"Tin soldiers and Nixon coming. We're finally on our own own. This summer I hear the drumming. Four dead in Ohio."
I couldn't believe my eyes. I'm watching the news last night when I see police pepper spraying peaceful Occupy-sympathizing protestors at the University of California-Davis. In fact, they were so peaceful they were sitting cross-legged in a line on the ground in front of the police who not only pepper sprayed them once, but twice, then three times, four times, so many times they ran out of pepper spray and had to get another can!
I was initially numb with shock and then my anti-war roots began to kick in and I was royally angry not only at the cops but at the insensitive and insulting remarks made by Newt "the Grinch" Gingrich, the Republican's "Flavor of the Month" when he commented that these protestors need to get a bath and a job. It took me back long ago to Nixon, Agnew and the rest of them who told us Boomers to get haircuts and get real jobs. We took care of them didn't we? Now it's time to take care of them again. We need to stand up and speak with one voice before they start killing our children again. Remembering Ohio.
I can't decide if the tragedy at Kent State University happened a long, long time ago, or if it was just yesterday. Probably both and if we don't get a grip on our response to the Occupy Movement it may happen again and soon. Forty-one years ago, several members of the Ohio National Guard shot directly into a group of unarmed anti-war protestors. Four were killed; another nine were wounded. One of the wounded was paralyzed for life. The dead included: Allison Krause, 19; William Schroeder, 19; Jeffrey Miller, 20; Sandra Schener, 20. These young people were, in fact, massacred. They were shot at distances of between 270 and 390 feet. Some of the students were not even directly involved in the protest.
Immediately after the shootings, Neil Young composed the song "Ohio" after looking at photos appearing in Life magazine and then taking a walk in the woods. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young went to the studio and recorded the song which was released to radio stations shortly after the killings. Soon, the lyrics "Four dead in Ohio" became an anthem to a generation. In some parts of the country, the song was banned from play lists because of it's "anti-war" and "anti-Nixon" sentiments.
The similarities between today's "Occupy Wall Street" and the "Anti-War" movement in the 60's are apparent. The early years of the anti-war demonstrations were marked by loosely organized events where young people would gather in a park ... a rock band would show up ... reefer would break out and people would start the chanting. After a while, they would start walking towards their city halls, their state capitols, the nation's capitol demanding an end to an unjust war. Later on there would be organized rallies where tens of thousands of young people gathered to camp, listen to rock bands, listen to anti-war speeches, march, clash with law enforcement and never give up their vigil to end the Vietnam war. We changed the world then and now it's another generation's opportunity to change the world again. The system has failed them and they're not going to take it anymore.
"Gotta get down to it. Soldiers are cutting us down. Should have been done long ago."
• Jon Beydler is a 32-year Valley resident and the former mayor of Fountain Hills who now lives in Chandler.
Mike McClellan posted at 4:34 pm on Tue, Nov 29, 2011.
One big difference between then and now, Jon: The anti-war folks had a cause. No more war. They focused on that.
OWS has yet to be clear and unified. And the violence associated with some, the vandalism, is nothing more than the work of anarchists and kids out for their jollies.
OWS has a nebulous but sound idea. No one has come forward as any kind of leader, however.
I also wonder about you equating the death of four young people with being pepper-sprayed. Not even close.
Slabside posted at 6:48 pm on Tue, Nov 29, 2011.
I rarely agree with Mike McClellan on most issues but here he is spot on. As usual, Beydler is on a different planet completely.
Dale Whiting posted at 7:28 pm on Tue, Nov 29, 2011.
No cause? you both say. How about the 99% vs the 1%? That's certainly a cause, a cause for complaint. That neither of you can see this only demonstrates your total and complete blindness! Put on your dark glasses covering your damaged eyes and hold up your tin cups! And remember, better than 60% of our citizenry support OWS and this cause.
"OWS has a nebulous but sound idea. No one has come forward as any kind of leader, however." The leaders are busy now making plans to hibernate through the winter and re-emerge next spring. If you'd quit watching only Faux News, you'd be hearing some of their names!
Rich posted at 8:41 pm on Tue, Nov 29, 2011.
Thank whoever you want that there is no charismatic leader here, that's where dictators come from. I was both an officer in the Navy and a war protester, We've been at two useless wars for how long now, that's not a problem? Please don't equate spoiled children and others who want a free ride with what went on in the sixties. No one is threatening these people with becoming cannon fodder in a useless, senseless war. And don't equate pepper spray with bullets.
Wall street is supposed to make money, that's what they do, demonstrating because they are good at it is just mindless. And wanting "a piece of the action" without earning it is what criminals, not honest people do.
Your government has failed to see that enough people have the opportunity to earn a piece, and they don't earn anything, just take it and spend it, and then borrow to spend more than they or we can afford. There is where the problem lies, always has. The more the government gets, the more of your children's money they borrow.
Children will be children, and it is a bit ridiculous to pepper spray them for doing it. Once again, government is out of control. In a little less than a year you can apply the brakes. I'd suggest you start by eliminating all the Democrats, and going back over the ballot and eliminating the Republicans, then picking the best of what's left. If you don't, idiot police pepper spraying your idiot kids will be the least of your problems.
Cerulean posted at 7:48 am on Wed, Nov 30, 2011.
In the past, when the working class of America have organized to influence our Republic for the benefit of the people, be it through union organization or campaign law, the Supreme Court has, for the most part, ruled in favor of wealth and corporate enterprise. When the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission their ration was that corporate money is ‘speech’ and corporations are people too. They went too far!
When our police force use abusive, extreme tactics to suppress the SPEECH of US citizens, those of us with less money (e.g. 99% of US) – then it has gone too far!
