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I had to say this. I had to. I cannot stand seeing ignorant boneheads misled by cretinous drivel from pimped-out city officials who think sadism toward taxpaying citizens is lawful and okay.
Below is my comment on the supposedly liberal LA Weekly. Now mind you–the Weekly turns out some great stories, there are some sharp knives in that toolbox–however, it also doesn’t follow up. No follow-up on the billboard issue, which supposedly was to have been discussed by the City Council (and was on the agenda) for October 18th…but then I could find no information about it, and the Weekly, which had alterted me to that meeting, said and did nothing to report on what was said. (I’m sure they gave the green light for the billboards because they really haven’t given a fig whether Angelenos actually want more construction in a dangerous, dirty and chaotically-crammed downtown.)
Anyway, the story is about how much Occupy L.A. supposedly cost taxpayers. (Seventeen million)
How much did it cost taxpayers to clean up the REAL mess after Occupy L.A.? Rembember? Remember, rembember, the first day of December…when the Santa Anas stormed and the trees were dismembered…all across the Southland the wires were flailing, the smog was sailing, the palm trees were hailing the sidewalks with fronds and the water was blowing right out of the ponds;
Doesn’t anyone remember the WINDS that came right after Occupy LA and busted out this entire wasteland from the desert wash to the mountain peaks? Doesn’t anyone remember the meteorologists saying they haven’t seen winds like this in over ten years? Let’s hear about how much THAT mess cost taxpayers!
Or how about how much US taxpayers have paid for the failing levee system that caused Katrina! (I just watched Harry Shearer’s movie on it.)
But where is the outrage?
The right to protest is the most American of rights and the show of domination, humiliation and force is deeply disturbing. And if you think it isn’t, maybe you should turn off all that gun and explosion-porn on TV that tells you what you’re supposed to think is normal.
Here’s my comment…wonder if they’ll erase it. Anyone who supports the Occupy movement, please feel free to visit the LA Weekly and show some support for it..because these are public pages and people read them. STAND UP FOR YOUR PEOPLE.
Link to story and comment is here.
Wow, what a bunch of jackasses. Merry Christmas! How many homeless and mentally ill people did the LAPD and Sheriffs bring down to the Occupy site—where the people were fed and sheltered? How many meals did they feed people for free? How much does the city owe the Occupiers for providing these social services? How much does the city owe the Occupiers for smashing apart their library (How many books were in it? Two thousand?)
You know personally? I can’t understand where’s the coverage of the fact that the protesters are actually suing the city–as they SHOULD–for the city’s unlawful detainment of them, sometimes in solitary for days, on misdemeanor charges!!
Or how about the city’s questionable representation of taxpayers who might like to see less than 200 MILLION DOLLARS lost to fraud in two years (As the Controller reported)! Or how about if the taxpayers would like to see our money not held by the very banks the city is suing for fraud? Where are the representatives of the people to speak up against this?
They were at City Hall–where they belong!! Every night! Serving food for the hungry and GIVING PEOPLE A FORUM TO SPEAK about civic issues. They ought to get a medal! Teachers ought to be bringing their kids down NIGHTLY to see what real civics in action looks like.
And for this 80-year-old women get bound in zip-ties, left on buses and told to stay their old asses home.
This is what this city has sunk to—and yet the taxpayers are expected to put up with (as the Weekly’s reported) a glaring feild of electronic billboards blazing at the 10/110 interchange; the construction and insane cramming of a NFL *used 8 times yearly* stadium that oh, isn’t supposed to cost the taxpayers anything….just whatever it will cost to mop up all the dead bodies from the accidents on the freeway interchange, right?
Thank GOD for Occupy LA. I feel represented for the first time in ..well, maybe ever! Because I know I won’t get ignored (like when I write or call representatives now)if I’ve got something to say; because I know people will talk about the stuff they won’t talk about on the Teevee or apparently even here at the Weekly; dear god has the entire world gone completely f’in bonkers that they really think it’s OK for the banks to steal from us (as they are ….29T says Ford Found study..?!!!) and the protesters are the criminals because they did what it took to get the word out—camp?! What were they supposed to do?
You know how long people have been protesting? Since 2003 when millions of them got into the streets over the Iraq war. They’ve been protesting, wrighting books, speaking on radio, being kicked off the TV (a la Donohue) and NOTHING WORKS. So all of you jackasses who think protesting is something you should do without any kind of civil push-back (nonviolent resistance like refusing to move) —what are you, high? Too much of California’s finest? Someone had to do something to get attention! Occupy is doing it! And I can’t thank them enough.
