Go Northwestern Go! Push On Jeff Sessions! The absolute disingenuous Campus Free Speech Warriors

Go! Northwestern Go!
Hit 'em hard!
Hit 'em low!
Go! Northwestern Go! - NU Fight Song by Theodore van Etten 1912

Ole Racist Jeff Sessions was invited by College Republicans to Northwestern to expound on the real meaning of the 'Trump Agenda'. Northwestern Students bravely decided they did not want the mastermind of the Child Concentration Camps to be given a platform on their Campus.

First, Conservatives always argue in bad faith. Always. But, bad faith arguments are not prima facie bad arguments. And Conservatives believe they have a cunning wedge to use on College Campuses.

Before getting into the finer details of the disingenuous rightwing "free speech" arguments it can never be forgotten that Jeff Sessions lustfully kidnapped several thousand children from frightened refugees on the southern border and secreted them into the arms of unknown people in the United States. Sessions ripped apart thousands of innocent families and inflicted physical, mental, and emotional trauma upon people from which they will never fully recover.

So, while this statement by NU College Magat Evan Scully seems reasonable “I understand people have the right to protest, but, at the same time, I think it’s more valuable for us to go in there and listen to what they have to say instead of making it impossible for the people inside to hear Sessions. Even if you don’t like them, I think it’s very important to come listen to them and hear what the other side has to say.” Never forget what Sessions has done and how he has used his position in the US Senate and as US AG to undermine people's rights, unlawfully restrict their freedom, and undermine liberty in this Nation.

The College Republicans have been running the hypocritical Free Speech game since the Dinesh D'Souza and Laura Ingraham did it in the 1980's.

Additionally, just last week, right-wingers (and deluded liberals) took to their fainting couches when the Traitor in the White House was booed at a Washington Nationals World Series game. Faux News talked openly and earnestly about punishing those who booed.

Yet, these same people pretend that College Campuses must accommodate rightwing criminals and liars on University grounds. The scam these conservatives are pulling is mainly engineered to appeal to the vast swath of Independents and undecided America. Conservatives believe they have a winning argument in casting Campus as ideological no-go zones were Radical PC is out of control and even cherished beliefs enshrined in the Perfect Constitution are ignored or trampled upon by crazed Leftists who are indoctrinating your kids. As with all arguments made by right-wingers this one is done in bad faith.

Jeff Sessions is not some kindly old gent hawking a memoir or cookbook, but is planning another run for the US Senate where he will use the power of the Government to enact the rightwing agenda of hatred and intolerance. Sessions was the first big-name Republican to endorse Trump. Besides, masterminding the child separation policy at the border, Sessions repeatedly voted to make certain Americans second class citizens.

Sessions is going to use this incident to boost his campaign and rightwing websites are going to continue to push the Free Speech attacks to gin up outrage amongst their drones.

#Occupy Protest in a Box

I'm the Dog who gets beat Man in the Box, Alice in Chains

As OWS and the #Occupy Movement continues and struggles to make it through the winter, several factors are going to determine if the energy of the Movement is blunted, re-directed or dissipated.

Currently, the reaction to the Police Brutality is at the forefront of many commentators. The influential feminist Naomi Wolf caused quite a stir with her article on the #Occupy crackdowns over at the Guardian. The article caused big traffic, but while to many it smelled false and smacked of hyperbole it's in line with much of Wolf's thought and dovetails succinctly with her 2004 book, The End of America: Letters of Warning to a Young Patriot. (As an update, it seems the reporter, Rick Ellis, who first mentioned the DHS Conspiracy is full of bullshit.)

Right-wingers continue their mission to destroy the #Occupy Movement. One of their major complaints is OWS and the #Occupy Movement should be working within the confines of the law. Now, of course, this is a disingenuous argument on multiple levels.

First, it's a logical fallacy which the Tea Party should specifically disagree with, since the genesis of their name comes from one of the most celebrated "illegal acts" in US History.

However, it also underscores the pure hypocritical phoniness of the ideological underpinnings of Modern Conservative Thought. Since, the election of Barack Obama a large strain of rightwing commentary has focused on "Natural Law" and the moral rightness of disobeying unjust or immoral laws. But, the Right is two-faced when it comes to such arguments for they apply them only when it suits their purposes, which usually is to undercut and delegitimize the elections of Democrats. But, also in service to the Plutocracy's goals of deregulation and privatization. Therefore, when a protest or movement is outside their keen or control the Right always reverts to calls for Authoritarian Tyranny and the destruction of those movements.

