Occupy Wall Street

[DisneyBamaFan]

My concern is that there is so much police presence in the Wall Street area that the rest of the City is being left wide up to another terrorist attack....

NYC has 35,000 police officers. This is not a concern.

 

[denisenh]

it is happening, this is for all of you who have suffered incredible loss at the hands of megabanks, join the change, keep it going forward.
We Are America.
New York Transit Workers Union voted unanimously to support #occupywallstreet.38,000 active members to march Oct. 5 #globalrevolution #world


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gideon-rosenblatt/keeping-wall-street-like-_b_983601.html

 

[PrincessKsMom]

NYC has 35,000 police officers. This is not a concern.

Maybe not for you. Do you work here? Commute here every day? It's a huge concern for me and I'd much rather they be elsewhere than babysitting the protestors.

 

[LuvsDragonflies]

So nice to hear from the people that want the Cossacks to smack around the protestors.

Peaceful is peaceful. They have done nothing to warrant physical attack or contact.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

Of course the reality is these people had a permit to protest at a particular place, they decided that they wanted to cause economic harm to people in the city so they left the area they had been allowed to set up the protest in and moved into the streets in an attempt to shut down or hamper the evil Wall Street workers...

This is the key - most of the people defending the protesters in this thread are the same people who insist that the law be upheld in every other regard. These protesters are knowingly breaking the law, and doing it with an intent to cause economic disruption.

I have been a protester at various stages of my life, but I have never participated in willful civil unrest. That is what this is, and what it was designed to be - not a peaceful protest.

Put yourself in the shoes of a police officer. Thousands of protesters, very few fellow police officers, the crowd starts to press. What do you do? Just let them take over the streets? If not, and a protester gets out of line, the safety of the police officer has to come first. If a police officer has to pepperspary a protester to keep the situation from getting out of hand, so be it.

We are better off reading these headlines than reading headlines about cars being burned in the streets on lower Manhattan. And don't tell me that couldn't happen. A mob is an ugly thing.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

Maybe not for you. Do you work here? Commute here every day? It's a huge concern for me and I'd much rather they be elsewhere than babysitting the protestors.

Give me a break - I worked in Manhattan for 15 years, commuting in and out every day. I worked in the WTC on 9/11, lost 295 friends and co-workers.

Please stop the hyperbole. It adds nothing to the discussion.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

The problem isn't the banks in and of themselves - it is the federal reserve system and the banking system in total. This is a stupid protest. The protesters are political tools.

If you are going to protest, at least take the time to educate yourself about the things that you support and why you support them.

 

[LIDisneyFan]

If you practice civil disobedience (which is what the protesters are doing by leaving their 'permitted' area) then you accept the consequences. The police have the responsibility to control and protect - and if the protesters are breaking the law then what do they expect?

I am not disagreeing with their right to protest. I am not even saying they shouldn't leave their area. What I AM saying is they need to expect to be required to comply or face the consequences. If it is pepper spray-wah wah wah. Deal with it or stay home and don't protest.

If they are arrested and have to spend time in jail I can just imagine the outcry - imagine asking people to obey the law.

Once you 'pick and choose' which laws YOU want enforced and how YOU want them enforced you are on a very slippery slope.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Give me a break - I worked in Manhattan for 15 years, commuting in and out every day. I worked in the WTC on 9/11, lost 295 friends and co-workers.

Please stop the hyperbole. It adds nothing to the discussion.

Wasn't mean to be hyperbole. I was also here on 9/11 and came through the WTC after the attacks had started. I have worked in NYC since 1984 and live just across the river. I have seen the way the city has changed. I have had to adjust to the new ways: military being a normal part of life, of having your purse and bags checked, of being told you're not allowed to photograph certain things. Life has changed immensely. I just think it tends to be easy for those who don't work in the city, or never have, to make judgment calls like you did about there being plenty of police to go around, hence my question. I think it's also easy for those armchair quarterbacks sitting at home to talk about how the protesters aren't getting a fair shake. They don't see what goes on on a daily basis. The people the protesters are inconveniencing are NOT the people that make the rules. I believe the police have been very understanding. I hope it continues to be peaceful, but if the protesters get kicked out of the park and a riot starts, will it also be the fault of the police?

What exactly is it they want? And what alternatives are they offering? I'm all for changing the system but I wouldn't have the first clue how to go about it and I honestly don't think they do either.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

If you practice civil disobedience (which is what the protesters are doing by leaving their 'permitted' area) then you accept the consequences. The police have the responsibility to control and protect - and if the protesters are breaking the law then what do they expect?

I am not disagreeing with their right to protest. I am not even saying they shouldn't leave their area. What I AM saying is they need to expect to be required to comply or face the consequences. If it is pepper spray-wah wah wah. Deal with it or stay home and don't protest.

If they are arrested and have to spend time in jail I can just imagine the outcry - imagine asking people to obey the law.

Once you 'pick and choose' which laws YOU want enforced and how YOU want them enforced you are on a very slippery slope.

Yep - the general idea is that you only arrest enough to keep things under control. And you aren't arresting them with an intent to send them off to prison - most of them will make bail and never see the inside of a jail cell again after paying a fine.

The police are not trying to hurt people. They are trying to protect people.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

If you practice civil disobedience (which is what the protesters are doing by leaving their 'permitted' area) then you accept the consequences. The police have the responsibility to control and protect - and if the protesters are breaking the law then what do they expect?

I am not disagreeing with their right to protest. I am not even saying they shouldn't leave their area. What I AM saying is they need to expect to be required to comply or face the consequences. If it is pepper spray-wah wah wah. Deal with it or stay home and don't protest.

If they are arrested and have to spend time in jail I can just imagine the outcry - imagine asking people to obey the law.

