Category Archives: Politics

Law On the Ground

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Michael Froomkin

Earlier today, a New York judge entered an injunction allowing the Occupy Wall Street protestors to re-occupy Zucotti Park. (That injunction was later overturned. No doubt further appeals are likely, although I’m not optimistic about their chances.)

During the period in which the injunction against the police action was in force, some protestors attempted to re-enter the park. Despite the court order, the NYPD did not allow it.

See NYPD Assaults Man & Punches Woman in Face at OWS / Liberty Plaza for their reaction:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxR8VHFvsl8

There is law on the books, and there is law on the ground. I doubt any of the police will be reprimanded in any meaningful way; more likely they will be (privately) congratulated.

(I think in the long run, this is more likely to feed the OWS movement than to harm it. They may now have to shift tactics to something that doesn’t involve standing in the cold 24/7.)

Posted in 99%, Law: Everything Else | 1 Comment

Putting the Boot into Occupy Wall Street (UPDATED)

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Michael Froomkin

Mayor Bloomberg has failed to transcend his origins: he sent the cops in to empty Zucotti Park.

UPDATE: There appears to have been substantial coordination between mayors in many (15?) cities, officially under the auspices of the National Conference of Mayors, but with major support by Homeland Security and perhaps the FBI. See Oh. Homeland security AND the FBI for some details.

Digby summarizes the clearing of Zucotti Park for us:

Watching it unfold has had the same surreal feel as watching the early days of Tahrir Square. As big as the story of the clearing of the park is, one of the interesting side stories is also that all the major news networks, cable and otherwise, were silent. They were showing no live video from New York. Only Raw Story had a live stream, still ongoing as of this writing. And as with Egypt, by far the best way to learn about events happening on the ground was via Twitter.

Per various twitter reports:

  • Protesters were told to take their belongings and leave. Any belongings not immediately carried out by protesters were then tossed unceremoniously into a massive pile on the street and loaded into dumpsters. This included the tents, the entire 5,000 book OWS library, and the bike generators.

  • Most subways and trains into downtown were blocked, including with cops at entrances

  • The Brooklyn Bridge was shut down until 6am

  • All media and press were not allowed within a block of Zucotti Park

  • Airspace over Zucotti was blocked by police helicopters and legally blocked to prevent any media coverage

  • Journalists gathered together to attempt to gain access were denied. According to one report, one cop tore a press credential off a journalist, while another responded to a journalist’s claim to be press by saying, “not tonight.”

  • One New York Times journalist reported arrested, and city councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez reportedly arrested and bleeding from the head

  • Multiple individuals injured, bleeding, including one carried out on a stretcher

  • Doormen locking buildings around Zucotti to prevent residents from exiting to witness events

  • Counter-terrorism police units on scene

Oakland’s protestors got the boot too.

The strategy of force will fail.

Posted in 99% | 4 Comments

Weather Vane Romney

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Michael Froomkin

Team Obama is lucky that their attacks on Romney are being, in effect, outsourced to Jon Huntsman, who recently dubbed Romney the “perfectly lubricated weathervane.”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GShp7GuGzw

Posted in 2012 Election | Comments Off on Weather Vane Romney

DNC Romney Hit Ad

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Michael Froomkin

This video is aimed at Arizona, but it should work in Florida too. And elsewhere.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_StbXsU34Os

A new poll shows Obama leading Romney in Arizona by 5% although both are well under 50%. Looks like Arizona of all places may be on the Obama target list.

Posted in 2012 Election | 3 Comments

Thought for the Day: August 3, 2011

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Michael Froomkin

Even if 92% of Newt Gingrich’s Twitter Followers Are Fake that still means that more than 100,000 putatively real people actually follow him on Twitter.

Posted in 2012 Election | 2 Comments

Shorter Obama Press Conference

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Michael Froomkin

“I tried repeatedly to surrender to the House GOP, but they wouldn’t take even my most abject surrender. I have summoned them back to the White House tomorrow morning in another attempt to force them to accept it. If worst comes to worst, and they will not accept my surrender, I am prepared to accept theirs, but I really don’t like it, and will use the opportunity to campaign against Democratic values in the next election.”

Posted in 2012 Election, Econ & Money | 15 Comments