Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

They Attack By Night

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by

Peter Galuszka
in , , , ,

By Peter Galuszka

It may go without saying that propaganda campaigns
only tell part of the story.

So it was in Richmond’s downtown Kanawha Plaza where a small band of “Occupy Richmond,” an offshoot of the national protest movement, had been camping since Oct. 15. This little group was protesting abuse of democracy and financial power not far from the capital city’s tall office buildings with their banks and law firms and lobbyist offices.

Mayor Dwight Jones ventured out to the makeshift camp to chat with the protestors and invite them to continue a conversation. Members of the state’s conservative movement, notably the Tea Party, were quick to complain. They got airtime on Fox News and blogger attention on sites such as this one by complaining that the lefties in the city (read African-Americans) were coddling the Occupy people while the Tea Party had been charged $10,000 for a rally. They sent the city a bill for a refund.

Things were not as they seemed. The city struck in the wee morning hours of Halloween. The tip off vanguard was a number of dump trucks that parked near the encampment. Then city police, augmented by Virginia State Police, appeared, some on horseback.

The protestors were given a chance to leave or face charges of trespassing and being in a park after hours.  Some left. Others didn’t. The phalanx marched. Nine were arrested. Of Tuesday four were still being held in jail without bond. The camp areas were power-washed.

So where’s the big news flash on Fox? Millions of Fox viewers will be left with the impression that Richmond is soft on lefties. Where’s the update on my fellow blogger Norm Leahy’s postings? His right-wing audience is probably still nodding in agreement about how the Establishment is two-faced about handling political parties.

But then so is Mayor Jones who ends up as the villain of this tale. If anyone is two-faced, it is he.

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Comments

14 responses to “They Attack By Night”

  1. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    you gotta admit…. Virginia knows how to handle recalcitrant protesters.

    if you are a protester in Va… what you don’t want to see is the State Police!

    who said Va was a clown show!

    😉

  2. James A. Bacon Avatar
    James A. Bacon

    Peter makes a valid point about the responsibility of Fox News to follow up on its original report and acknowledge that the City of Richmond evicted the Occupy Richmond people. Of course, he undermines any sympathy normal people might have for his argument by his snide suggestion that “lefties” is no more than a code word for “African Americans.”

    Here’s a pointer for you, Peter, when conservative bloggers tag an individual or group as a “lefty,” they mean “lefty,” not “African American.” When conservatives conjure up images of “lefties,” they’re usually thinking about anarchic, over-educated, under-employed, invective-spewing white people…. who are represented in great numbers in the OWS crowd. When conservatives want to conjure images of “African Americans,” the word they usually use is… “African Americans.”

  3. Peter Galuszka Avatar
    Peter Galuszka

    Jim,
    I wouldn’t hold my breath about “fair and balanced” fox News updating the Richmond crack-down although I can understand how right-wingers want to city to be seen as tough on liberal protestors.
    As for the “African-American” thing, I can under stand your wish as a modern conservative to think there’s room at your table for African-Americans who might be inclined to agree with you about limited government, states rights, etc. The reality, however, is different. Some 95 percent of black voters voted for Obama in 2008, so I doubt they share your views. Plus, if they bought in to the states rights stuff, they very well could still be slaves.

  4. TMT Avatar
    TMT

    And don’t forget that it is racist to oppose Obama and racist to support Cain. Just ask Al Sharpton!

  5. RBV Avatar
    RBV

    Let’s get back to why it’s happening in the first place.

    “Recession threatens generation of young adults, inspires ‘Occupy’ protests”

    http://tinyurl.com/3hgfll2

  6. TMT Avatar
    TMT

    If illegal immigration were substantially curtailed and higher taxes imposed on short-term trading, wages would increase for those at the bottom; wages would trend upward for the middle; and the excess capital that has been flowing into trading would start flowing to business.

  7. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    there are jobs out there going wanting… and business is pushing to expand the visas for qualified workers. Every job that we have available in this country that is going unfilled or is filled by an imported worker ought to be a concern for us.

  8. Groveton Avatar
    Groveton

    The Tea Party and Occupy Wherever are two sides of the same coin. They feel disenfranchised and left behind by American society.

    Both groups are comprised of honest people.

    Both groups have legitimate cause to be upset. The Tea Party is not racist. Occupy Wherever is not Communist.

    Neither group can articulate its thoughts worth a damn.

    Here’s an idea….

    The Tea Party from the left by Peter Galuszka.

    Occupy Richmond from the right by Jim Bacon.

    Both journalists would have to interview people from the respective camps and both would have to do their best to express the fears, thoughts, hopes and plans of each group.

    I’d pay to read that.

  9. Groveton Avatar
    Groveton

    “Some 95 percent of black voters voted for Obama in 2008, so I doubt they share your views.”.

    My Irish – Catholic grandparents both cast the only Democratic Party votes of their lives in 1960 when John Kennedy ran against Richard Nixon. As they explained ….

    1. Eight years of Eisenhower was enough, time for a change.
    2. Nixon is creepy.
    3. Kennedy is Irish and, more importantly, Catholic.

    By 1964 they were both out campaigning for Barry Goldwater.

    We’ll see how the numbers look in 2012.

  10. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    here’s the question:

    if you were going to knock down a few beers watching the Redskins (or your fav team), who would you be more comfortable with – tea party folks or the “occupy” folks.

    Can you see Bacon on a couch next to an “occupy” or Peter similarly situation next to a tea pot?

    🙂

  11. Peter Galuszka Avatar
    Peter Galuszka

    Larry,
    Speaking just for myself. I’ll sit next to anyone anytime. I’m liberal.

  12. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    Bacon? time to weigh in here…..

    😉

    one thing I would observe that is a difference between the TeaPots and the Occupots….

    it’s a technology known as flash mobbing….

    I’m pretty sure the Occupy folks are using social media big time.

    perhaps the teapots were also but they ended up being “shadow” organized .

    the occupy folks are not at all organized… but they are acting with organized movements.

  13. Groveton Avatar
    Groveton

    The occupots just haven’t had as long as the Tea Pots to get organized. If they hang together, they will.

    I’ve been reading Pat Buchanan and Robert Reich recently. They are starting to merge. Maybe the Occupots and the Tea Pots will too. If not, my money’s on the Tea Pots. They have the guns.

  14. Peter Galuszka Avatar
    Peter Galuszka

    My experience with such matters was in DC in the late 1960s and in the early 1970s in Boston.

    Both involved anti Vietnam war demonstrations. There’d be some loose collection of kids at the DC Mall at a protest sponsored by some odd group and it would just grow. Ditto Boston later.

    One key difference — the DC Park Police were real pros. The Boston Tactical PDs were oversized thugs who liked to whack college kids with sticks.

    No Internet, but we did have some kind of communication system,

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