Poll: Occupy wall street protests attacked by police in 5 cities in a coordinated raid.

[LordFisheh]

These people are as worthless as their protests.

What do they hope to accomplish?

If their protest, which has made the news and so gained the attention of tens of thousands of people if not more across the world, is worthless, then what value does your post have?

What do you hope to accomplish with it?

If you apply the same link between the protesters and their protest to yourself and your post, what worth does that imply you have?

 

[Neverhoodian]

These people are as worthless as their protests.

What do they hope to accomplish?

If their protest, which has made the news and so gained the attention of tens of thousands of people if not more across the world, is worthless, then what value does your post have?

What do you hope to accomplish with it?

If you apply the same link between the protesters and their protest to yourself and your post, what worth does that imply you have?

None.

But at least I'm not fooling myself.

Make you a deal. If this petty charade changes ANYTHING in the American economic sphere that can be considered anything near fundamental, I'll eat my words. Until then, I stick with my claim. Making the news isn't indicative of change.

I'm afraid I have to agree. Granted I haven't been keeping close tabs on the protests, but the little I've seen and heard doesn't impress me. One of the biggest problems I see with this movement is its lack of a clear, coherent message. You have activists out there railing against everything from the war on terror to bans on gay marriage and pot and everything in between. Regardless of the validity of these issues, shouldn't the real focus be on Wall Street and the economy...you know, what this protest was allegedly supposed to be about?

If you try to focus on everything, you'll change nothing. You have to pick your fights one issue at a time.

 

[Kingsnake661]

I think it's more media indifference then a blackout. and i've been reading about alot of this stuff for DAYS on cnn.com.

As for the movement itself... *shrug* Wallstreet *is* corrupt. The *goverment* is too. I don't really see either saving me from the other. What does it matter who has the money or power? Both are corroupt. Both are doomed to fail.

There's your happy thought for the day! =)

 

[trollnystan]

With good reason. But the fact of the matter is that someone can get away with anything if there's enough money behind them. hell, there's a vid on youtube(coworker told me about it, don't have the link) of some protesters stuck against a wall with tape and a police officer just walks up, pepper-sprays them all in the face, and then walks away.

Welcome to America, where you have the right to peaceably assemble, so long as you don't bug rich people while you're doing it.

You mean this video?

Spoiler

And for those that are wondering what they are protesting about this comic is kind of relevant.

Spoiler

They may not all say it in the same way or have a catchy slogan that encapulates their message, but that's basically why they're demonstrating. At least that's what I see, but then I've been following this since day one rather religiously.

 

[Trivea]

If there's a media blackout, how did you find out about it?

I don't agree with the Occupy Wall Street people. There are protestors that admit to having been paid to show up, and generally, they can't even say why they're there other than "We hate the banks! Stick it to the banks!" It's not going to change anything. This will go away eventually.

Though I will say that I saw a video about the police brutality, which is wrong in every kind of way. No matter what I think about the views of the actual protestors, they don't deserve to be treated like that. (Now, if they start attacking the cops first, getting arrested isn't police brutality, but when they've done nothing to deserve it? Police brutality is getting worse across the US, though.)

 

[Theseus32]

Trust me. Been to the protests. These people are not being paid to be there. They're not even all that liberal. It's that the message is being deliberately obfuscated. The protests are about creating a divide between corporations and the government. Keeping them the hell away from each other.

There's a lot in that notion to make it attractive to the left AND right, yet still all you see from the protests are the fringe folks out to install communism. It's incredibly unethical and designed to attempt to make a straw man out of this entire debate.

Just the calls for violence alone...

 

[Something Amyss]

I think the simple truth is that most people don't care about the movement, so very few news channels are reporting it.

Which would make more sense if not for the last few instances of protests being met with disproportionate coverage.

 

[Robert632]

How can there be a media blackout if the linked article is in the Washington Post?

Because...

Got that?

O.T: I was really hoping for more controversy, but it seemed mostly tame to me, just about how they were arrested due to fear of damaging shrubbery and other silliness that doesn't really seem any different then other protest's I've heard about. Then again, I'm about as intelligent and up-to-date in these matters as a cold wet blanket is good at keeping people warm, so my 2 cents is probably about as useful as 2 cents would really be in real life

 

[spartan231490]

With good reason. But the fact of the matter is that someone can get away with anything if there's enough money behind them. hell, there's a vid on youtube(coworker told me about it, don't have the link) of some protesters stuck against a wall with tape and a police officer just walks up, pepper-sprays them all in the face, and then walks away.

Welcome to America, where you have the right to peaceably assemble, so long as you don't bug rich people while you're doing it.

You mean this video?

Spoiler

And for those that are wondering what they are protesting about this comic is kind of relevant.

