On this one-year anniversary of the start of the Occupy protests, let’s refresh our memories about what really happened.
Despite the divide-and-conquer tricks [4] of both the mainstream Left and the mainstream Right, Occupy and the Tea Party were originally protesting the exact same thing [5]: the malignant, symbiotic relationship between big government and big corporations [6]. Conservative and liberal protesters both railed against the unchecked power of the Federal Reserve [7].
Indeed, if the partisan shenanigans on both sides hadn’t derailed the protests so quickly, Occupy and the Tea Party would have joined forces in a way which affected real change [8].
Highly-militarized [9], federally-coordinated [10] police used such brutal violence to break up the Occupy protests (see this [11], this [12], this [13], this [14], this [15], this [16], this [17], this [18], this [19], this [20], this [21] and this [22]) that the Egyptian military used the crack down on Occupy as justification for the murder of protesters in Tahir Square [23], Egypt.
(Despite media portrayals, the Occupy protesters were not violent [24].)
While psuedo-conservatives may laugh, true conservatives do not find this amusing. Remember that according to Department of Defense training manuals [25], protest is now considered “low-level terrorism”. And see this [26], this [27] and this [28]). And an Army colonel has written a paper advocating military methods for “crushing” a Tea Party insurgency [29].
Veterans get it. They know that protecting all political protesters – Occupy, Tea Party, etc. – is the core of American liberty. See this [30], this [31] and this [32]. Even active-duty police [33] know it.
(While the slur of "dirty hippies, get a job" was applied to Occupy protesters, most of them actually had jobs [34], and many economists supported their demands [35]. Again, people may agree or disagree about specific positions, but true conservatives defend everyone's right to speech and assembly [36].)
Speak with most Americans today and you will be amazed that they don’t realize (1) how much police violence was inflicted or (2) that the protesters – like the original Tea Party protesters – were standing up for the American people against the incest between big banks in New York and politicos in Washington.
The bottom line is that the powers-that-be used a combination of brutal violence and disinformation to take the wind out of the protests. Any protests – whether they be of a conservative bent like the Tea party, or a more liberal flavor like Occupy – are doomed to failure unless we can reach the people with the real facts.