. Also at play is the jingoistic notion that street protests are valid in Those Bad Countries but not in free, democratic America.
A siginificant aspect of this progressive disdain is grounded in the belief that the only valid form of political activism is support for Democratic Party candidates, and a corresponding desire to undermine anything that distracts from that goal. Indeed, the loyalists of both parties have an interest in marginalizing anything that might serve as a vehicle for activism outside of fealty to one of the two parties (Fox News‘ firing of Glenn Beck was almost certainly motivated by his frequent deviation from the GOP party-line orthodoxy which Fox exists to foster).
“Negotiating between impotence and overaggression is difficult. It is often police action that triggers violence at large protest events; research has shown that police crackdowns can quickly transform nonviolent events into violent ones. This was certainly the case in many campus demonstrations of the 1960s and 1970s. …..
Meanwhile, police forces, particularly in major cities, are well aware that excessive force can energize protest campaigns. Thanks to the hierarchical structure of police organizations, it is easier for a police unit to exercise restraint than it is for protesters, who have no formal structure. …
This is not to say that the Occupy Wall Street movement is a lawless “mob,” as Representative Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, recently characterized it. People who participate in such protests are typically deeply connected to their community. It is their connectedness that makes them aware of opportunities to protest in the first place. The crowds gathered in the streets of New York and in other cities across the nation, then, are not made up of isolated strangers; they are composed of many small, well-organized groups.”
http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/11/why-the-wall-street-protests-will-remain-nonviolent/
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino doesn’t want to end his career with a Kent State Massacre type event as part of his legacy so he needs to roll back the rhetoric and get a handle on his emotions.
Erin is a former employee of Goldman.
Backdoor Bailout Brouhaha: Andrew Ross Sorkin Defends Goldman Sachs
New York Observer
By Max Abelson 7/27/10
http://www.observer.com/2010/wall-street/backdoor-bailout-brouhaha-andrew-ross-sorkin-defends-goldman-sachs
Excerpt:
In a punchy column this week, the Times‘ Andrew Ross Sorkin provides what his headline calls Some Backup for Goldman on the longstanding A.I.G. controversy.
Since the early days of A.I.G.’s $182 billion rescue, the government’s money was seen as a “backdoor bailout” of Goldman Sachs, the insurance giant’s biggest trading partner: The Times itself reported the big story that Goldman had as much as “$20 billion of risk tied to A.I.G.,” although the investment bank was already saying that its exposure was “immaterial.” Last Friday the Times did a big new article on how badly an A.I.G. collapse would have hurt Goldman; the “backdoor bailout” phrase has even been used even on DealBook, the Times business blog that Sorkin edits.
But that “popular narrative,” Sorkin says this week, isn’t right. For one thing, he explains, Goldman had hedged itself by buying lots of insurance on A.I.G. from dozens of other banks. Last Friday’s article, though, said that chunks of the protection came from banks like Citibank and Lehman, who would probably have been too unstable to have made good.
Mr. Sorkin has made a habit of writing nimble-footed Goldman defenses this year. In April, in a column called A Crowd With Pity for Goldman, he quoted fellow guests at Michael Milken’s big annual conference who thought the S.E.C. suit was “childish.” Last month, in a column called One Crowd Still Loyal to Goldman, he said that despite all the bad headlines, the truth was that “Goldman’s big customers are not bolting.” In between, he wrote a column about support from Warren Buffett, who, as Mr. Sorkin pointed out toward the end, has an enormous stake in the company. And earlier in the year, he explained why the A.I.G. bailout might not be so bad: He quoted two sources close to the firm’s board who once thought the A.I.G. bailout would cost the country $100 billion, but who now think the government might be able to get all its money back.
