henry rollins! occupy america [repost]

[Look for your weekly fix from the one and only Henry Rollins right here on West Coast Sound every Thursday, and come back tomorrow for the awesomely annotated playlist for his Saturday KCRW broadcast.]

 

My editor contacted me the other day and asked if I had an opinion on the Occupy protests that are growing daily all over America.

Opinion? Moi? Don't get me started. Well, OK, start me up.

I was in Washington, D.C., a few days ago. I spent part of an afternoon at Liberty Plaza, watching the sidewalks fill up with people carrying sleeping bags and food. They were ready for a prolonged stay. I watched the police spreading out, with teams on corners, their faces grimly set. It hit me how serious all this has become.

I emerged from Penn Station hours ago here in Manhattan. Lots of cops clutching the heaviest firepower I have ever seen on NYPD. Apparently, Occupy Wall Street protesters were going to be marching.

Is the Occupy protest being taken seriously? Oh yes. The main indicator is how hard and often Fox News pundits and others on television and radio are going after the protesters. Glenn Beck is cross-eyed, with paranoid Method-acting rants. He predicts that he and his ilk will be taken into the streets and done great harm. 

Doubtful, but his wacky speak may still play to his ever-dwindling demographic, who are definitely to be avoided. The hysterics of the three professors on Fox & Friends are pathetic and forced. 

It's easy to tell that they're getting their marching orders to fill time, and that it's not going all that well for them. It is funny, however, to watch scripted people attempt to connect words and form sentences on their own and fail so miserably in front of a national audience.

Words cannot express how much I am enjoying witnessing the real fear that is coming from zero-traction hacks like P.J. O'Rourke. He recently buried himself on an episode of HBO's Real Time With Bill Maher when he characterized the protesters as clueless bongo-drum enthusiasts. 

Then there was Rep. Peter King of New York, who took a break from Islam-bashing to accuse the protesters of being anarchists. Sen. Rand Paul made a fool of himself trying to compare them to a "French mob." Ooh la la!

The more they attempt to vilify the Occupy protesters, the more distinctly out of touch they come off. I say give them as much airtime as they want. The more they talk, the worse it will get for them.

Why will it get worse? Because all they are doing is pointing out how on-the-money (literally) the Occupy protesters are. Americans tend to have a short memory as far as news cycles. However, it's not so short that they can't remember the raging anger at Tea Party rallies. They will not forget the signs depicting the president of the United States with a Hitler mustache or a bone through his nose. 

They will not forget all of the guns that were present. They will not forget the incredible levels of hatred at these events. These images are so burned into the national consciousness that when Sarah Palin -- in her recent, idiotic book, America by Heart, which, yes, I bought a copy of and read -- characterizes these psychopaths as "rowdy patriots," she and anyone attempting to marginalize the Occupy protesters will only be marginalizing themselves.

People will remember that the Tea Party was co-opted and funded by billion-dollar corporations, and that it was supported by Fox News and other outlets with the same vigor with which they attempt to denigrate the Occupy protesters. 

People will understand that the Occupy protests are truly organic -- which is why it sometimes looks like there is confusion amongst them. As the weeks go by, every police officer who stomps on and attempts ruinous harm to the First Amendment with arrests will only attract more people to the protests.

Why? Because finally, the real issues are being addressed. This is the reason all the right people are losing it. They are not stupid. They know that this bell cannot be unrung.

I urge you to read the Occupy Manifesto, written by the New York City General Assembly. It is unavoidably clear. This is not directionless action. If it were, the media would have moved on.

Who should be losing the most sleep over all this? Not Wall Street and not the ultrarich. No. It should be the president. He dropped the ball. It's cool. The people picked it up. Sir, with all due respect, you'd better recognize.

Occupy Wall Street and the resulting protests across the country are going to end up being one of the most decisive and simultaneously underreported events in this new century. 

These protests will obscure the Tea Party and affect local and state elections. They will change the opinion that people all over the world have about America. Occupy Wall Street will get international support. 

Every pundit or politician who lashes out at these protests does so at the risk of their careers.

As things get worse, the movement will grow stronger. The Tea Party faded quickly because it was weakened by artificial ingredients, and is now all but over with. Occupy Wall Street is 100 percent analog and will thrive without corporate life support.

This is only the start. You don't have to like it. This is going on with or without you. 

Thomas Jefferson has momentarily stopped spinning in his grave.

By Henry Rollins Thu., Oct. 20 2011 at 6:00 AM

http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/2011/10/henry_rollins_the_column_7.php

shall we start by making sure everyone can vote?

Pointing out the obvious, 2012 is an election year, and the very least that should be happening at every one of the Occupy locations/camps (whatever they wish to call themselves) is VOTER REGISTRATION. If people come from places the repigs have fouled with their shitty new “voter requirements”, then every OWS should have a committee/group/caucus trained in the local requirements and readily available to help all the people effected by said requirements to get photo IDs etc. - whatever they will need to be able to register to vote and then TO ACTUALLY VOTE. IF this protest goes on long enough, and OWS is still viable in November 2012, OWS participants should be organized enough by then to be able to follow through and make sure everyone who is allowed to vote, can vote and does vote. Only then will the REAL WORLD repercussions of this movement make a dent in the monolith that is the CORPORATE GREED that ‘owns’ our government.

Just sayin’.

‘We’ OWS sympathizers seem to be hung up and distracted by the police response right now - exactly what the 1% wants.

