Josh Harkinson of Mother Jones has been doing great reporting on OWS — if you don’t follow his twitter feed, you should. His dispatches from the “spokes council” over the past few days have been fascinating.
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“Sweaty guy in suit and neon vest ripping off signs: “I’ve been waiting a long time to do this.”
Mayor Bloomberg last night ordered a long-overdue fumigation of the festering mess at Zuccotti Park — and while the zealots likely will be winging about the decision for months, it remains that the two-month-long demonstration had long since devolved from a principled sit-down into a carnival of contempt both for the law and for common decency…
Just who was responsible for them wasn’t clear — but even the possibility of such a challenge to public safety had to be taken seriously, given the irresponsible acting out that has accompanied the Zucotti Park demonstration from the outset.
And, a possible subway shutdown notwithstanding, the demonstrators overweening disregard for their neighbors — residential and commercial alike — simply could no longer be tolerated.
Public urination and defecation was a public-health problem from the beginning.
All-night drumming, disruption of local business and sporadic forays out of the park to shut down traffic and such were a 24/7 presence.Then came the crime.
Reports of rape, sexual abuse and garden-variety assault were fixtures.
Drug-dealing, common theft and fistfights between demonstrators were commonplace, too…
But the fact is that no right — the First Amendment included — is absolute.
The “occupiers” of Zuccotti Park and their counterparts elsewhere have had plenty of opportunity to get their points across.To argue, as some have, that there can be no time limits on freedom of speech is specious nonsense.
Others have rights, too, and it is not unreasonable that they be respected.
Mayor Bloomberg did that last night.Good for him.
The right wing has been pushing this theme of the occupy people being anti-social sub-humans defecating on the sidewalks from the beginning. If you look at history, it seems to be characteristic of that worldview, which not a few policemen share. The question will be if the larger message of the 99% can penetrate. That dispatch from the eviction makes me doubt it, but the movement is young and governments everywhere are adopting the Shock Doctrine, which may include the salaries, pensions and benefits of the police departments. It will be interesting to see if the Austerians see the foolishness of that — or, if not, if the police can see past their own cultural filters. Either way, this will be something to keep an eye on.
Update: Harkinson’s full story here.
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