Andrew Ross Sorkin’s assignment editor
By Glenn Greenwald
October 4, 2011
http://politics.salon.com/2011/10/04/andrew_ross_sorkins_assignment_editor/singleton/
Excerpt:
The Occupy Wall Street protest has been growing in numbers, respectability, and media attention for several weeks now. Despite that, The New York Times‘ financial columnist who specializes in Wall Street coverage, Andrew Ross Sorkin, has neither visited the protests nor written about them — until today. In a column invoking the now-familiar journalistic tone of a zoologist examining a bizarre new species of animal discovered in the wild, Sorkin explains what prompted him to finally pay attention (via Michael Whitney):
I had gone down to Zuccotti Park to see the activist movement firsthand after getting a call from the chief executive of a major bank last week, before nearly 700 people were arrested over the weekend during a demonstration on the Brooklyn Bridge.
“Is this Occupy Wall Street thing a big deal?” the C.E.O. asked me. I didn’t have an answer. “We’re trying to figure out how much we should be worried about all of this,” he continued, clearly concerned. “Is this going to turn into a personal safety problem?”
How interesting that when a CEO “of a major bank” wants to know how threatening these protests are, he doesn’t seek out corporate advisers or dispatch the bank’s investigators, but instead gets the NYT‘s notoriously banker-friendly Wall Street reporter on the phone and assigns him to report back. How equally interesting that if this NYT financial columnist can’t address the concerns and questions of a CEO “of a major bank,” he hops to it to find out what was demanded of him. Sorkin did what he was told, cautiously concluding:
As I wandered around the park, it was clear to me that most bankers probably don’t have to worry about being in imminent personal danger. This didn’t seem like a brutal group — at least not yet.
Erin Burnett Engaged To Citigroup Exec David Rubulotta
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/erin-burnett-engaged-david-rubulotta_n_989081.html
Erin Burnett: Voice of the People
By Glenn Greenwald
October 5, 2011
http://politics.salon.com/2011/10/05/erin_burnett_voice_of_the_people/singleton/
Excerpt:
On her new CNN show on Monday night, host Erin Burnett was joined by Rudy Giuliani’s former speechwriter John Avlon and together they heaped condescending scorn on the Wall Street protests while defending the banking industry, offering — as FAIR documented — several misleading statements along the way. Burnett “reported” that while she “saw dancing, bongo drums, even a clown” at the protest, the participants “did not know what they want,” except that “it seems like people want a messiah leader, just like they did when they anointed Barack Obama.” She featured a video clip of herself explaining to one of the protesters that the U.S. Government made money from TARP, and then demanded to know if that changed his negative views of Wall Street.
This is far from the first time Burnett has served as spokesperson for Wall Street; it’s basically what her “journalistic” career is. She angered Bill Maher a couple years ago when arguing that the rich have suffered along with the poor and middle class as part of the financial crisis, and that it would be wrong to “soak the rich” because they’re already paying so much taxes. She caused Rush Limbaugh to gush over her when she argued on TV in 2007 that all Americans benefit when the rich get richer: “the majority of Americans directly benefit from what happens on Wall Street,” she proclaimed, just over a year before the financial collapse.
*****
CNBC’s Erin Burnett – Apologist for Wall Street
I see Mumbles Menino is channeling his inner Redcoat.
The 99 Percent Movement vs. Corporate Media Disdain
DownEastLiberator,
My husband calls Menino Mayor Mumbles.
I would like to know the mayor’s interpretation of what
civil disobedience is. Of course violence should not
be tolerated but doesn’t the word civil imply something
quite the opposite? I agree that Menino’s statement may
only heighten the tension that already exists.
I think these police state actions clearly show the elites didn’t have these protests in their day planner. They are afraid. This movement is going straight to the problem, it confronts those who run our nation and who have (are still stealing) the assets of the people.
It is extremely sad that a mayor would turn on his fellow citizens. This is a dangerous time for all of us. As the ruling elite is confronted they are bringing out their weapons, piece by piece. Whether it is direct violence, GS paying off NYPD, and crackdowns such as this on an honorable, non-violent tradition to obtain justice, the elites will bring every tool out of their tool box. I hope protesters remain strong and united in the face of the police state. This isn’t going to be easy.