This is why the Tea Party faced no concentrated Police and Govenmental Oppression, the Tea Party always was a Top-Down false-front organization quickly subsumed by the 1% to advance the causes of the Rich. Any energy the movement had outside Plutocratic interests was redirected by Rightwing propaganda and limited to arguing over non-issues which would have no impact on the Establishment.

But, the Tea Party has already gone the way of their ideological forefathers, the Know-Nothings. OWS and the #Occupy Movement do not suffer from the TP defects because OWS is grassroots and made up of working and middle class people who are pointing out the underlying problems caused by the control the Richest 1% have on the Government and Society.

And by going outside the guidelines the Establishment has erected regarding political debate (i.e. issues which won't change the fundamentally unfair and corrupted system) they are facing a concerted rightwing media, lobbyist and law enforcement effort to shut them down.

So, making positive connections with the 99% is going to be paramount to keeping OWS vital and vibrant. Unfortunately, regular bloggers are being irked by some of the #OccupyMovements actions.

In a post from Feminisnt, she vents anger at an #OccupySeattle march which hampered her movements in town. Feminisnt points out the March hampered not only her movements but average everyday poor and working class people whom the 99% Movement is supposed to comprise. She also doubts any of the 1% were affected by the Seattle protest march.

I'm not posting this to pick on her, or issue the divisive You are with Us or Against Us, but merely to highlight the disconnect which the 1% have sewn amongst us to keep the 99% divided.

Libertas and Lattes has a bit more vitriol in his post about #Occupy telling the blog-o-sphere if,

"Any of these pale, rat bearded hygiene-free, Che shirt wearing knuckleheads keep me from getting to my place of employment, of home from said place....my fist might accidentally occupy the same space as their face."

I don't highlight these two bloggers, who I've read before to throw rhetorical jabs at them. But, merely to point out a few problems.

The #OccupyMovement is facing the problems all Movements do, after the initial glow has worn off how do you connect with people and weld them to your side? Protest Marches are good for reminding people your Movement is still around but as we all saw during the run-up to the Iraq War, they don't mean anything once the Powers That Be (PTB) have decided on a course of action.

#Occupy needs to bring more people over, and it's not going to be through media coverage but from positive interactions with everyday people as they make them aware of what the true causes for the Republican Recession, Rightwing generated Income Inequality and the stagnation and dissolution of the Middle Class.

Thus while the Controllers of the Tea Party played pin the blame on the Black Guy it didn't succeed in convincing any Americans, other than those who were already convinced that President Obama is a secret love child of Malcolm X and Karl Marx born in Kenya. While the 2010 elections went the way of the Republicans, Americans quickly learned zero help was forth coming to them.

"Don't blame Wall Street, don't blame the big banks," declared Herman Cain. "If you don't have a job and you are not rich, blame yourself!"

But the decades long propaganda effort by FreedomWorks, the American Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Fund, the Carlyle Group, Faux News has succeeded in creating a sizeable amount of useful idiots who blame Teachers, Unions, the "Welfare Queens" and the unemployed and ignore incidents such as when Former AIG CEO Maurice Greenberg sued the Federal Government for $25 Billion USC. Or that 0.1% - the richest one-thousandth - of American population reap over 50% of the income made on Capital Gains and the executive pay for CEOs has risen to more than 343 times that of the average worker at the company.

Because despite the scoffing at the 99% slogan from rightwingers, who were pre-programed to hate OWS, what they and the 99% need to know is:

1) There is a Club and 2) You are not in it.

Because the average amount the Richest 1% will save from the Bush/Obama Tax cuts ($66,384 USC) is greater than the average salary of the 99% ($58,506 USC).

N17 OccupyChi Mass Action, Rahm Emmanuel's Budget and the 1%

"You really started something here. Hope on the streets..." - Batman Begins

The N17 #Occupy Mass Action was powerful. The March in Chicago followed by the General Assembly (GA) at the Thompson Center is an indication the bitter Chicago Winter will not be enough to dissapate the Occupiers.

