Awesome Editorial about Occupy Wall Street

A fairly short, but absolutley awesome, no-holds-barred editorial from MarketWatch (hardly a bastion of anti-capitalistism)...

Brutal bank crackdown but crooks go free | Commentary: ‘Occupy Wall Street’ harassed while bankers go free

A few key snippets from the above article:

The bankers who brought us this mess not only walk free, they drive free in Bentleys paid for by money looted through toxic mortgages, trading debacles and derivative madness. Regulators, prosecutors and an administration patsy to big finance do nothing except hand out $1.3 trillion in bailout cash and guarantees.

Consider how sick this narrative has become. A counter protest was planned in which bankers and traders said they would douse the “dirty hippies” of Occupy Wall Street with champagne, to give them “a bath.”

These are the people police are protecting.

The ones outraged by greed run amok, reckless behavior and fraud are getting wrestled to the pavement and arrested.

A little more to ponder:

After all, this country wasn’t founded to serve a bunch of elitists. Government wasn’t intended to be bought and paid for by financial interests. Our nation’s economy wasn’t supposed to be built on fraud and abuse. If that came to pass, you’d expect people to be angry. You’d expect people to get roughed up. You’d expect a revolution.

Ouch!

Occupy Wall Street has spread across the country. Off-duty military personnel are planning on showing up in their dress uniforms for the express purpose of protecting the demonstrators. The mainstream media has begun to realize they can no longer ignore this. And now, we have a finance website flat-out saying "this is wrong...horribly wrong"!

I knew this movement wasn't going to go away. I admit I didn't think it would gain this much steam this quickly. Where it is going to end is beginning to look possibly ugly. Very, very ugly.

"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country." ~ Thomas Jefferson

Sorry Tom, my friend, no we didn't. If only we had listened to your sage advise. Now look where we stand.

I'm 49 years old and never would have thought I'd see anything like this in my lifetime. Truly history in the making!

A brilliant read:

OK, maybe I’m wrong about all of this. Perhaps police thought that the black guy they shoved was Stan O’Neal, the former CEO of Merrill Lynch. Maybe they thought they had penned Erin Callan, the former CFO of Lehman Brothers, when they shot her eyes full of pepper spray.

Thanks for sharing.

reply to post by Hessling
Shall we pack our bags and go?I'm ready they need us everyone should get involved that can.
dailybail.com...check out the video of the bankers mocking the protesters!If that doesn't get you angry!

reply to post by TWILITE22


I'm trying to find more info about Occupy Wall Street - Minneapolis.

Time to stop banging away on a keyboard and get my sorry butt out there.

As my Mom and Dad said when scolding me in my youth...

"Enough is enough!"

Just a word of caution here people.

While I don't know how to link it, there is an excellent post here on ATS about this protest being leaderless and has no specific demands. According to the author, this makes this protect and and movement very vunerable to take over by those would use it for their own ends or to steer it nowhere and just let it run out of steam.

Having said that it's great to see that the pressure which has built in the community has finally manifested itself in action.

cheers to them all

Originally posted by Hessling
A fairly short, but absolutley awesome, no-holds-barred editorial from MarketWatch (hardly a bastion of anti-capitalistism)...

Brutal bank crackdown but crooks go free | Commentary: ‘Occupy Wall Street’ harassed while bankers go free

A few key snippets from the above article:

The bankers who brought us this mess not only walk free, they drive free in Bentleys paid for by money looted through toxic mortgages, trading debacles and derivative madness. Regulators, prosecutors and an administration patsy to big finance do nothing except hand out $1.3 trillion in bailout cash and guarantees.

Consider how sick this narrative has become. A counter protest was planned
in which bankers and traders said they would douse the “dirty hippies” of Occupy Wall Street with champagne, to give them “a bath.”

These are the people police are protecting.

The ones outraged by greed run amok, reckless behavior and fraud are getting wrestled to the pavement and arrested.