“Mumbles” Menino isn’t revered for his brains….. “History is in ‘da past, wher’ it otta stay!” … ” [W]ho is dis OObama, he thinks he’s Pressydent or sumthin’?”
BTW, Occupy Boston should advise the folks to make sure their affairs are in order and to prepare a legal will. It could be 2nd Bunker Hill.
I have seen only little articles in the national TV coverage and this is first I have seen about this. The supposed liberal media is not so interested in something that should be taken more seriously and given more coverage. I assume the hope is the less the mention, the fewer people will come and it will peter out. Amazing how the Tea Party was covered all over the place, loud and strong. It would be better if there was a cohesive message, maybe that is part of the lack of attention but, to me, just the fact that thousands throughout the country are coming together to protest the government and what is happening to this country is sufficient to to get out the media.
Oh my…..are we experiencing the European Russian Syndrome….
“I remember seeing people getting their heads bashed in Chicago in 1968.” – Swarthmore mom
So do I. Let’s hope we don’t see it again… It’s early… and could easily get out of hand down the road…
I read the following article in the Boston Globe this morning:
Boston police move in on protesters on Greenway, scores arrested
By John M. Guilfoil and Derek J. Anderson, Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent
http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrodesk/2011/10/boston-police-warn-protesters-leave-greenway-tonight-moved-out/AS0JWIbXTp9Gn4jZKmfo2J/index.html
Excerpt:
Boston police moved in and began arresting scores of Occupy Boston protesters who refused to leave a large part of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway early this morning.
At 1:20 a.m., the first riot police officers lined up on Atlantic Avenue. Minutes later, dozens of sheriff vans and police wagons arrived and over 200 officers in uniforms and riot gear surrounded the Greenway.
Police Superintendent William Evans and Commissioner Edward F. Davis watched from across the street. Evans gave the crowd two minutes to disperse from the park, warning that they would be locked up if they did not comply.
The crowd of protesters, energized by the sudden appearance of the Boston and Transit police officers, chanted, ‘‘The people united will never be defeated,’’ “This is a peaceful protest,” and “the whole world is watching.’’
About 10 minutes later, the first officers entered the park and surrounded the group. Evans, using a loudspeaker, gave one more warning and then each protester was individually put on his or her stomach, cable-tied, and dragged off as others tore down tents and arrested and detained people on the fringe of the park.
About 100 people were arrested, Davis said. One police officer was hit in the face.
According to police, no protesters or police were injured.
A lot of the protesters retreated from the Greenway to Dewey Square when the police arrived.
Police had earlier warned the about 1,000 protesters to leave the Greenway area, where they had settled hours before, and relocate to Dewey Square or a small, adjacent strip of the Greenway.
Officials do not want the protesters, who originally settled in Dewey Square, to occupy the space across Congress Street on the Greenway because it recently underwent a renovation project where expensive improvements were added, according to Elaine Driscoll, police spokeswoman.
Prior to moving in on the protesters, police had closed all the streets in the area.
Also, the protesters’ chants stopped as their companions were being lead off by police. Some protesters would then yell out the phone number of a lawyer group that would defend them if they were charged.
As the officers lined up this morning, some members of the crowd shouted, “you don’t have to do this” and “who do you protect, who do you serve?”
At one point, eight to 10 officers in riot gear tackled and cable-tagged one protester who appeared to be resisting. When the chanting stopped an eerie silence came over the park except for the occasional heckling from remaining members of the crowd gathered across the street.
Some in the crown also chanted, “down with Menino.”
John Nilles, 74, a Marine from Medford who served in Vietnam and is a member of the group, Veterans for Peace, said he was knocked down during the arrests.
He believes he did not get arrested in the chaos because he got knocked down, and banged up his knee.
I remember seeing people getting their heads bashed in Chicago in 1968. Austin, Texas seems to be treating the protestors well. My daughter sent me this:http://www.texastribune.org/texas-politics/campaign-finance/occupy-movement-occupies-texas/