Spoiler

They may not all say it in the same way or have a catchy slogan that encapulates their message, but that's basically why they're demonstrating. At least that's what I see, but then I've been following this since day one rather religiously.

Thanks for linking the video. It's something that should be pointed out in every one of these discussions IMO.

 

[Smagmuck_]

I love how they're recording Police Brutality on their iPhones. Even when they claim to hate big corporations.

 

[Kopikatsu]

Plus there's strong evidence suggesting that either the DoD or a private security company is attempting to infiltrate message boards all over the internet in an effort to paint the protesters as hippies, hipsters and lazy selfish people.

...They are. You have to work 40 hour weeks in order to keep your two cars, 3-4 bedroom houses, internet, computers, blah blah and what have you? Poor you! That sounds SO horrible, I don't know how you could stand it!


No. Fuck those people. Give them a tour or two of a couple third world countries, then see if they ***** about how much life sucks in America.

I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

 

[Brawndo]

How can there be a media blackout if the linked article is in the Washington Post?

So much this. I think the simple truth is that most people don't care about the movement, so very few news channels are reporting it.

There are over 1000 protests scheduled for October 15 in dozens of countries. The Facebook page for Occupy Wall Street has over 100,000 followers. Most Youtube videos of the protests and protester interviews have 500,000 - 1 million views. I would argue that Occupy Wall Street has the potential to surpass the size of the Tea Party movement in the coming weeks.

 

[Esotera]

They weren't trespassing. It is, actually, impossible to trespass in a public area. They were arrested (by over 200 police officers) to protect some 'shrubbery'. It's ridiculous and offensive! They constitutional rights have been violated, and no one seems to care.

I'm not too familiar with US law, but UK laws allow dispersion powers for large groups & you're not allowed to congregate close to certain public buildings. Perhaps we're interpreting the article too literally, I doubt the police would illegally arrest them as it would just give them further publicity.

I think the simple truth is that most people don't care about the movement, so very few news channels are reporting it.

Which would make more sense if not for the last few instances of protests being met with disproportionate coverage.

There's very little here in the UK, and I've seen pretty much nothing on the internet with the exception of the article in the OP. Back when the riots were happening last summer a group of 30 youths ran around a shopping centre stealing stuff...this somehow made headline news. Maybe it's become more interesting since their numbers have grown and it's actually been a sustained protest.

There are over 1000 protests scheduled for October 15 in dozens of countries. The Facebook page for Occupy Wall Street has over 100,000 followers. Most Youtube videos of the protests and protester interviews have 500,000 - 1 million views. I would argue that Occupy Wall Street has the potential to surpass the size of the Tea Party movement in the coming weeks.

100,000 is very little in facebook terms, and liking a group doesn't actually equate to doing anything for it. Some of the popular ones probably do, but definitely not all of them. And yes, that would be awesome (if solely to detract attention from the Tea Part), but still probably wouldn't achieve anything. The group is too loose to have any concrete aims.

 

[trollnystan]

SNIP

Thanks for linking the video. It's something that should be pointed out in every one of these discussions IMO.

No problem. In case you're interested I get a lot of my information of the movement from here: [link]http://www.thenation.com/blogs/greg-mitchell[/link]. It's slanted pro-Occupy of course, but if all you're getting from main stream media is the negative side then this could compliment that.

 

[mikey7339]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/boston-police-arrest-50-from-occupy-boston-movement-for-trespassing/2011/10/11/gIQA8VgvbL_story.html

Boston, Seattle and several other cities. And there is a huge media blackout over this. Plus there's strong evidence suggesting that either the DoD or a private security company is attempting to infiltrate message boards all over the internet in an effort to paint the protesters as hippies, hipsters and lazy selfish people.

And I seriously wish I were making this up. Prepare your anus america.

So sick of these socialist rich bashing posts. As Herman Cain said it's just poor being jealous of rich people.

Remember what happened in the 1700's when the poor in France got jealous of the rich? Also, I love how you guys throw around the label 'socialist' like it's an inherently evil thing. Did communist lose it's edge since the Berlin wall came down?

 

[Normandyfoxtrot]

I haven't and probably won't pay much attention to their little protests that said if these arrests where unwarranted they need to be investigated and punished. That said there is little to directly show form your information that any of the police actions we're unjust.

 

[sailor_960]

Both sides of this fiasco make me chuckle. On one hand you have the protesters, who, as a whole, seem uninformed about their own protest. And then you have those who those who paint these protesters as socialist, or anarchist who seek to tear down the American economic system, and replace it with granola. In response, those in support of the protest claim that they (the protests) are being "infiltrated" by private security firms (because they have nothing better to do for money so hey why not) to "undermine" their operations. It's all really kind of ridiculous if you ask me, but then I'm in school and working two jobs so I'm to busy to be angry at the government for reasons that aren't quite particular;y clear.