A little more to ponder:

After all, this country wasn’t founded to serve a bunch of elitists. Government wasn’t intended to be bought and paid for by financial interests. Our nation’s economy wasn’t supposed to be built on fraud and abuse. If that came to pass, you’d expect people to be angry. You’d expect people to get roughed up. You’d expect a revolution.

Ouch!

Occupy Wall Street has spread across the country. Off-duty military personnel are planning on showing up in their dress uniforms for the express purpose of protecting the demonstrators. The mainstream media has begun to realize they can no longer ignore this. And now, we have a finance website flat-out saying "this is wrong...horribly wrong"!

I knew this movement wasn't going to go away. I admit I didn't think it would gain this much steam this quickly. Where it is going to end is beginning to look possibly ugly. Very, very ugly.

"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country." ~ Thomas Jefferson

Sorry Tom, my friend, no we didn't. If only we had listened to your sage advise. Now look where we stand.

I'm 49 years old and never would have thought I'd see anything like this in my lifetime. Truly history in the making!

I say give those Bentleys a little love tap with a bat on the way out of the club. That would wipe the smirks right off their smug little faces.

reply to post by colbyforce


That's probably where it will begin.

It's the whole where it ends part that has me worried.

I swear to God, I truly believe these people live in a totally different world from the rest of us.

reply to post by mr-lizard


I loved that paragraph from the article too.

Ahh, yes. Nothing like a good old-fashioned double-standard, ehh?

reply to post by bussoboy


You make a good, and scary, point there.

“Nature abhors a vacuum.” ~ Francois Rabelais

What will happen when all the dust settles? (And it will; count on it.)

What is the next phase?

Something to ponder and thank you for bringing that point up.

leave the rich alone. without them you wouldn't be making $6 an hour. and who's going to look down on you in the elevator and profit on your greed after you just finished watching wallstreet and feel like bud fox and invest $75 in ibm.

Your Majesties, the people have no water in which to bathe. What should we do? The people have no bath water? Then let them bathe in champagne!

reply to post by bussoboy


A leader will always rise out of the numbers

What will happen when all the dust settles? (And it will; count on it.) What is the next phase?

reply to post by Hessling


With any luck, or god's help (if there is one) This will lead the people of the world to what I like to call the "star trek moment". That "Ah, Ha!", light bulb moment when people realize that we do not need money, nor micro management in our daily lives, nor any other system of control. That we can not only survive in this world.....if we choose to - we can thrive.

so ahve any of you guys read this thread j.p. morgan donates 4.6 million to NYPD

this was donated a few months before the protest but......

thought i'd throw that out there....like we aren't mad enough

I saw this blog commentary on Huffington Post last night - well worth the read! He makes some excellent points.

For everyone who loves this country, for everyone whose heart is breaking for the growing ranks of the poor, for everyone who is seething at the unopposed demolition of America's working and middle class: the time has come to get off the fence. A new generation has gone to the scene of the crimes committed against our future. The time has come for all people of good will to give our full-throated backing to the young people of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Wall Street Protests: Which Side are You On?

reply to post by clearmind


Yea, 4.6 million of tax-payers money to bribe the cops. Look, neither the Government nor the bankers are acting with citizens' best interests at heart. So, stop supporting them! Seriously, stop paying taxes, withdraw whatever money you may have from the bank, and insist upon the impeachment of the President, and the arrest of the fraudsters. Everybody can do that from a keyboard, without having to be trampled by a crowd or the riot police. The demonstration doesn't really need a leader; we are a democracy. 'We the people' will not support a government of greed and tyranny. It's important to get the news out -- out to cops and simpletons who plain just don't know that Obama and his banker friends have been stealing funds from the people. We do NOT want "military" help, ever! That'll bring guns and violence. If some Vets want to show up in their civies to join the protest, fine, but if they disobey orders and show up wearing uniforms that'll attract military intervention; anathema to the cause. Meanwhile, I thank the protesters who do show up on site. The point is to prevent the normal course of business; prevent the bankers from getting to their offices; prevent traffic flow and business as usual. That'll get everybody's attention and your designated, elected officials (who are supposed to answer to you) will HAVE to do something.