Stop the presses! Alert the media!
LOS ANGELES - “Los Angeles police used nearly a dozen undercover detectives to infiltrate the Occupy LA encampment before this week's raid to gather information on the anti-Wall Street protesters' intentions, according to media reports Friday.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57336143/lapd-went-undercover-at-occupy-la/
Only one follow up question. Does a bear shit in the forest? The only thing surprising about this revelation is that the assumption is that we had no idea they were “infiltrating” the encampment. There were lots of people doing the same thing, many of them faux occupiers who didn't actually occupy anything, but showed up at meetings to interrupt, distract, and instigate whenever possible. Such is the nature of an open forum where all people are treated as equals.
So that openness became a liability in the sense that cops, provocateurs, saboteurs, right-wing nuts, and even some criminal representatives of some existing entities or agencies were offered an invitation to participate in the formulation of policy, or to interfere with it. But that is the nature of politics in America. Nothing is taboo in the quest for votes because these political interests will do just about anything to preserve their status and power.
The same goes for any number of groups competing for public attention and contributions, and of course, the membership of the Central City Association. They have the same objectives and were represented by several suspects who repeatedly interfered with processes intended to organize the group or articulate the message. What a surprise.
Nor is the reaction by the city to the lobbyists like CCA that functions, for the most part, behind closed doors using implied threats of litigation or political consequences, pressuring elected officials to bow to their wishes. The same types often write the legislation that is passed in Washington and have proven that they can bottle up anything that isn't consistent with their agenda. The public is rarely a part of this process.
None of these groups or lobbyists have ever been elected to anything, so when we see electronics go missing, power cords cut, routers disabled by those who claim to represent the group, “spokespeople” making inane statements to the press, and the waste or destruction of resources, we also learn a lesson about the current state of politics in America. Anything goes.
Hopefully we will have opportunities to do some doxing in the future, but none of the undercover cops, infiltrators or others with hidden agendas, ever used anything but a contrived handle like “B” or “M” or “J” or "Huckleberry" or some other goofy handle. And undercover cops still look like undercover cops.
So we will continue to focus on facts, data, reliable reports and hopefully the prosecutions that Treasury Secretary Geithner have promised are forthcoming. We'll watch these people with a jaundiced eye and continue to follow Mayor Villaraigosa's advice about spreading the message of socio-economic inequality instead of trying to act surprised when we read about “infiltrators” from the opposition.
This is an example of what the opposition would like to suppress. For that reason the Occupation Movement has become a media problem:
“The top 1% have pulled far ahead of middle-income Californians. Over the last two decades, the average income of the top 1% of Californians increased by 50%, after adjusting for inflation, while the average income of the middle fifth fell by 15%. In 2009, the average income of the top 1% was $1.2 million — more than 30 times that of Californians in the middle fifth.”
Or this on Rich v. Poor statistics:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/10/income-inequality-america
More criticism below, but the arguments and policy statement suggestions made by pundits are often more useful than reading media team e-mails. Here's an example:
“Dear Occupy Wall Street: We get it — you're mad as hell and you're not going to take it anymore. You wanted change, it hasn't come and now you're demanding it. But the thing is, you haven't been all that clear about what changes you'd like to see, and that makes it less likely you'll produce any. So we've decided to write your manifesto.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-manifesto-20111204,0,463446.story
It should be noted that the Los Angeles Times has exhibited a much more balanced approach to reporting on Occupy Los Angeles affairs recently. While the public relations battle has been difficult due to the number of issues we've been confronted with, all we ask from the mainstream media is fair, balanced and accurate reporting. The saga of the Occupation Movement continues to be a work in progress, messy and hazardous, but the effort here has been to report accurately and in a forthright, transparent manner. If the public is deceived, the source, the origin of that deception will not be the members of those that produce or contribute to this website.
Here's another quality video from raid:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-12-03/police-occupy-LA/51606342/1
And another that serves as a reminder of where the movement became not too long ago:
The message:
Recent comments