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The first mic check happens just after the 00:35:00 mark; the next one is just after 01:11:00.
So those crazy kids at the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco thought it would be a nifty idea to hold one of their “inforum” panel discussions tonight on “Occupy: What Now, What Next.”
Panelists included:
Iris Brown, Organizer, Occupy Oakland
Nadim Haidar, Nonviolent Direct-Action Trainer; Travelling Occupier, Denver, Boulder, Santa Fe, Oakland
George Lakoff, Cognitive Linguist & Professor, UC Berkeley
Jean Quan, Mayor, Oakland
Melissa Griffin, Columnist, San Francisco Examiner; Co-Host, Necessary Conversations- Moderator
The notion that Mayor Quan – whose contributions to the Occupy movement to date have included at least $5 million worth of damage and destruction to people and property – should be on a panel discussing the past, present and future of the Occupy movement was not just offensive but patently ridiculous. Also ridiculous was any expectation that the event would proceed as the organizers planned. The audience of what appeared to be mostly Oakland and SF occupiers was relatively subdued for the first 30 minutes or so, given that Quan used her time to spew her same old, same old litany of lies and revisionist history about OO. Ali, one of the OO facilitators, stood silently with his back turned to Quan every time she spoke. Quan’s remarks about OO’s refusal to take a vow of non-violence and her suggestion that OO should be split into two groups proved too much for the crowd. Another facilitator, Sara, joined Ali and mic checked Quan. They were eventually led out of the room; while the Commonwealth Club wanted to pretend they were having an Occupy General Assembly-type event, they weren’t willing to be quite that democratic.
Many of us had our doubts about having occupiers on such a panel, but Iris, Nadim, and Diana (not listed above; she is from Occupy SF) were excellent. George Lakoff suggested that we occupy the Democratic Party and tried to defend capitalism. He and Quan looked like two dinosaurs flailing about in the tar pits, about to be swallowed up by history.
The final question the panel was asked was “What is your 60-second idea to change the world?” I will leave you with Nadim’s answer: “The best thing we could do is to dismantle all forms of illegitimate authority: authority based on violence, authority based on unjustified premises, and to do it out of love, not out of revenge.”
23 Comments
Approximately three hours after the Commonwealth Club event – at 11 PM – OPD has decided to confiscate the Aquapy raft from Lake Merritt. And to threaten those who have been vigiling at Oscar Grant Plaza with citations, something I don’t think has happened before. I’m sure this is all just a coincidence.
There’s a lot of value in seeing Quan and Lakoff indisputably on the record as not getting it just like Lindsay Graham as seen and heard today as really not getting it.
Will have to watch this later, got to get ready for work. Thanks for putting it up, hotflashcarol! My best to you and Occupy Oakland.
Thanks, Carol. Keep the reports coming.
Thanks everybody. Mzchief, that is a deep thought from Lindsey Graham.
I wouldn’t badmouth the Commonwealth Club. As far as I can tell, it is the best democratic forum left in the US. We’re not talking about the Council on Foreign Relations here. If it is so bad, and they are such “crazy kids,” why not call out Iris Brown for participating? Surely she knew Quan would be there? Was she a fool for participating in an “offensive and patently ridiculous” forum? How about Haidir? That seems to be direct implication of what you are saying. But you skate around that little problem with your thesis. Furthermore, when Occupiers are given seats at the table, I don’t see the point in disrupting the session. That was what was ridiculous.
There is nothing wrong with having panels with people who disagree. If we can’t talk to our opponents, then what is left? Violence? Or is it supposed to be just non-violence without discussion?
And one last thing about the Commonwealth Club. Firedoglake is no place to judge the Commonwealth Club. The Commonwealth Club has had the balls to invite David Ray Griffin to come and talk, somebody who argues quite persuasively that the official story of 9/11 is 99% myth. I’d like to see the day when FDL has the balls to do that. Oh that’s right, let’s look forward not back. And just keep calling Republicans names.
Appreciate this report. Can’t get over the surrealism of someone from Occupy Oakland participating in a forum at the Commonwealth Club. Of course, Lakoff was up to his usual divisive strategy of cooption, just like he was during the November 2009 Wheeler Hall occupation at UC Berkeley. His primary purpose is to try to encourage people to engage in innocuous, non-threatening forms of protest so that they can be easily suppressed.
Eblair, I happen to agree with some of what you are saying. I am not badmouthing the Commonwealth Club in general, just this particular decision to put together a panel entitled “Occupy: What Now, What Next” and invite Mayor Quan. Her behavior towards Occupy Oakland has been nothing short of reprehensible. She presided over arguably the most egregious incidents of police brutality in the movement, in which Scott Olsen was critically injured and many others were badly hurt. She has never taken a molecule of responsibility or given anything resembling a sincere apology. She has misspent millions and millions of dollars enforcing no camping laws in a city where we are closing schools and two toddlers (and 100 others) have been killed by gunfire just this year. To expect the recipients of her brutality to sit calmly by while she is given yet another forum in which to repeat her lies is just crazy. Many of us at OO did not want anyone to participate on the panel but ultimately felt that people could do whatever they wanted as individuals. Before the event, I did think that Iris (who I do not know) was foolish and many of us did in fact call Iris out for attending. It turned out that the occupiers were quite articulate and persuasive and Quan was her usual imperious self. She thinks she has some authority over us; she doesn’t. We no longer allow politicians to have elevated status – especially those who have pointed weapons at us.
As for the rest of your comment: you won’t see me calling Republicans names; I don’t have time for that. And I agree that the official story of 9/11 is 99% myth.
