Are the Wingnuts Wrong to Dump Lugar?

May 6, 2012 by 2 Comments

Daily Kos’s David Jarman and others are pleased that Senator Richard Lugar appears about to lose his primary to wingnut Richard Mourdock. They point out that this might not be simply one Dick replacing another: while polls show Lugar easily beating likely Democratic nominee Joe Donnelly in the general election, Mourdock v. Donnelly is a toss-up. Mourdock could wind up handing a solidly Republican seat to the Dems.

It’s hard for me to feel the wingnuts are making a mistake to dump Lugar. I would love to see the Occupy movement run candidates that would give us a chance to make similar choices: dump sure-winning corporatist Dems in favor of true progressives who, though they might lose to Republicans, would, if they won, represent the interests of the 99%.

 

Official photo of Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN).

Official photo of Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

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Tuesday Night Photo – Occupy Bryant Park

May 1, 2012 by 2 Comments

This is from the ThinkProgress selection of photos posted here.

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Minneapolis Police Attack Photographers

April 11, 2012 by 2 Comments

Here’s video of the Minneapolis Police attacking photojournalist Chad Nelson on Saturday, April 7th, as he was documenting the arrest of Occupy activists.

I have two quick questions:
1. Where are the conservatives concerned about freedom when the government actually (literally) shuts down citizen protest?
2. What’s happening when there aren’t any cameras around?

SEE ALSO
Occupy Wall Street Analysis: The Impact of Police Brutality: OWS and the Arab Spring
Animal My Soul: MAKING TIME FOR OCCUPY

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iJustice: What to Do About Tech Company Problems and Profits

April 4, 2012 by Leave a comment

When This American Life retracted its recent episode concerning poor working conditions in factories making Chinese products, I was worried that this would mean a larger dismissal of concerns when it comes to tech companies, including Apple, using cheap and exploited labor.

The issue may remain in the news, though, given the even more recent audit of the Foxconn factory which has helped Apple generate such awesome profit margin.

Assessors found cases of employees working longer hours and more days in a row than allowed by FLA standards and Chinese law. They uncovered inconsistent health and safety policies and instances of unfair pay for overtime work.

It’s hard for me not to connect this news to the other big splash that Apple made of late — its nearly one hundred billion dollar pile o’ cash.

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KTVU Konservative

January 25, 2012 by 1 Comment

At the gym on Monday, I saw the TV station KTVU put up a graphic stating how much money the Occupy movement has cost Oakland thus far. It’s true that Oakland has little money to spare, but did they need to respond to citizen marches with a massive police presence? And where’s the KTVU graphic about how much money municipalities spend to serve and protect the private banking industry? Surely they could hire their own security, build their own roads, and repay the state for the education that their employees received over the years?

When I got home, I looked it up, and KTVU is the San Francisco Bay Area Fox affiliate. That’s what’s known as an “ah-ha” moment.

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The Origins of Occupy

January 24, 2012 by Leave a comment

I was not aware of the Occupy Wall Street in its earliest days, so it was helpful to me that both The New Yorker and Harper’s have run articles in the last couple months on Occupy’s origins.
Occupy Wall Street, Zuccotti Park
In November, Mattathias Schwartz wrote “Pre-Occupied: The origins and future of Occupy Wall Street,” which focuses on Kalle Lasn, the 69-year-old co-founder of Adbusters.

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Oakland Police Disciplined

January 12, 2012 by Leave a comment

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Oakland police officer John Hargraves has been suspended for 30 days because he illegally covered up the name on his uniform during police action against the Occupy activists last November. Lt. Clifford Wong was busted down to sergeant for failing to report on this illegal activity.

Two quick thoughts:
1. Why are police allowed to keep their jobs after committing crimes and cover-ups? Where are the supposed law-and-order zealots now?

2. This was only reported because it was caught on video tape. What is going on when there aren’t cameras?

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Crackdown on Domestic Dissent, Part 5

January 6, 2012 by 2 Comments

Lest we let the traditional media convince us that the Occupy Movement is dead and gone, In These Times notices how most of us are quite content to allow the police force to be used in order to quiet dissent. I can’t reconcile the supposed distaste that the public has for government with our willingness to let that government drag people away for expressing their opinions in public.

A little bit more after the jump

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Maddow interviews Occupy Finance Guy

December 23, 2011 by Leave a comment

Rachel Maddow interviews Carne Ross about alternative financial structures and the Occupy Wall Street movement. If you don’t have ten minutes for them to break down the situation, just sleep easier knowing that there are super smart people involved in Occupy Wall Street. Even if much of the traditional media doesn’t seem to know how to find them.

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I’m with Matt Damon

December 22, 2011 by 2 Comments

The Huffington Post had an article yesterday on Matt Damon’s frustration with Barack Obama. I’m not against celebrity involvement in politics because I think it’s silly and potentially dangerous to think that the huge money and huge influence of entertainment is somehow apolitical. But most stars aren’t this articulate:

Referring to the Occupy Wall Street movement, Damon continued: “If the Democrats think that they didn’t have a mandate — people are literally without any focus or leadership, just wandering out into the streets to yell right now because they are so pissed off … Imagine if they had a leader.”

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Showing Up

December 19, 2011 by Leave a comment

Todd’s first guest post:

Matthew Yglesias (not our Matthew here at Polentical) clumsily overstates things by accusing the 99% of not showing up for life, but we shouldn’t let that insult, or the ways the system discourages full participation, or anything else make us ignore his good point.

The Occupy movement is demonstrating how to change the political discourse by showing up. Showing up at the ballot box can cause further change. Even in 2008, when turnout was higher than it had been in nearly 50 years, more eligible voters stayed home than voted for the winning presidential candidate, Mr. “Yes We Can.”

If those 77 million or more citizens who didn’t feel either major party represented them had voted, we might now have more than two major parties.

Let’s hope they vote this time. The 1% will.

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Goldman Sachs Target of Occupy Protests at Ports

December 12, 2011 by Leave a comment

Kudos to Bloomberg for actually recognizing that the Occupy Protestors have specific targets. The article mostly focuses on the split between activists who want to target Goldman Sachs’ business and workers who don’t want to miss a paycheck. That is, of course, the Capitalist Bind, one that pits activist vs. worker even though the two have similar needs and goals. It’s a system which makes it extraordinarily difficult to protest, and part of the clumsiness of the Occupy movement is an attempt to find what might be effective.

Bloomberg: Goldman Sachs Top Target of Occupy Protests at West Coast Ports

Occupy Protest

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