No camels
by digby
By now you’ve read from David and elsewhere what happened in Oakland last night. The fact that the President was just across the bay at a posh fundraiser pretty much frames the story perfectly, I think.
If the “reality = media and media = reality” equation which found such robust expression last January during the Egypt uprising, what we’re seeing is the same dynamic playing out here-and-now between America’s physical and digital public square(s).I encourage you to page through the 92 photos the Oakland Tribune posted of the decimation of the Occupy Oakland site on Tuesday. The complexities and concerns regarding the maintenance of these camps notwithstanding, I don’t think the police understand the “perceptual violence” doled out by ripping those tents apart. Given the omnipresence and engagement of the cameras, however, I wanted to highlight this photo in particular, simultaneously illustrating: a.) the badness going down, and b.) the recognition of the witnessing by the actors.
I “watched” it all unfold on twitter last night, in real time. With pictures.
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