Once you 'pick and choose' which laws YOU want enforced and how YOU want them enforced you are on a very slippery slope.

Well then it's a slippery slope we've been slipping around on for the past 250 or so years. I think we can slip and slide around some more on it without the universe ending.

 

[Acklander]

I stand behind the protestors 100%.

 

[Planogirl]

I'm all for doing something about corporate greed but I'm not sure that marching around with vague signs is going to do anything. I don't mind the new bank fees personally but I respect that others do and that could be a concrete something to protest at least. It sounds like these people have no plans and no organization and really nothing substantive to talk about.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

Wasn't mean to be hyperbole. I was also here on 9/11 and came through the WTC after the attacks had started. I have worked in NYC since 1984 and live just across the river. I have seen the way the city has changed. I have had to adjust to the new ways: military being a normal part of life, of having your purse and bags checked, of being told you're not allowed to photograph certain things. Life has changed immensely. I just think it tends to be easy for those who don't work in the city, or never have, to make judgment calls like you did about there being plenty of police to go around, hence my question. I think it's also easy for those armchair quarterbacks sitting at home to talk about how the protesters aren't getting a fair shake. They don't see what goes on on a daily basis. The people the protesters are inconveniencing are NOT the people that make the rules. I believe the police have been very understanding. I hope it continues to be peaceful, but if the protesters get kicked out of the park and a riot starts, will it also be the fault of the police?

What exactly is it they want? And what alternatives are they offering? I'm all for changing the system but I wouldn't have the first clue how to go about it and I honestly don't think they do either.

As for the goals of the protesters - it is simple. The protests are being organized by a political group which is trying to influence the coming elections. Jackie DiSalvo is one of their primary organizers - has been on Obama's team for the last few years.

This is not about banking or corporate corruption. If it were, I'd march with them. These protesters are tools, being used. Sadly, they don't know and don't care. They read sound bites and draw conclusions. Such is the state of politics in America.

 

[PeterPan09]

So nice to hear from the people that want the Cossacks to smack around the protestors.

Peaceful is peaceful. They have done nothing to warrant physical attack or contact.

They've blocked traffic!!!

Maybe they've just realized that it's going to take a bit of blocked traffic to get the American people to look up from Facebook, angry birds and twitter and realize that for the majority life is NOT getting better here. Again, it's not political-both sides of the spectrum are equally complicit in what has happened to the working and middle classes.

 

[Princess Dolly]

Actions = Consequences.

I am all for a good protest but when you go into one you must know there will be some blowback when you disregard your permit and try to shut down an entire city (or an entire important portion of a city).


What is very odd to me is that you can go on CNN's homepage and there is no mention of this whatsoever. I think the press need to protested next. They are doing a piss poor job (probably thanks to the corporations that own them ).

OK i just googled...14th day??!!??!! Sometimes enough is enough.

Oh and nice touch for the protestors to post the information of the children (like where they go to school, etc.) of the officer who used the pepper spray. They threatened the family as well:

An online group that says it is part of the protest in lower Manhattan posted the officer's personal details online, including the names of his family and the address where his children attend school, with the threat "Before you commit atrocities against innocent people, think twice."

http://online.wsj.com/article/AP0c7a648169a9402ea3a7af53172bda45.html

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

They've blocked traffic!!!

Maybe they've just realized that it's going to take a bit of blocked traffic to get the American people to look up from Facebook, angry birds and twitter and realize that for the majority life is NOT getting better here. Again, it's not political-both sides of the spectrum are equally complicit in what has happened to the working and middle classes.

I agree that the issues are not political, but the marches are being orchestrated with political goals in mind. Just as the Tea Party protests were hi-jacked, so has this been.

 

[PeterPan09]

Actions = Consequences.

I am all for a good protest but when you go into one you must know there will be some blowback when you disregard your permit and try to shut down an entire city (or an entire important portion of a city).


What is very odd to me is that you can go on CNN's homepage and there is no mention of this whatsoever. I think the press need to protested next. They are doing a piss poor job (probably thanks to the corporations which own them ).

OK i just googled...14th day??!!??!! Sometimes enough is enough.

Oh and nice touch for the protestors to post the information of the children (like where they go to school, etc.) of the officer who used the pepper spray.

I think the media's ignoring them might have led to some of the changes in their MO. Had CNN been there on day 1, they might not have decided that they needed to do more to get noticed.

I do NOT agree with either the officer with the pepper spray OR the protestors that went after him personally. 2 wrongs do not make a right.

 

[Acklander]

I'm all for doing something about corporate greed but I'm not sure that marching around with vague signs is going to do anything. I don't mind the new bank fees personally but I respect that others do and that could be a concrete something to protest at least. It sounds like these people have no plans and no organization and really nothing substantive to talk about.

This isn't just about banks charging a 5.00 fee to use debit cards. It's about investment bankers manipulating the markets so we pay twice as much for gas while they take all the profits, it's about banks receiving billions in bailout money from the taxpayers and then paying themselves millions in bonuses, it's about hedge fund managers who earn over a billion a year but pay a smaller tax rate than someone earning 50k a year. It's about citizens united where corporations are allowed to openly buy our politicians from both sides of the aisle.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

This isn't just about banks charging a 5.00 fee to use debit cards. It's about investment bankers manipulating the markets so we pay twice as much for gas while they take all the profits, it's about banks receiving billions in bailout money from the taxpayers and then paying themselves millions in bonuses, it's about hedge fund managers who earn over a billion a year but pay a smaller tax rate than someone earning 50k a year. It's about citizens united where corporations are allowed to openly buy our politicians from both sides of the aisle.

No, it is about getting Obama re-elected.