I’ve been spending as much time as I can down at Occupy Wall Street, listening to the speeches, reading the literature, talking to the organizers. Here’s something to keep in mind: You’ll hear in a lot of the conservative media that this is some kind of socialist/communist enterprise piggybacking on a populist protest. In reality, it is much worse than even most of the conservative media is reporting.
Almost every organization present at OWS is explicitly communist or socialist. Almost every piece of literature being handed out is explicitly communist or socialist. I don’t mean half, and I don’t mean the overwhelming majority — I mean almost all of it. Yes, there are the usual union goons trying to figure out how to get OWS to do the bidding of the AFL-CIO and the Democratic party, and the usual smattering of New Age goo (the “Free Empathy” table) and po-mo Left wackiness (animal-rights nuts), the inevitable Let’s-Eradicate-Israel crowd (“Free Palestine, from the river to the sea!”). But, that being said, almost every organized enterprise and piece of printed material I have encountered has been socialist or communist. It’s been a long time since I saw anybody peddling books by Lenin. It’s been a long time since anybody told me the Ukrainians had it coming.
When the protesters were rallying to march to Times Square, out went the call: “Follow the red flag!” Which is what they did, literally and, I fear, figuratively.
Interesting, then, that Barack Obama has decided to lend some presidential legitimacy to the proceedings. OWS isn’t a socialist revolution — I’d be surprised if it ever escalated past the vandalism stage — but it imagines itself to be, and Barack Obama suggests that he is in sympathy with it. This reminds me of something . . . a particular image . . .
Speaking of vandalism, I witnessed a bit of it on Saturday, when a protester denied the use of the facilities at a local pizza shop began tearing up merchandise and throwing it in the garbage. The owner caught the vandal outside and put him in a bear-hug, yelling for somebody to call the police. The police eventually showed up and, of course, did something close to nothing. A few union goons loitering outside the pizza shop began to taunt the owner: “You feel better now? You got that out of your system?” The shop owner was an immigrant, who probably came to this country under the mistaken notion that the police would be here to protect his property and that random acts of destruction would be at least frowned upon by his fellow citizens.
“Follow the red flag!” Yes, indeed.
"mistaken notion that the police would be here to protect his property"
We all know how this is going to end. I'm hoping that the NYPD under the stewardship of Ray Kelly won't be as feckless as the London bobbies proved to be several months ago, but if this story is any indication, there could be some real mayhem in lower Manhattan, sadly.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseLower Manhattan is basically a fortified city. And it's not just all the security and physical barriers. It is the mentality. Keep in mind, these neo-reds are doing it 50 yards from Ground Zero. So, maybe they will succeed in creating mayhem elsewhere, but not here, not now. The Mayor just needs to say a word.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseCommunists? Are we really going full John Birch at this point? I thought you would've saved that one for at least another week or two. How do you top this? By claiming that OWS may be composed of commies, but that it's actually being run by secret Sharia loving illegal Mexican al Queda terrorists?
Or is the strategy here to come out early and hard with the crazy, that way by the time we get to the big enchilada everyone has completely written you off. Even the GOP is starting to acknowledge that these people have legit grievances at this point, and garner 2 to 1 support.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSo if you spend hours and hours at the protest and observe that 99% of the literature is communist/socialist/Marxist, that makes you a Bircher? On which planet is this again?
"Even the GOP"
That speaks not to the legitimacy of OWS but to the fecklessness of the GOP.
Captcha: plugged nickel
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Moe Coors" is not worth the effort. His unoriginality is exceeded only by his capacity to be illogical.
Personally, I'm glad he and his braindead beliefs are out there. The POTUS hitching his wagon to anti-American losers is awesome for conservatism.
Meh. My wife's cousin works at a financial/investment institution and saw some pictures from the San Francisco OWS bongfest. Lo and behold, an ex-coworker...and not one that was particularly effective or missed. She quit her job over a year ago to move across the country and go shack up with some dude she'd met over the Internet, sight unseen. Now, she's holding a sign about how she's unfairly jobless. Um, she quit her job - one she'd still have, if only barely - before securing a new one. That's called being stupid, not oppressed. Sums it up for me.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"2 to 1 support"
In Time Magazine. And everybody needs to look at the laughable questions Time used to herd people into producing those numbers.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSure, Moe, these people have legitimate grievances. I agree with you there.
But, then, so did the Bolsheviks.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseTry reading their literature sometime Moe old boy.
Then again, I suspect that Moe wrote much of it.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBTW Moe,
Couldn't help noticing that you actually never got around to stating that the protestors *aren't* communist. An oversight, I'm sure. Care to correct that omission? Or is Kevin right after all?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseKevin, I happen to catch your panel participation on one of the cable news networks this weekend. I must commend you for stifling a belly laugh while that "Anthropologist" informed us barter never existed and that forgiving debt would have no consequences. It is not surprising that such an individual is involved with the OWS.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThis fellow who was labeled a leftist actually makes a strong case for the need to get BACK to free markets.
External Link
This would seem to prove the thesis of this post is false. Many of these protesters are "Classic Conservatives" (what ever happened to that).
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWell, Moe Coors, I can spell and I can count. When the 11th person offered to explain "the basics of communism" to me, handing me a pamphlet by that name, it sank in. CP-USA, Social Workers, International Socialists, etc. Go count 'em yourself.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRE: "the basics of communism"
Heh...anything beyond the "basics" would betray the absolute unworkability of the ideology. I imagine the pamphlet is just a tad tinier than that Jewish Sports Legends one the stewardess gave a passenger looking for some "light reading" in the film Airplane!.
Hey, on the upside, Chavez and Castro are both speeding their way towards finally becoming "good" Communists. :)
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhat is truly disturbing is most of the media is cheerleading OWS and not reporting on the groups organizing and supporting these protesters. The level of Anti-Semitic signs and video is alarming. Can you imagine the reaction if the Tea Party had been endorsed by the Nazi Party?
The media is complicit, the violence will only escalate who in the Democratic Party has the courage to speak out?...crickets
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAnd now that the American Nazi Party has thrown their full support for those malcontents... where's the MSM reporting on this?
Crickets...
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOh look. OWS is being explicitly supported by the American Nazi Party.
http://twitter.com/#!/ANP14/status/125278625204420608
Why do you suppose that is?
Oh right! Nazi=National Socialist!
They were ranting about the need to eliminate "Judeo-Capitalism," just like their Nazi forbears in Germany.
Nothing to see here: move along.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseLol not just the Nazi's.
The Occupy Wall Street movement is supported by Communist Party USA,American Nazi Party,CAIR,MPAC,DSA,DN,MB,Hamas,United for Peace and Justice,Code Pink,International ANSWER Coalition, Trotskyite Fourth International,Islamic Republic of Iran,Hugo Chavez,Fidel Castro,AFL-CIO,SEIU,Bill Ayers,Barack Obama, and the Democrat Party.
There have been over 1,500 arrests for:destruction of private property,rape,assaulting a police officer,destruction of public property,drug sales,child endangerment,assault and robbery.
Chicago and Boston have had muslim terrorist speaking.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt's less disturbing and more angering because I knew that was what the MSM was going to do. I knew how they portrayed the Tea Partiers and now I see how they do a complete 180 when it's "their" side protesting.
It really chaps my hide (and that's about all I can say on this otherwise censored comment board).
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abusethe NYPD is Union first, blue line second ...
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseEven Fox News painstakingly claims that many of the protesters have legitimate greivances.
No, no they don't.
These are the people that would be protesting the war if a Republican was President. Despite the fact that we are now in 3 wars, all anti-war protests stopped cold on Nov 2, 2008.
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