Update:
The L.A. Times is holding a caning ceremony for Occupy L.A. over here, too.
4 Comments
Heh, nice rant Cindi,
1000 words give or take + links, and it sounded like ya didn’t take a breath and were ready to keep on goin’. It’s OK to be angry these days……..it is indicative of sanity.
Recc’d
The LA Times propaganda worked well, though it’s no big surprise. As Eric Hoffer said, ““Propaganda does not deceive people; it merely helps them to deceive themselves.”
I made the mistake of reading deep into the comment thread; I shouldn’t have done that. Should.Not.Have.
Best thing here is your idea that teachers should be bringing their students down ‘to see what real civics in action looks like’. But then I’m finding myself lamenting the fact that most schools want to churn out complacent, incurious, cooperative drones who will know their places in the system that will profit from their labor, but never truly value them or their contributions to society.
And worse, if the kids somehow manage to escape their psychic cages and attempt to wrest back our democracy from tyrannical despots, they will find that all they learned in civics class is now…a lie.
Sorry. I’ve been reading at Emptywheel’s for the past couple hours, and seeing the vast evidence of the Obama administration’s power grabs and vaporization of our Constitution has made me a mite bitter. And depressed.
So depressed that on this Christmas Eve Day, I forgot to be thankful for the Millenials who decided to call the MOTU’s bluffs, and sparked a movement that won’t be slain, just because now is the time to win.
Soon circumstances will become so dire that even some of the assholes on that thread may be forced to choose who, and what…to serve; some may surprise themselves when suffering focuses their thinking more clearly. ;o)
You said “drones” ….
You’ve got to be careful with that Empty Wheel stuff, it will really harsh your buzz.
I got into a rip-roaring argument with a colleague yesterday that shocked the starch out of me for at least a few hours. No idea he thought like that. Argument was about a headline story I wrote up about a US citizen who was Christmas shopping with his family, Latino, checks out but forgets to pay for perfume, says he’ll pay for it, no we think you’re illegal, he gets packed off to Men’s Central Jail downtown, the Twin Towers hellhole where you get to sleep on concrete floors courtesy of the taxpayer. Two days they hold him until a judge orders him released, waives fine. Says his daughter cries every day.
So the judge orders him out, but the Sheriffs keep him. One day, two days, then three days. Looks like they’re never going to let him out. Finally the ACLU sends his birth certificate and SS card copy to the Sheriff’s department and they release him the next morning.
My colleague (older guy in his 60′s) goes “Yeah where I come from they call that SHOPLIFTING~!” And, another colleague comes along and starts harping that the guy brought it on himself.
Older colleague says “yeah he just forgot to pay for the most expensive item in the bag, the perfume!”
I’m like, dude he was at WAL-MART! They don’t sell expensive perfume at WalMart! You want to steal something expensive, it’s electronics, computers, jewelry *maybe*! He had a whole bunch of other stuff! He checked out and paid for it! He had his whole family with him and they terrorized this guy’s family and he’s a citizen!
“Well it’s still called Shoplifting!” Holy mother of F!
!!!
And this is right in front of people in our Spanish bureau..he’s talking like they aren’t even there. Really rude.
And he walks off going, “yeah well the Mayor has parades for them.” And I was like, did he really say that? Did he say what I just thought he said? Hello? And he walked away and I considered going after him and going…what do you MEAN by that? But I decided not to..
Much like I will now decide not to peek curiously into the comments on that site.
I hear there are more positive comments on the Weekly site, someone must have posted some response there. But the LA Times site, the comments are scary..I think, “these are the people in my town, wow.”
It’s to remember that hate is taught, unless it’s a response to fear, either of which can be changed by the owner of the hatred.
Perceiving whole swathes of people as ‘The Other’ is sorta the same as people who perceive the planet as ‘Other’. No felt connection means either disregard or contempt so often that it’s painful to witness.
I’m sorry that you needed to witness all that; but it’s one good thing we *can* do; stand as witnesses, which is why it’s good to read at Emptywheel’s place and check into war, Empire and assassination by drones if a person can. And I can. So I do, and try to back away when I feel the abyss looking back at me.
Then it’s time to look for perspective, especially outside, though in LA, it must be harder. Too much light pollution to see the Milky Way; maybe the moon? Or go down to the end of the Colorado River canals?
Rest and enjoy the holidays a little, Cindi Burkey. And when ya dream tonight, smack that asshole around a li’l bit if ya get a chance. ;o)
p.s. Arizona has boatloads of that stuff happening.