The Occupy protest movement probably won’t disappear overnight, but there are growing signs the public’s nerves are wearing thin. Police have cleared out the protests in Oakland and Atlanta, and L.A. looks like it will be next. The latest problems seem to stem from the fact that homeless people, drug addicts and assorted violent criminals have – shockingly! – set up camp with the protesters, creating public safety and health hazards:
From coast to coast, there were signs Wednesday that the Occupy demonstrations, which began in a Lower Manhattan park to protest corporate greed and other economic issues, face a growing backlash over concerns ranging from issues such as noise and sanitation to public safety and general cleanliness.…
Providence, R.I., Mayor Angel Taveras plans to pursue legal action to evict more than 100 protesters from the city’s Burnside Park.
In Minneapolis, where 100-150 protesters crowd onto the Hennepin County Government Center plaza during the day and many spend the night, some residents are tired of the occupation and the cost of providing police services, Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson says.
The New York Post reports that the influx of vagrants is even starting to irritate many of the protesters, especially the cooking staff who are fed up with having to serve food to the “professional homeless” all day:
The Occupy Wall Street volunteer kitchen staff launched a “counter” revolution yesterday — because they’re angry about working 18-hour days to provide food for “professional homeless” people and ex-cons masquerading as protesters.
For three days beginning tomorrow, the cooks will serve only brown rice and other spartan grub instead of the usual menu of organic chicken and vegetables, spaghetti bolognese, and roasted beet and sheep’s-milk-cheese salad.…
“We need to limit the amount of food we’re putting out” to curb the influx of derelicts, said Rafael Moreno, a kitchen volunteer.
The occupiers have been prepping for winter, but does anyone actually believe public officials will risk letting them live out in the elements for months? This is going to end at some point soon, whether it’s due to activists leaving out of concern for their own physical safety or police being forced to crack down on the movement.
The question is whether Occupy Wall Street will be able to channel its current energy and create something beyond the current aimless “Be-In” it is right now. If this is going to become a legitimate political movement, it must create specific political goals — something OWS has been allergic to so far. Right now the activists have a physical place to rally around, which means they don’t necessarily need a specific checklist of shared goals and ideals to maintain cohesion. They simply need to show up – just being there is the entire end-game. Once that’s taken away, the only thing that can unite them is a mutual purpose. Whether they’re able to do that remains to be seen.
It's absolutely hilarious that the kitchen staff doesn't want to work long days to provide freeloaders with high quality meals. Now they know how the 53% of us who pay Federal income tax feel. n nThe other irony of course, is that these folks want to create an all powerful state. They're all for increased health and safety regulations that limit what other people can do and say, how they can say it, or where they can go. Now they're complaining that government is trampling on their rights? (never mind that many on the Left believe our rights derive from the government). As far as I'm concerned, these people can go pound sand.
ug… that's sad.
'They simply need to show up' — or *grow* up. n nJames Nolan, sir: How right you are.
Thanks Amanda. When I'm right, I'm right! And I'm almost always right. For instance, a few months ago, a friend of mine told me that Obama was going to campaign as a centrist. When I explained that his only hope of victory was to go hard left, my friend scoffed. Unfortunately for my wrong headed friend, OWS happened and the President has embraced it. n
"For three days beginning tomorrow, the cooks will serve only brown rice and other spartan grub instead of the usual menu of organic chicken and vegetables, spaghetti bolognese, and roasted beet and sheep’s-milk-cheese salad." n nElitist 1% pigs!
"Since its {Commentary Magazine] inception in 1945, and increasingly after it emerged as the flagship of neoconservatism in the 1970s …" n nThe genesis of this magazine explains its biased view against OWS.
Um, Commentary is a conservative magazine and doesn't pretend otherwise. Your comment is the equivalent of me pointing out the Nation's bias against the Tea Party. n
Saying the Vatican agrees with you is absolutely ridiculous: there was no ex cathedra statement…what was issued was an opinion of a couple of cardinals. Sorry. n
n nOr block-headed police action at the behest of befuddled municipal authorities could provoke Occupier reaction in the form another phase of "resistance". Oakland's Mayor Quan is learning the lesson of the value of tactical restraint even now as she helplessly acquiesces to the reoccupation of Frank Ogawa Plaza. The occupiers have learned under what conditions they can eke out a moral victory at the expense of local politicians who will quickly back down. Good times!
Yeah, the people who want to see OWS Blood on the street are the OWS "protestors" themselves. It will help them feel like they are doing something brave and dangerous. n
I've noticed this for a few days – on the internet chat forums, ever since more violent activities began to occur, the amount of interest in the OWS groups has diminished. n nAnd now with that mention, I'm sure to see a whole new round of postings!
"ever since more violent activities began to occur, the amount of interest in the OWS groups has diminished" n nThe media will go all out to make the former Marine (law breaker) the posterboy for the movement because it has watched its public image turn off Middle America. It will be interesting to see how the American public takes it. Will they see the police action as an effort to restore law and order? Or, will they see it as the authorities running amok? Will the media be able to shape the narrative? Will it be able to keep the view shallow? Will average Americans look beyond the surface and question whether or not civil disobedience for the types of groups represented in the OWS protests believe violence is a legitimate tool of "change"? n nWill average Americans ask themselves how the media would be covering this if the Tea Party had decided to use "civil disobedience" to get what it wanted and fought the police when the authorities tried to shut it down?
Soon police will end this nonsense and these children and lowlifes can go back to being social parasites in a less destructive way. Citizens are the casualty in all this in the form of wasted tax dollars, inability to use city/public property and in some areas businesses and traffic are being blocked off. Most areas are indeed dwindling in numbers since they cracked skull incident because OMG they realize its real and the police arent playing games with a bunch of hippie wannabes. Many seem to think they are V from V for vendetta and act like this is a big game but soon authorities will tire and call in the troops whether police, tactical or national guard.