Attending OccupyChi GA's is informative and inspiring. It's a functioning example of Direct Democracy what the 1% now appears desperate to stop. However, unlike, the other #OccupyMovements, Chicago has not had a large long lasting entrenched Protest site. For that reason, Chicago has also not seen the massive over-the-top paramilitary sweep and clear bulldozer operations Oakland and New York and now several other cities have experienced.

46 arrests were made, but The Full-Lockdown 1% Solution has yet to be applied to OccupyChi.org. Although the previous arrests of almost 50 little old ladies, members of the Jane Addams Senior Caucus, was bad enough.

At the N17 OccupyChi GA, the big item on the agenda was Rahm Emmanuel's 2012 Budget. It was correctly pointed out this budget, like all Austerity Plans, is solely for the benefit of the 1% and at the expense of the 99%.

The Stack, which included a CTA member, a CPS teacher, a long time striker against the Congress Hotel, an OccupySouthSide leader, an off-topic Ron Paulian, and several others focused on specifically condemning Rahm Emmanuel and his budget, and the decision to close of 6 of 12 Mental Health Facilities in Chicago while the others will be privatized. Of all the 99%, those suffering from mental illness or disability are the least able to defend themselves.

Several Beautiful Protesters from the November 15th Mental Health Care Action held at City Hall also spoke. Those protesters spent over 10 hours outside Rahm's office denouncing his budgetary decision to close the clinics.

But, here's the problem. While I fully support condemning Rahm's 2012 Budget, Emmanuel is a tool. Rahm is merely the pruning shears for the 1%. The key is to identify his holders. Who are the Companies which will control these privatized mental health hospitals? Who's on the boards of the Companies? How much will they reap from rationing care to the disabled? What kind of exclusive contracts have they signed to provide mandatory care? What expenses will these private companies be able to illegally slough off onto the people, as Illinois Blue Cross Blue Shield did*, while the profits are funneled to their off-shore accounts?

Rahm's budget is akin to Paul Ryan's Coupon for HealthCare or Scott Walker's Union Busting. The 1% will always be able to find a willing political tool to carry out their orders and steal the wealth of this nation. The key is not to break the tools but to "break" the hands of the 1% thus loosening their stranglehold on the Nation and We, the People forever.

*- Illinois Blue Cross Blue Shield, the states' largest health insurance company, paid $25 million to settle allegations that it denied coverage to sick children in need of nursing care by "fraudulently" shifting their claims to the state's Medicaid program.

The 1% Solution applied to OWS

"From here you will witness the final destruction of the Alliance, and the end of your insignificant rebellion."

Early in the morning, Mayor Bloomberg ordered the NYPD to conduct a sweep-and-clear paramilitary style raid on Zuccotti Park. The 1% have allowed this little rebellion to go on long enough. The Plutocracy would prefer if you just sat back and accepted your enslavement and Classacre (Class Massacre) and stayed silent.

As with all Iron Fisted Tyrants, Bloomberg, the handmadien of the 1%, cited the health and well-being of the protesters for the necessity of the violent crackdown. And the removal was conducted in the early am, after the Brooklyn Bridge has been shut down till 0600 hours, and with media persons being specifically moved to an area away from were the beatings, pepper-spray, tear gas, mass arrests, destruction of private property and use of bulldozers to roust OWS occurred.This isn't the first #Occupy to be removed with in the early morning with the use of heavy machinery and paramilitary action.

Here is the Right's reaction:

Over at Michelle Malkin's site it's constant calls for more police violence against the Protesters. I'm surprised they haven't called for water boarding the protesters to determine who is leading them, although there have been calls for high pressure water cannons to be used so there's that...

At HotAir this post from the odious "Captain" Ed Morrisey highlights the entire intentional disconnect,

If the Occupiers have an actual and legitimate agenda, why can’t they demonstrate within the law to make their point?

Ah, within the law. That's the whole point, the 1% and their Rightwing Attack Dogs have been working and shaping and refining a political system which has wrested power and money from the 99% and has made it legal for them to do so. It's the Free Speech Zones all over again. But, conservatives, ala "Captain" Ed, don't actually believe in Democracy, they are and always have been authoritarians and little more than mouthpieces for the Plutocracy.

