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Who Hates OWS? December 1, 2011

Posted by littlebangtheory in Politics and Society.
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Well, somebody  does.

Albany, NY District Attorney David Soares has recently gotten death threats.  The content of some of this has been made public, and includes the word “nigger.”

DA Soares is, if you missed that, a Black American.

The threats came in the form of an image of President Obama rendered as a monkey and riddled with bullet holes, and a screed describing both Soares and Obama as Marxist Enemies of the State Who Must Die.

Sounds kinda like a threat to me, though that’s just me.

So, why would some racist bigot want DA Soares dead?

Well, besides the Fact Apparent that the writer is a bigot, it seems that DA Soares declined to prosecute the OWS protesters who had been arrested in Albany, claiming that his department had plenty of important cases to prosecute, and these OWS people hadn’t caused any injury or loss.  So, Cases Dismissed.

Now that seems to have not set well with The Threatener, who had his (I’ll assume) heart set on seeing some dirty hippies hung in the public square.  But thanks to David Soares’ sackless capitulation to the Left, he wasn’t going to get to see any Hippie blood.

So, do you think this Commenter is among the 1% who are being confronted by the 99% who are being had, or what?

I don’t.  I think this mouth-breather is a total Brownshirt Tool.

The corporate take-over of our government requires both lots of corporate money and lots of stupid brown-shirts spreading their lies.  This guy seems to represent the latter.

Thanks, Tool, for outing yourself as a jerk and a bigot.

Occupy All Streets. November 17, 2011

Posted by littlebangtheory in Politics and Society.
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Tonight, in the tiny neighboring hamlet of Shelburne Falls, there was a bit of a commotion:

It was a candle-light vigil commemorating the two-month anniversary of Occupy Wall Street.  About a hundred people turned out to support the message being proffered by Occupy movements nationwide.  They lined our central Steel Bridge with signs and candles:

Lock up the children, them Dangerous Radicals are out to getcha!

This was a gathering of local folks, farmers and carpenters and teachers and small business owners, young folks and retirees and everyone in between, who share a common perception of what’s ailing us as a society.

And in case you’re chained to a couch and enslaved by a TV feeding you Corporate Bullshit, their message was anything but vague and scattered:

The sign on the left reads, “Remember when teachers, public employees, Planned Parenthood, NPR and PBS crashed the stock market, wiped out half our 401K’s, took billions in taxpayer-funded bailouts, spilled oil in the Gulf of Mexico, gave themselves billions in bonuses and paid no taxes?  Yeah, me neither!”

Channeling Tengrain, are we?

Despite the fact that we’re not totally down-and-out in these parts, we’re feeling our Nation’s pain.  Recent floods have cost many local towns money they don’t have, our schools are sucking a dry bone for funding, everyone’s financial security in retirement is in jeopardy, and the hope which used to spring eternal is drying up faster than the Australian Outback:

The young lady holding this sign opted to be cropped out when I disclosed the sordid fact that I threw occasional F-bombs when I discussed politics.  So much for this being a movement powered by anarchists!

So the take-away from this night of community action is that We The People are getting it.  We know we’re being taken to the cleaners by those who have far more than they need to live The Good Life, but somehow feel entitled to still more, even as the working folks on whose shoulders they lounge are losing their jobs and homes.

The Occupy movement may or may not take a chill pill as winter renders its venues less hospitable, but God help the 1% when the Spring thaw comes ’round!

 

Occupying Your Hometown. November 6, 2011

Posted by littlebangtheory in Politics and Society.
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Well OK, Amherst isn’t exactly my “hometown” – it’s an hour’s drive away.  But as the scene of my Adventures in Higher Education, and as a place where the Future (read: college kids) lives amongst the Dinosaurs (read: We The Old People,) it still resonates as a nexus of power and a place of potential change.  After all, I remember well the activism of the early 70’s and how it changed the general public’s conception of what the United States was actually doing in Viet Nam.

So when I heard that an Occupy action was going to take place at the town’s main intersection, which just happens  to be the parking place for one of this country’s Great Big Banks, Bank of America:

I took the first important step by responding to an email invitation, hedging my response against more self-serving temptations like going out looking for photos, by saying that I’d “try” to be there.

And I did  make it, albeit a bit late.  Good thing I hadn’t committed to setting the thing up, but BOOOO on me for not being there to help.

Now, being late, I sorta expected to drive into a scene of some hundreds of college folks making a lot of noise, fueled perhaps by their understanding of their dwindling prospects as the wealth and opportunities of This Great Nation settle comfortably into the pockets of the Already Wealthy.

But instead, I saw a group of activists of my own general vintage:

…and while it was gratifying to connect with those I spoke with as the Action proceeded, I have to admit that it was a bit deflating to see ABSOLUTELY NO ONE from the college community.

I mean, it would have been inconceivable  in 1970 to see the Greatest Generation out there protesting the Viet Nam war, alone, without student support.

This may be the best argument ever for reinstating the draft – I can’t help wondering how different the demographics of this gathering would be if those who benefit from our Corporate Hegemony were called on to put their lives where their line of credit now sits.  For the hour I spent mingling and offering “Thank You’s” to these folks, Our Future brushed past in tight pants and sexy boots, Mall-ward bound and thinking about less weighty things than their own futures.

As if there were such a thing.

I spoke with a couple of people who seemed to be positioned at the base of this action, for which I can’t possibly thank them enough.  They were all of the mind that Occupy Amherst’s action hadn’t been adequately linked to the broader Occupy movement, and that if I wanted to see young people gettin’ jiggy wit it, I ought to check out neighboring Northampton’s regular Occupy events.

I’m totally inclined to do that.  I need to know that The Future I’m fighting for cares enough about the outcome of this battle to stand and fight for themselves.

This isn’t just an intellectual distinction.  If young people can’t be convinced of the dangers of the Bread and Circus they’re now being served, we’re not going to make it.  We The Vocal are getting older, losing our voices, and destined to settler into the rhythms of a life spent trying to keep our greying heads above the rising tides of income inequality and the concentration of wealth in the hands of people we’ll never know.

And this kind of “sustenance existence” isn’t conducive to worrying about others.  We’ll have our hands full just staying warm in winter.

So come on, kids – show us you’re not just riding the wave of prosperity generated by the the coordinated movements of your parents’ shoulders.  We paid it forward with the expectation that the ball would be picked up and moved down-field by YOU.

I hope that challenge is taken personally, though I doubt if many from the Next Great Generation will read this.

Meanwhile, I’ll pray that you prove me wrong.