This will be a disjointed column. So much happened in the last week with OWS, it was hard to keep up with it.
We all knew it would only be a matter of time before they got the heave-ho from Zucchini Park. But now, it may be time to declare victory and take their show on the road, specifically to their hometowns and to their elected representatives' home offices.
Unfortunately, they should have done it before Monday night's Goon Squad raid.
Zucchini turned absurd. The idea of a leaderless, human microphone, hand gesturing, drum circling, “general assembly” movement might very well have eventually alienated the 99% they claim to represent. They started looking more and more like a bunch of idiots. And then it turned into Lord of the Flies.
In fact, people I talked to on the street, while agreeing with the protest felt the same way.
On Brian Lehrer's show on WNYC, a guy named Brendan called in. He said he was the “de-escalation” guy at the park. Even he thought the movement had worn out it's welcome; that the message was being lost.
Thursday night, after the “Day of Action,” NY1 showed clips of interviews with people, not only of those who expressed unequivocal support OWS, but those who did support it and think it's time to wrap it up. One woman said it's now staring to seem, “selfish.”
One phone caller complained, regarding the attempted shut down of Wall Street, that they were disrupting the lives of the 99% who have to go to work. This was a guy who supports the protest.
They're queering their own deal.
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They had to know they wouldn't be allowed to stay there forever. It was either stupidity, hubris or naivete they hadn't planned for a raid. They had victory in their hands. I see it as bank robbers who have to pull off one last job, even though they have enough money. They get greedy and have a false sense of invincibility. I think that's what happened in Zuccotti. They came to have a false sense of invincibility.
As I wrote in my Bloomberg Blinks column last month when the “planned” eviction didn't happen:
“Another scenario is this was a dry run just to see what the protesters would do. It seems odd that the City would warn them and give them an eviction deadline. My theory is that when and if they decide to roust them, there will be no warning. They'll swoop down in the middle of the night with their Black Mariah's and invade the park and sweep everyone up. No chance to respond, at least in an organized way.
No matter. Herr Bloomberg's raid accomplished three things. One, it successfully removed the thorn from Bloomberg's paw. Two, it ruined any chance of the movement to be able to declare victory. Three, and this is most important, it showed Bloomberg for the fascist thug he is with no respect for the First Amendment. Ray Kelly also shares this honor.
Keith Olberman, in a brutal and very on the money indictment of Bloomberg said the mayor had taken a protest that was getting kind of “stale around the edges,” and breathed new life into it. Whether he was right, only time will tell. But even the blustery, partisan Olberman understood the staleness.
For all intents and purposes, The “occupation,” at least in NYC, is done. Bloomberg/Kelly tried all kinds of things to demoralize the group. For the last few weeks cops directed every ex-con, drug dealer, sex offender and deadbeat to the park to create trouble. Then they sat back, did nothing and giggled. They allowed the park to degenerate into a chaotic mess and when that didn't work, they went old school.
They locked down the area and kept journalists away so they couldn't view the action. The ones who wouldn't submit to this incredible assault on the First Amendment were arrested. Bloomberg and Ray Kelly lamely justified it saying it was for their own “safety.”
And the protesters were also involved in attacks on journalists. Lindsey Crist of NY1 talked about trying to cover the eviction and being attacked by protesters who tried to smash their cameras.
They started becoming paranoid, seeing everyone as their enemy. Despite all outward appearances, they became a group that felt under siege rather than being in control.
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Tuesday night, after protesters were allowed back in I decided to check out the scene. I met up with my friend Ethel, who was inside the park. While I was talking to her through the barricade and between two cops, I said to the cops, “It must suck being you.” The younger boy cop sort of rolled his eyes and half-smiled. The older female cop said, very angrily, “Hey, I'm getting paid good money to be here. I don't care.” Her comment reminded me of the quote from old railroad baron Jay Gould who said, “I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half.”
Ethel called me a traitor because I wasn't coming inside the park. So, I looked for a way in. When I found it, the cops were not allowing bags or backpacks into the park. I felt like I was trying to get into a concert. When I was let in by a cop I asked, “What time does the band go on?” He looked at me kind of confused. As it turned out I was not walking into a concert, but a circus.
The cops were now doormen for the protest. Think about it. [Update: Now it's Brookfield's private security force manning the park.]
When I found Ethel, she was in a conversation with an older woman who was talking about the “energy” that the protest was generating. I suggested that was all fine but shouldn't that energy result in some concrete results? Apparently not. Then the “general assembly” started with those cult-like chants.
The whole scene was beginning to get on my nerves. As much as I appreciate the idea of getting over on The Man by using that “human microphone” thing to get around no amplified devices, it reeked of cult.
In the short time I was inside of the newly cleansed park, I was making smart ass comments. Ethel said I should just leave if I was going to make those remarks. So, I did. You're not allowed to point out absurdity, even in something you agree with. It all seemed so lame. It was a protest I thought was useless at first, then I changed my mind. Now, I feel they're blowing it.
The idea is now in the public consciousness. The message has been delivered. Now what?
The flagship store has been demolished.
Thursday's protest at Foley Square attracted tens of thousands of people. It was very successful as protests go. Will this be the revitalization of the movement or is it the last gasp?
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