I support the MOVE TO AMEND the Constitution in such a way that legal preference is no longer awarded to corporations and those with extreme wealth.
Please visit http://movetoamend.org/ and sign the petition.
Watch this clip for more info too: http://youtu.be/FwtRg2WMm6A
Mike McClellan posted at 7:48 am on Wed, Nov 30, 2011.
Fellas, I'm not the Fox News Follower you'd like to paint me as. But please tell me just what the goal of the OWS is.
"We're the 99% is catchy," but what does it translate into?
And Dale, why don't you give us some of the names of the OWS leaders?
I'm sympathetic with the idea that too much wealth has been concentrated in a small percentage of Americans -- heck, I wrote a column in the Trib a few weeks ago about just that.
But what's happened with the OWS is that the initial protest has been co-opted by every loony tune out there.
Between that and the fact that no clear objective has been stated, the movement is losing steam. The 60% figure you cite is from several weeks ago, Dale. It's not nearly as high today. And that's because of its muddle and too many of the "leaders'" tactics.
Which then allowed Fox News and other Right Wingers to paint the entire idea as ludicrous.
mnjcpa posted at 11:34 am on Wed, Nov 30, 2011.
I'm still convinced that Jon is still smoking the weed he had from the early 70's.
If we can all be open minded, the irony is the heart of the discontent is the same with OWS and the Tea Party. Both are dissatisfied with a system that doesn't work. However if we follow Cerulean's advice there is no longer any incentive to own and operate a business in America. None! Most money has fled the country already due to the herculean effort it takes to be profitable with the ridiculous regulations and taxes in place already on a business.
The citizens of the United States wake up that this country is BROKE and quit protecting your perceived turf that have unrealistic expectations attached to them. You CAN'T be paid life long salaries and healthcare benefits and expect us to NOT be broke. It is a widespread systematic problem brought on by liberalism.
Obama has done a great job of raising class warfare rather than dealing with the problem like a leader. But then why would he? He's showing us exactly who he is - a radical liberal that is bent on destroying America.
To suggest authoring a change to the constitution that is at complete contrast with what our founding fathers intended must have them rolling in their graves. The best thing we can hope for is what just happened in Spain. After years of liberal destruction - conservatism has taken over in the country.
I can only hope.
CSalafia posted at 12:11 pm on Wed, Nov 30, 2011.
Mike:
To say that OWS has no stated goal or goals is wrong. All one has to do is use the Google (if you don't want to leave your house), head down to an occupy event and speak to the people or even attend a General Assembly. Just because it can't be distilled down to a simple 30 second soundbyte that the intellectually incurious can digest doesn't mean there's no clear cut goal.
It's about ending corporate money influence in politics. It's about jobs. It's about redoing the corporate tax structure. It's about wages. It's about the environment. It's about education.
Additionally, it's a good thing there is no leader. Occupy isn't about a single person's ideology, like the Kochs and the Tea Party, but is about societal change. It's true that some elements have attempted to co-opt Occupy, but those elements are constantly repudiated by the overall group. That's just one of the challenges when a movement is as open as Occupy. We all heard about what happened in Oakland a couple of weeks ago, but there were two things you didn't hear. 1) Even the police knew the vandals were agitators and not representative of the Occupy movment; and 2) Occupy Oakland returned to the scene and cleaned up the mess left behind by them.
To say that "it's losing steam" is wrong as well. Everytime the police come in with tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray, and flash bang grenades, the people come back stronger. We're coming up on 3 months now. 3 months where people are voluntarily sacrificing their time and their own physical well beings standing up and fighting for a better society for everyone.
If you spend any time at an Occupy event and actually talked to the people there instead of allowing the corporate media to influence your view, you might see things differently.
Rich posted at 12:38 pm on Wed, Nov 30, 2011.
"If you spend any time at an Occupy event and actually talked to the people there instead of allowing the corporate media to influence your view, you might see things differently."
Did, don't. It's the same tired old shinola. Societies have changed that way, and all of them failed. Utopia was a satire, and so is OWS.
Accuracy posted at 2:01 pm on Wed, Nov 30, 2011.
Jon Beydler wrote, "The similarities between today's "Occupy Wall Street" and the "Anti-War" movement in the 60's are apparent."
Meaning: A lot of similarities between anti-war radical John Kerry's anti-Vietnam protests past, present Occupy-sympathizing protestors. “Liberal” radical protests haven't changed.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 6:56 pm on Wed, Nov 30, 2011.
Reefer Madness...lol....boy it doesn't take much for the old Anti-War, Anti-American, Spit and Throw Feces at Soldiers...."hippie freaks from the 60's" ...to put on the old tie-dyed tee shirt and bring up Nixon and the Ohio National Guard.
Do I blame the Ohio National Guard for firing back a Anti-War Protesters who many say fired a shot at the Guardsman = heck no.
Do I blame the cop who pepper-sprayed the Occupy Wall Street protesters at UC Mao Tse Dung....oops....I meant ....UC Davis = heck no...they had been ordered over and over and over to disperse and instead they chained themselves together and can you imagine what a "u-know-what" it is to unchain them while they are spitting in your face and calling you Mom dirty names...come to think of it ...I would have used "bear spray"...that Habanero Chili would sure have made them...scamper away real quick...........lol...........[wink]
VofReason posted at 1:23 pm on Thu, Dec 1, 2011.
You may want to look at the gang they interviewed from the Occupy Phoenix group before you hold them on high. Sounded like nice people who had lost there way. Here is a thought, how about try hard in school and do well academically. Likely if you do, there is a scholarship or grant out there that will allow you to further your education and give you an opportunity to succeed. Don't complain if someone else has and does and you want some of theres. Not the way it works and not the way it was intended.