Of course, a move like this has caused a lot of internet traffic and chatter. The best rundown comes from Mother Jones reporter Josh Harkinson's firsthand account. But, interesting blog, facebook, twitter traffic aside the most important news came when Oakland Mayor Jean Quan apparently admitted the 11/15 Raids were coordinated,

“I was recently on a conference call with 18 cities across the country who had the same situation,"

with Authorities in other cities and possibly the Department of Homeland Security and that before the day was done there were already two injunctions issued by Judges.

The first one was a restraining order allowing the Protesters to return and stopping Bloomberg and the NYPD from interfering at all with OWS.

However, the second one was not so beneficial to #Occupy. tT also shows the level of duplicitious chicanery the 1% are always willing to stoop too, to stop the 99%. It stops all "Camping" in the Park. OWS is not Camping. It is Protest. It is a Righteous Shout against the Economic Inequality and Legalized Theivery the 1% have set up in this Nation. But, it's the 1% legalese solution to stifling dissent and outlawing Democracy. By labeling it "camping" the 1% empower their political, media, and law enforcement dogs to disrupt, detain and beat those who attempt to return.

OWS and the #OccupyMovement are the most clear example of Democracy in the US. That the Rightwingers hate it because their Plutocratic Lords and Masters hate it. And the hypocritical conservatives demand Authorities destroy #Occupy, preferably violently, but also using the laws finely crafted and purposefully adopted by the 1% to stifle and eliminate protest.

How do you stop OccupyChi? Free Speech Zones and Arrests.

When the people peacefully assemble and question the entrenched power structure you will find there are hundreds of ordinances and rules in place to ensure you can be removed for the sight and sound of The Demos is an affront to the 1%

OccupyChi is just the latest protest to be taken out via a local ordinance when 175 peaceful American citizens where denied their Constitutional Rights because they conflicted with the Rights of the 1% to enrich themselves on the blood and bodies of the 99%. The Chicago Police justified the arrests because,

“They were in park property after hours,” said CPD Officer Robert Perez. “There is a municipal ordinance that nobody is allowed in the park after 11 pm.”

Rania Khalek has a breakdown of the anti-1st Amendment "laws" used to crackdown on the 99%.

Perhaps the Republicans in Congress who dramatically staged a reading of the expedited conservative constitution on the house floor can address the nation with their grave concerns the Rights of the People to Free Assembly are being trampled upon?

No? Well, why not? Why oh why would the Republicans be against the OWS and OccupyTogether protests? Why would the Republicans call We, the People a "mob" and proclaim we are "against freedom". Quite simply because the 1% controls every single Republican in office.

Where are the Tea Party "Patriots" on all this? Where are the anti-government Militias? Where are the so-called Oathkeepers? Where are the Libertarians? Where are the Objectivists with their hatred of Government and their absolutist position against the Intiation of Force? Is ANYONE surprised the Protests against Rampant and Institutionalized Greed and Theft are being supressed? Is ANYONE surprised the RightWing fascists and conservatives stand with the Thieves and Swindlers and against the 99%?

Every single group I mentioned are full off liars, dupes and charlatans. They gladly mouth words of Freedom and Rights and their Love of the Constitution, but are nothing more than hollow organizations devoted to the suppression of the People and the defense or enrichment of the 1%.

Occupy Chicago. Birth of a True Grassroots Revolution.

Are true grassroots movements possible? The beautiful people of OccupyChi.org are trying to find out.

I spent the morning and early afternoon at the corner of LaSalle and Jackson with Occupy Chicago. About 40 members were there. Mainly I observed them. They engaged in some Direct Democracy via deciding to abide by the City Ordinance regarding storage of personal property on public sidewalks (This seemed to be an effort by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago to hamper them) and kept vigil during the awful rain which is on a 4 day run, albeit with scattered clear skies, across the Chicagoland area.

I did speak with a few members, mainly the young man who, due to his interactions with CPD on the previous night, became the Police Liasion for the OccupyChi group.