I was surprised at just how lame Lakoff was. I had no objection to him being on such a panel, but he mostly seemed irrelevant.
Really well done hfc…..keep the reports coming, Oakland is an epicenter and we all appreciate the inside perspective you provide us. Journalism is dead along with our democracy and your work in these spaces is more important than you may know.
Thanks Robert, this made me start writing again and it’s a wonderful outlet. How are things in Tucson? I really miss the desert when we are enveloped in the winter gloom here.
Well the best I can tell you is that gloom comes in several forms and it’s weather iteration may be the easiest to overcome.
Tucson Occupy is still standing, we lost a dozen when the Legislative Working Group was formed to “facillitate communication” with the city council and all kinds of lobbying, and power grabs and ego reared their ugly heads. Might have lost me on that one were it not for my FDL liaison committment.
We also have an undercover cop in our midst whose tactics include constant physical intimidation and unending efforts to create strife. Add that stress to the 800 citations of $1,000 – $2,500 that the overnighters have accumulated…… and the inordinate amount of early winter rain we have gotten…….constant harrassment by the Health and Fire Departments……and things could be better. But Occupy Tucson is still standing.
On the upside, I just an hour ago received two boxes of badly needed supplies from FDL’s Occupy Supply and have made the necessary phone calls to assure the presence of the intended recipients at the right time. So morale should take a decided uptick this evening anyway.
Sorry about writing a book, I know you were mostly being polite, but……there ya go.
Stay Strong.
Thanks Robert, I wasn’t just being polite, I am really interested. We lived in Tucson for quite a while and I am really proud of you all for hanging in there. You Stay Strong Too!
Speaking of harassment – we’re on our way down to Oscar Grant Plaza shortly – the cops have begun citing and arresting people using bizarre interpretations of the law. Like if you stand with an umbrella, you have somehow become a de facto structure. As we speak, they are apparently clearing out the interfaith group who vigils there during the day. So now it’s not just the restriction of 6 AM to 10 PM any more; apparently we have absolutely no right to assemble that they won’t undermine. And as I said above, I’m sure this has nothing whatever to do with what happened to Quan last night.
At least Greg was listening when Jean Quan leaked the news about the many Mayors that intended to act in unison. She seems fearful of loosing her authority, and those other Mayors probably wanted her Police Insecurity Force actions to belay their own violent ramp ups.
In Portland the Occupiers coughed up a cop (in reality) who threw a rock when the police brought in the Cavalry. The 99% pushed him to the front of the line and they had to arrest their own cop. (See Occupy Tacoma YouTube 11/27/11).
Bizarre……once you’ve been adjudicated to be a de facto structure do they start assessing you property taxes?
There were three arrests and a bunch of citations yesterday. Their interpretation of the law has transformed throughout the week from it’s OK if you have a neat stack of organized stuff (bins, information table, etc.) to if you sit down with a backpack or an umbrella or you acknowledge that foodstuffs or gear like an ice chest is yours and try to walk away with it, you are subject to citation or arrest. It’s selective enforcement and it’s totally ridiculous. The cops apparently said they are just the messengers and that City Hall is making these calls. Stay tuned, I can’t even begin to predict what might happen next.
Thank you very much for this report, Carol, and also Robert with news from Tucson. On the latter, please do hang in there, Robert – you are making a lot of positive waves as I have learned from my visiting son this week.
With respect to the Commonwealth Club, it must have seemed a good idea at the time, and to those of us not that familiar (I love San Francisco for being my port of entry as a teenager) what the confrontation brings to mind is Al Gore’s speech against Bush’s Doctrine of Pre emptive Strike – oh, how far we have descended from the days of actual, factual, reasoned speechmaking that speech represented!
As an example of that descent, with protest and mike checks the one avenue left, this was a worthy presentation, one that I see as a giant step, even with the violence perpetrators having to face the inevitable music. Let the record stand. Mike checks are now fundamentally necessary, because such counterarguments as Gore’s speech represented have been stifled, by the single party that pretends to be two.
Thank you, Juliania. I think that many of us in the Bay Area are still in shock over just how quickly Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco, our supposed bastions of free speech and progressivism, have turned into violent and repressive police states. We have become mistrustful of even the most democratic institutions because many of them are still turning a tone deaf ear to the Occupy movement. It’s just incomprehensible to me how the Commonwealth Club thought that putting Quan on the panel would be in any way enlightening or informative. I also keep hearing people say that mic checks are rude. Well, the days of decorum are over; we will do whatever it takes to make our voices heard.
Carol, Mr. wendydavis and I are goin’ down to #Occupy Mancos, CO now, lol! (Well…Coldwell Banker, to be more accurate) ;o)
Gettin’ fired up!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvn9hbMOVTI&feature=related
(you did grab my email address, yes?)
Cool, Wendy! I want to hear about it. No, I didn’t grab your email. Perhaps I am too dense to have figured that out. Did you send me that along with the blog the other day?
LOL! Ummm…yes. This time, email me so I’ll know ya got it? And try not to make too much fun of you, though…it will be a tall order.
Can hardly stop laughing…oh shit oh dear…
Glad ya liked my site, though, LOL!
http://wendyedavis.posterous.com/for-carol
Ho Ho Ho!
Ho Ho Ho, this time I got it. And sent you an email. :)
It does beg the question, lol! : What did you get when I asked ‘Did you get it?’…and you sayed “Yes!”
You are a true and grand new probable friend, my dear. ;o)