Live From Wall Street

[Geee]

American Spectator:

What exactly does one wear to a "leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions… [made up of] the 99 percent that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1 percent"? This was my pressing question as I prepared to document the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protest currently besieging downtown New York. Honestly, my greatest fear was looking like a total Narc. My personal style is best described as Bing Crosby updated for the present day. Surely the guy in retro glasses with a closely cropped hairstyle would stand out amongst the throngs of leftist marchers. Ultimately, I settled on a Johnny Cash t-shirt and ratty sneakers. My fandom of the Man in Black is about as close as I come to counterculture.

I also recruited a liberal minded friend to accompany me so I would stand out less and wouldn't be alone if I ran into trouble. I had at least some fear of being arrested. This past weekend, 700 people were jailed as protesters flooded the Brooklyn Bridge. Surely some of them were just observers who got caught up in the mass arrest. I wondered how my modern day crooner shtick would go over as I cooled my heels while eating bologna in the Toombs, New York's downtown detention center.

What brought me out into the streets with the rabble? My first contact with these protesters was on the Internet. Initially, I took to Twitter and zinged them on a superficial level. I made all the obvious quips. They have the time to occupy Wall Street because they lack occupations. They are bringing down corporate greed one blog post at a time from their Apple iPhones using free wifi at McDonald's and Starbucks. If the powerful labor unions they recruited to their cause went on a "general strike," no one would notice because unionists hardly work anyhow.

In a particularly nasty Twitter exchange, an OWS sympathizer called me some unprintable words in retaliation for my unkindness towards the movement. When I remarked that he would not win my heart or mind that way, he retorted that he does not need to win me over. I am an enemy of the revolution because I write for The American Spectator. Touché.

But whether I like their message or not -- and believe me, I despise it -- OWS is a sizeable group of people exercising their rights to free speech. There are perhaps several hundred people who have established an encampment in Zuccotti Park, just off of Wall Street, for the past nineteen days. On days when marches are scheduled, their numbers swell into the thousands. Perhaps I had been overly judgmental of their movement. Perhaps not. Either way, this was a spectacle worth checking out.

As it happens, I decided to venture downtown on the day that the ostensibly leaderless OWS movement received a massive influx of support from organized labor. The Transit Workers Union, the United Auto Workers, SEIU, the United Federation of Teachers and other powerful union interests staged a massive march in solidarity with the "occupiers." The irony is inescapable. The TWU, which constantly imperils the finances of New York City through its ridiculous wage and benefit demands, and the UAW, which put the last nail in the coffin of the American auto industry through its contract inflexibility, want to have their say in a protest about the economy. This is like Michael Moore applying to be night watchman at the Hostess Cupcake factory.

[Valin]

 

The Miracle of iCapitalism

Michelle Malkin

10/7/11

 

Here is your high-resolution teachable moment of the week: anti-capitalist, anti-corporate extremists of "Occupy Wall Street" mourning Apple Inc. founder Steve Jobs without a trace of irony.

 

While the Kamp Alinsky Kids ditch school to moan about their massive student debt, parade around in zombie costumes and whine about evil corporations over poached Wi-Fi connections, it's the doers and producers and wealth creators like Jobs who change the world. They are the gifted 1 percent whom the "99 percenters" mob seeks to demonize, marginalize and tax out of existence.

 

Inherent in the American success story of the iMac/iPhone/iPad is a powerful lesson about the fundamentals of capitalism. The "Occupiers" chant "people over profit." They call for "caring" over "corporations."

 

But the pursuit of profits empowers people beyond the bounds of imagination.

(Snip)

[Valin]

But whether I like their message or not -- and believe me, I despise it -- OWS is a sizeable group of people exercising their rights to free speech.

 

Question: Am I still allowed to exercise my free speech rights...by making fun of them?