Cops
Mar 24, 2010 at 12:04 am
Comments
Please wait...
Comments are closed.
Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.
More In Cops
Editors' Picks
Popular Articles
is a proud member of the
media network
media network
All contents © Index Newspapers LLC
PO Box 86208, Portland, OR 97286
PO Box 86208, Portland, OR 97286
#getoffmylawn
On the upside, "Propositions, Pontifications and Vague Strategizing" sounds like a good title for a compilation album of major label artists covering songs written by anarchist bands.
Today, though, it seems police have changed tactics and now plant agents in would-be radical groups to act as idiots. The effect is the same as if such were indeed the case. Idiots in black make asses of themselves, and right-wing blowhards fill the comment pages with blanket denunciations of progressive values, based on the adolescent numbskullery of children in "radical anarchist" costumes/uniforms.
It's *good* that these kids want to make the police accountable to the public. It's *stupid* of them to give in to provocations shown in the above video. Every time things get rough at marches/rallies/demos, some twit has played right into the hands of a bully with a badge who kept needling him (and yes, it's usually "him") until he pushed back in some way. Then the "violent subversive" story gives the pigs all the cover they need to do whatever they want. And if they go "too far?" We already know what kind of consequences are in store for them.
Could "adds to the image of the man as someone grappling with mental health problems" be more accurately reflected as "adds to the image of the man as someone who was trying to commit suicide?"
Oh, tomorrow night?-i can't go, i gotta go to my mom's in Beaverton. it's my grandma's birthday. yeah, I can't wait to tell her i'm a vegan now. she'll be like, "want some ice cream sweetie?" and i'll be all, "NO Nana, i'm a vegan you facist!"
I didn't know my great Aunt Peg was an anarchist?
Willamette Week guy got kicked out (of a public park) by this crowd. Hilarious.
I think miguelaron has been saying it best.
Fucking white people making me be embarrased for my race. Stop acting like entitled honkies.
At least Jackie would still be alive if they had Tasered him.
I'm not sure why Willamette Week left when asked. Maybe they were menaced or something. He says they identified him as "corporate media." Willamette Week. Hilarious.
"The Revolution Will NOT Be Twittered."
Could've been suicide by cop, it's super hot with soldiers who don't want to go back to Iraq... Sad, but true.
moreso, how are the anarchists going to raise awareness of their campaign when they politely asked all the press to leave?
SPRING BREAK!!! WHOO!!
So these progressive kids are against public lands and a free press? Sounds more like fascism to me.
failure to yield to an emergency vehicle
Yeah, these kids are obviously just bored and out for a good time, as evidenced by the meeting that was so slow and democratic that Sarah, someone who routinely covers several hours long political snoozefests left before anything even happened.
Sounds like my idea of a great time. Totally Spring Break.
Does that draw your ire? Or are you only incensed when corporate property is damaged? "Oh, won't someone think of Starbucks' bottom line!?"
Where is the enthusiastic/charismatic leader who will assist in translating public unrest/dissatisfaction to the heads of our democratic leaders? i can truly see how MLK Jr./H.Milk/etc etc had problems keeping their protests/marches peaceful.
@TruePatriot: Did you watch the same video I did? Because no bike was "crushed" in the video I watched. You seem to be confusing criticizing the protesters with defending the police. It is possible to not agree with both parties in a conflict. The officer on the motorcycle shouldn't have nudged the guy with the bike. The guy with the bike shouldn't have thrown it at the cop. Both are assholes. Ta-Da!
"spring break anarchy woo"
Person A: a cop, a representative of state power, sworn to serve and protect the citizenry, attacks one of those very citizens with a deadly weapon, damaging their property and endangering their life after nipping at their heels for who-knows how long hasn't provoked enough of a reaction
Person B: retaliates in a relatively benign manner, causing zero damage. they are subsequently arrested and charged with multiple crimes. obviously the intent of the provoking officers in the first place.
If you need me to explain further why, in addition to the cop clearly being the provoker and the egregious differences in the use of force, these two individuals should be held to entirely different standards in the first place, let me know.
The 2 people detained were a media videographer (grabbed by the throat just to be ticketed for J walking) & a bicyclist that refused to ride on the crowded sidewalk. One person allegedly throws a bike & the whole protest is painted with a broad brush. This is why the corporate media is not welcome. Oh & the communique was released by a single affinity group that doesn't speak for the whole spokes-council. Granted, they probably should've been clear about what time they wanted press there & in what capacity.
Impromptu spokes-councils are not fun. But what decision making process is? Have you ever watched C-span? I prefer one where what I say actually makes a difference. Unlike representative democracy where some people get to vote for some rich asshole who speaks for everybody. It's certainly not easy when you have disruptors interrupting with random statements or rhetoric. But those 3 people, annoying as they were, do not broadly represent the overall mood of the discussion.
Most anarchists are quite tech savvy. Indymedia, which predates blogs & social networks by a few years, was written by anarchists. There was nothing like it before. You wouldn't have code for your little blog here if it was not for anarchists. Twitter too. International Anarchist media/tech activists have changed how the world gets its news/information & you, in your ignorance, point at some random hippy or aging punk that showed up to an open meeting as the representative of anarchism. Then you wonder, for real, why corporate media doesn't get to hang. Wonder why you're the trite Lawrence Welk of journalism...
New topic - am I the only one who is tired of Mirk including the fact that she rode her bike in every story? Yeah we fucking get it, you rode your fucking bike, why not just add it to your byline. "Posted by SARAH MIRK, I RODE MY BIKE THERE"
I just wish the original post had been less biased against a group of people who are actually trying to do something. I don't care if she was put off by the tone of the event and decided to go eat dinner instead, I don't care if she was put off by the tone of the event at all. Tell us what happened and let the reader decide, we are smart enough to figure out if they are flakes for ourselves. Not every item has to be an editorial.
The claim of ownership over the land and resources is against the principles of equality and commonality. For instance, we all depend on clean air and water for life, yet that is being compromised by those interested in profit at any cost.
Some anarchists in the street means that some of us refuse to capitulate to authority. Some of us won't follow on the concrete walkways built to disconnect us from the dirty ground, instead we walk in ancient footsteps with deep roots in the soil.
Destruction of the police state is the aim of the resistance, and we want all who see a better possible world to act with solidarity because our privilege to get in the street would mean being murdered outright in many places. We have an obligation to end the destruction of the eARTh because we are it, and it is all we are.
A word to the wise, self-righteous vegan crust punk kids. If you are alienating your own base by treating experienced radical organizers like we're way too dumb, or old, or level-headed enough to possibly understand your politics, if you don't think it's a valuable use of your time to use the media as a tool, or follow up with people who want to build coalition with you, then your work will never be relatable and your "small revolt" will never turn into a "resistance movement."
Also, seriously, if you are 70 anarchist kids marching masked up through Southeast Portland, do you really think that not divulging the end point of your march is going to keep the cops from fucking with you? The cops have eyes in their heads. Your security culture is not a cloak of invisibility. The only people you are preventing from knowing what you are up to are potential allies and sympathetic reporters.