I imparted some Grungy advice regarding interactions with the Police. The main thought I tried to get through to him was that it wasn't a compromise to their principles to abide by directions from the Police. It would be detrimental to give some Right Wing Chicago version of Lieutenant Bologna the ability to crack down on them by violating something trivial. I mentioned that they did have natural allies amongst the Police and commented on the early morning quote tweet from the unidetified Cop, "When I get home, I take these clothes off. I'm you guys."

Many Cops know, the Police are expected by the 1% to act as Guardians of the Elites.

We spoke about how they could expect no lovingly tender corporate media reach around (proven by the scorn and derision from the crass Ginia Bellafante of the New York Times), no coverage from Faux News (let alone the sponsorship, participation, active support Faux provided the Tea Party) and no millions in funding from Dick Armey or the Koch Brothers.

They have high hopes for their protest and are proud to be the second longest running protest of the nascent Occupy Wall Street. I told some of them the 1% was most likely going to let the Chicago weather do the work for them and hope that OccupyChi wears out from the wet and cold. Hopefully, the group has set up someone to coordinate logistics but right now locals and other brave members of the 99% were donating food, ponchos, charging time for devices and helping dry the clothing of the Occupiers.

Normally, I don't join groups or organizations, but being a part of the 99% is something that has been put upon us all. Solidarity! We are the 99%.

In a fitting post script as I rode home on the 2:40 METRA, I noticed none other than Rick Santelli, the acknowledged birther of the Tea Party 'movement'. My friend was shocked and texted me "that lazy bum is already off work?"

The People's Champion... Corporate People

I am yours
You are mine
You are what you are ~ Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, Crosby Stills & Nash

Corporations are people, my friend. ~ Mitt Romney

They’re us. They’re the middle class. We all own parts of corporations. ~ Rand Paul

The big reason things are going this way is because the Bush Economy and the Republican Recession had no impact on the Ultra-Rich. The Wealthy, The Plutocrats, the Hedge Fund Managers, the Billionaires, Corporate Unpersons are doing better than at anytime in American History, in 2009 the top 25 Hedge Fund managers "earned" $25 billion amongst themselves - more than they had made before the Bush Recession, and the stock market volatility, the Union busting, the Charter Schools, the Tea Party, the GOP are all happening to continue and expand their dominance.

Your Moneyed Masters are doing fine, so sit back and relax America. And if you're not fine with that? Well, too fucking bad the Corporate Unpersons and their lackeys don't want to hear it. And they won't.

Remember the Free Speech Zones John Ashcroft ordered to safeguard the image of the Bush/Cheney Presidency? They are back.

Paul Ryan doesn't want to hear from you plebeians. Don't you dare befoul his ears with complaints about him destroying Medicare and Social Security. After previously just having Police remove filthy peasants from his presence, Paul Ryan has set up a pay-per-view Town Hall meeting wherein questions and questioners will be screened and must fork over a fee in order to ask him a question. The fee is nominal but the screening is invaluable to Ryan as his town hall will seem serene and calm and the Media can continue to fawn over him as a brilliant policy wonk who knows what to do.

Republican congressman Doug Lamborn of Colorado called President Obama a "tar baby" so he's now deemed his office "Private Property" and has placed signs declaring "No Protesting".

And at the same time the Supreme Court recently ruled that threatening President Obama's life is protected speech. And this is after the 2009 Tea Party Agent Provocateurs ambushed Democrats at town halls over The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). And everytime Bill Maher or Janeane Garofalo picked on the wrong target, the duped impoverished conservative, and called them racist (for... well... being racist) the more the Teabaggers ire was raised, the more they set themselves against other working people and the more Karl Rove, Dick Armey, the Koch Brothers and the Plutocracy cheered.

What the Republicans have done is a create a system where they will not allow you to protest them. We are rapidly moving to a time of One Party control of the government, as Gore Vidal called it the Property Party, which ruthlessly curtails any protest aimed at them but happily allows protesters to rail against the other party (you know the weak willed demonic party of America-hating enemy appeasers, who seem more than willing to play the role of patsy, of punching bag, of the Washington DC Generals.

Meanwhile, Corporate Unpersons steal Trillions, instruct their lapdogs to eliminate all safety and environmental regulations, tear down and pilfer benefits for the working classes, and continue sending your sons off to die in wars of Imperialist Market expansion.

Update:
Corporate Lapdog Rick Perry calls for a moritarium on all regulations.