The bizarre final LAPD sweeping and sani-wrapping of the equally bizarre OccupyLA movement has ended with capitulation on all sides: Mayor, cops, protesters...and media too. There have been meek criticisms: KCAL-9 was widely criticized for appearing to lust for more rapacious conflict than what indeed transpired; LAPD were criticized for appearing to police which media were credentialed to cover the sweep; the Mayor was criticized for engineering what unkindly used to be called a Mexican standoff...but mostly it was all good news.
Thus, somehow, from Mother Jones to KCAL-9, the overriding message of all this extraordinary restraint is that all this has been a "success" and so you can now safely go back to sleep. The LAPD have overcome a thuggish reputation. The protesters were not provoked to violence, not even by bigger cameras than their own. And the Mayor did not panic when protesters failed to leave the park yesterday, when the park became officially closed at night--which it has been by ordinance throughout the sixty-day occupuation.
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| photo: Antonio Castelan, KNBC |
For a while, it was indeed a very dangerous situation. For a while, you were almost invited to pay more attention to what goes on in City Hall, something not even the protesters with their proximity and access did very well. But everyone in the media pool wants you to go back to sleep now, and I suppose you will, reassured by mainstream media, who are just as sanitized as the park soon will be.
EARLIER
Villaraigosa bungles OccupyLA eviction
Hizzoner says the Park is closed, but drew additional protesters while trying to shut it down.
Summer Math
KPFA's Summer Reese pumps up the ground game with flabby facts.
Everything I've written on OccupyLA to-date.
Report: OccupyLA becoming class distinct
An NPR report suggests all is not solidarity in the City Hall encampment.
Robert Reich: Another #OWS One-Frame Gag
The former Secretary of Labor takes to the streets to try to revive an old banking act that was obsolete years before Congress made it so.
Occupy Fatigue
Civic leaders were pals to the revolution--now they're worried about the mess it makes.
Council and OccupyLA: tango or fistfight?
Council readies a tepid motion to back the Occupiers; should the Occupiers take it gladly, or redouble their protest?
Art Walk not so lucky as OccupyLA
Free Ponchos for the protesters, but a big bill for the locals.
Down Dog Protesting
Going to the protest? Bring your yoga togs.
Your grandstanding Mayor and City Council
Running for their photo ops.
Garcetti grabs onto OccupyLA coattails
Ibid.
Alarcon Meets-&-Greets OccupyLA
A City Councilman happens to have a banking resolution in pocket that may please Occupiers.
From Crown to Liberty to...Zuccotti
It was a crown jewel of liberty...now it's a privatized park.
OccupyLA: small, "peaceful and stable"
Underwhelming crowds to launch the mixed-bag protesting.
