They say that every movement needs its martyrs, that said, let's hope that two tour, Iraq vet Scott Olsen makes a full recovery. And that the needless, ill thought out attack under the cover of darkness designed to give Oakland mayor, Jean Quan, her political cajones backfires into the impetus that propels Occupy to the next level.
One of the truly beautiful aspects of this entire movement has been that for every negative action by the authorities, there has been a positive and more assertive reaction from the 99%. It's a chess game without impunity, where both sides must own their actions and take responsibility- exactly what the 1% have gotten away with for so very, very long...
2 comments:
What happened to Scott Olsen was horrible, but I find it disturbing that every article about him refers to him as an Iraqi war vet. The unspoken subtext is that if he were just a normal non-vet citizen, no one would care what happened to him. But somehow his vet status makes it more noteworthy. Is it? What about all the folks in Occupy movements who aren't vets? Who've had the shit beaten out of them by cops? Does it have to be a vet for us to care? Wishing Scott Olsen a quick recovery, but wondering about the other 99%...
Hear you loud and clear. And none other than Marine Sergeant Shamar Thomas also made pretty much the same point just a few short days ago...
That said, I think the irony that Scott Olsen survived two tours in Iraq fairly intact, only to needlessly end up in hospital in critical condition due to macho posturing cops who are supposedly there to serve and protect "us," should be emphasized. Especially worth noting and publicizing if only because it proves that you can risk life and limb for god and country as you are ideally supposed to- and despite it all, you're still treated as just another piece of the 99% meat source. There is a most definite lesson to be learned there that needs to be screamed out and rubbed in all our noses.
Or as the good Sargeant said, "There is no honor in this!"
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