Get organized. Get something accomplished. Getting arrested and bloodied (over and over) will not be enough.

how to scare the shit out of the kochs

another stolen post: Fueled by a long simmering anger over the economic crisis, the continuing enrichment of a tiny corporate elite who brought this crisis on, and the lack of any political voice for the great majority of people, the Occupy Wall Street Movement has spread to hundreds of cities across the nation, mobilizing hundreds of thousands in an undeniable display of strength. The growing involvement of unions in these developments both testifies to how broad this discontent is and its potential power to mobilize and organize millions. The 99 percent have had enough, and growing numbers are now taking to the streets to make an impact. We are witnessing the birth of a social movement that has the potential to win economic justice. Having only recently exploded onto the scene, there are many directions this movement may take. The only certainty is that, since the conditions that fueled it are not going away any time soon, it is, at the very least, a harbinger of larger struggles to come. Some have argued that the Occupy Wall Street Movement has a relationship to the Democratic Party similar to the Tea Party's relationship to the Republicans. This is wrong on several counts. The Tea Party and its message was cooked up, funded, and molded by corporate interests such as the Koch brothers. It attempted to mobilize people by tapping into their fears of where the country is going while dressing up a corporate political agenda in populist rags. There was never a doubt that this would eventually strengthen the far right in the Republican Party who quickly identified with the Tea Party's cause. Relations stand very differently between the Occupy Wall Street Movement and the Democratic Party. This movement has no big Wall Street interests channeling funds into their organizing activities. By targeting economic inequality and injustice brought on by Wall Street's rule, the movement has placed itself in direct opposition to the largest financial contributors to and policy makers of the Democratic Party. While Democratic Party politicians may mouth support for some of the issues that have united the movement, any measures they can effectively promote will not come close to adequately addressing working peoples real needs. To understand why that is the case requires that one follow the money. All the community organizations and unions combined cannot come close to matching the wealth of the corporate elite. The Democratic Party is a machine that has been built and is maintained by funds from their deep pockets. If any Democratic politicians seriously do try to support measures that address workers’ needs that the Occupy Wall Street Movement is putting on the table, it will be at odds with the Democratic Party's purpose. Of course, Democratic politicians will continue to voice support for issues raised by the Occupy Wall Street Movement, such as taxing the rich, but they only do this during election campaigns or when they know that there is no chance of passing any relevant bills. In an attempt at damage control, President Obama recently acknowledged that the Occupy Wall Street Movement "...expresses the frustrations the American people feel..." However, he still used the press conference to justify his massive bank bailouts. This is typical of President Obama, betraying his occasional populist posturing with policies that enrich the top 1 percent at the expense of everyone else. President Obama's recent support for a 5.6 percent tax on millionaires and the American Jobs Act will be spun as examples of his attempts to address the anger that gave birth to the Occupy Wall Street Movement. However, such claims cannot withstand serious scrutiny. The 5.6 percent millionaires’ tax is a paltry amount when compared to the overall enrichment the corporate elite has enjoyed under Obama's administration. With American companies sitting on $2 trillion in cash rather than investing in job creation, Obama's tax the rich gesture is peanuts. Much of the $447 billion slated for the American Jobs Act is in the form of corporate tax give-aways, and a large amount of its funding will come from cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. At best it will result in the creation of 2 million jobs while there are 24 million unemployed and underemployed. But aside from its paltry status, Obama’s millionaire tax increase will only fool those who have not had time to pay close attention. If Obama were serious, he would have introduced this measure when the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress. By waiting until the Republicans control the House to raise this proposal, when it has no chance of passing, Obama is revealing that he is simply playing politics and campaigning for the next election; he is parroting popular measures without having to worry about alienating his wealthy supporters since they all know the proposal is dead in the water. Given all this, President Obama's prediction that the Occupy Wall Street’s frustration will "express itself politically in 2012" appears to be wishful thinking when it comes to a flood of support into the voting booths. Many of the participants in this movement were enthusiastic supporters of candidate Obama in 2008. The bitterness of their disappointment cannot be forgotten and it is unlikely that they will embrace him again. The Occupy Wall Street Movement needs to remain independent of both Wall Street parties and corporate cash. While many participants, especially the unions, will endorse Democratic candidates in 2012, this movement should not allow itself to give into the habit of endorsing "the lesser evil" and restricting its activities and demands according to what corporate candidates say is possible. It must continue to speak to the experience and needs of working people with mass united action rather than be diverted by knocking on doors for the Democrats. The history of social movements in this country shows that getting caught up in the Democratic Party leads to paralysis, entropy, and even the death of hope of bringing about significant change. As the Occupy Wall Street expands to include unions and greater numbers of unorganized workers, it will be necessary to find specific concrete demands that the majority of working class people are ready to unite and mobilize around at this time. Demands focusing on government funded job creation, taxing the rich, no cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and ending the wars are a likely good start, because all of them have huge support, according to the polls. If the Occupy Wall Street Movement is to grow, it will also have to transform itself. In the process of bringing in greater numbers, firming up greater unity with unions, and organizing larger actions, it will have to perfect its democratic practices, develop organizational structures on a national and local level, as well as put forward a leadership structure that is transparent and completely accountable to the general membership. In the process of evolving into a democratic movement, it will be possible to create an alternative to the parties of Wall Street and corporate America, that is, a Labor Party that fights on behalf of the vast majority. While such an outcome may not be likely at this time for the participants of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, the logical course of its struggle may compel it to move in this direction. If so, it will be the product of a process that has the power to fundamentally change the political and economic structure of this nation.

Mark Vorpahl is a unionist and anti-war activist and writer for Workers Action. He may be reached at portland@workerscompass.org