It was only a matter of time before a coordinated police crackdown was imposed to end the Occupy encampments. Law enforcement officials and policy-makers in America know full well that serious protests — and more — are inevitable given the economic tumult and suffering the U.S. has seen over the last three years (and will continue to see for the foreseeable future). A country cannot radically reduce quality-of-life expectations, devote itself to the interests of its super-rich, and all but eliminate its middle class without triggering sustained citizen fury.
– Glenn Greenwald, from OWS Inspired Activism, in Salon.com.
I think Greenwald is right — the Occupy Movement isn’t going away so long as the economic injustices underlying it exist and are fueling it.
The other thing I’m wondering about this morning is who coordinated the raids on the Occupy sites in several cities. An interesting take on that can be found here.
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I heard that the Department of Homeland Security was involved but I can’t confirm that.
That would make sense of some things, Alan. Like why Democratic and even Progressive mayors are going along with these evictions. After all, we have a Democratic administration.
Why would that make any difference? The assumption that Democrats favor human rights and economic fairness, if it was ever really valid, should have been corrected at least a decade ago. It wasn’t Republicans who let the Stupak Amendment pass, let personal bankruptcy be “reformed”, let the Glass-Steagall (sp?) lapse, or many of the other changes that have made both human rights and economic justice punchlines today. All of those got an assist, if not the enthusiastic backing, of Democrats.
Progressives need to embrace this idea, and let it become the thought behind any dealings they have with the Democratic Party. It’s as corrupt and feckless as the Republicans. It’s just a little less proud of that fact.
I think you misunderstood me, Cujo. I meant to imply that it could have been the administration coordinating the evictions because they (as Democrats) were able to get other Democrats (a few of the mayors) to go along with them. On the other hand I was not assuming that Democrats favor human rights and economic fairness. Sorry for not making my point clearer.