White Rabbit to Occupy Republican / Democratic Conventions?

Joyce L. Arnold, Liberally Independent, Queer Talk, equality activist, writer.

I’m mentioning this about a week late, but at the OWS website, you can read “2011: A Year in Revolt,” followed by a “teaser,” “2012: We are getting ready,” which includes:

On Jan. 17th, we will Occupy Congress.

On Jan. 29th , Occupy San Francisco will retake the financial district.

On April 7th , Occupy Chicago will launch a ‘spring offensive’ along with Occupations across the globe.

On May 1st, the world will be watching…

And while these are not on the short list provided, speculation began a month or more ago about what role Occupy will play in Tampa Bay, Florida (Republican National Convention, August 27 – 30) and Charlotte, North Carolina (Democratic National Convention, September 3 – 6).

Late last month, Matt Stoller at AlterNet wrote, “Occupying the Conventions? How Protests Will Change Politics-as-Usual in 2012.”

… we can expect significant protests at the party conventions, and this time, I suspect the press will pay attention.

Political conventions are the center of political discourse in America. From 1980 to 2008, stale, corporate political infomercials matched the stale, corporate political state of our politics. The lavish spreads of food and drink, the heavy credentialing and associated social climbing, VIP rooms within VIP rooms, hustlers, groupies, hacks and lobbyists, delegates and party regulara – all of it will represent the dominance of the 1%. The two- to four-day festivals of scripted schwag-infested boredom will remain as stale as they always were, but the exciting bit, the real debates over how our culture will be organized, will be in the streets. …

We’re going to see what happens when the cultural resonance of Occupy meets the increasingly militarized federal, state and local apparatus. Already, Tampa Bay Mayor Bob Buckhorn, a Democrat, has made his attitude about Republican National Convention protesters clear: ‘These are people who are committed to mayhem, and if we’re not careful they will incite it.’ This characterization of protesters as an existential threat justifies security spending on new weapons, which, in at a time of state and municipal budget woes, must then be used so that the money looks well-spent. The city has a municipal police tank, and initially considered buying predator drones. Instead it will spend much of its $55 million of extra security money on state-of-the-art surveillance systems.

At least they decided against the drones. I could imagine that the good people of Tampa Bay might be a bit concerned with a drone or two circling their city for a few days, and then wondering to what use the drones would be put after the convention. Though the “state-of-the-art surveillance systems” will no doubt remain for use beyond those few days, too. I have a totally unoriginal theory that if a police department has high tech equipment and cool looking riot gear, they’ll find a reason to use them. The Occupy camps were a riot-wearing-gear dream come true.

Also published last month, Joe Cascarelli at Common Dreams wrote, “Charlotte Prepping for Occupy Wall Street at DNC.”

In John Heilemann’s cover story ‘2012=1968?,’ he wonders whether Occupy Wall Street protesters will do to Charlotte’s Democratic National Convention in the summer of 2012 what demonstrators did to the Chicago DNC in 1968. The North Carolina city, sometimes called the ‘Wall Street of the South,’ is not taking any chances, and is already working to pass an ordinance that would make occupying downtown spaces with tents a ‘public nuisance,’ in addition to banning ‘noxious substances,’ padlocks, and other camping equipment. …

Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx said dubiously last month that the rule, which could be enacted in January, is not aimed at a specific group. … But a memo about the ordinance does note, ‘The recent issues related to camping on city property have further amplified the need to review whether the city wants to regulate this activity during the DNC.’ …

For their part, the protesters say they don’t even have a plan for the DNC yet, but acknowledge the opportunity it presents. ‘Everybody I talked to said the DNC is ground zero for everything,’ said one organizer. … The idea of an alternative convention has been floated … .

The “predator drones” jumped out at me as a (rejected) idea for containing a possible Occupier (or whoever) presence. In this one, it’s “noxious substances.” I wonder if that includes tear gas and pepper spray?

Finally, another OWS Twitter Feed selection:

@OccupyWallStNYC: Half of Americans are ‘represented’ in Congress by millionaires.

Instead of reacting to the #OWS movement with reform, #Washington reacted with the #NDAA, #SOPA, #PIPA and #EEA

cliffpotts (Insert dripping sarcasm) Guess all the #Occupy camps can fold up now. Unemployment is down to 8.5%.

USA Press Censorship: Occupy Wall Street’s Livestream Operators Arrested I The Atlantic Wire t.co/cwFOu10G

dailyoligarch Bill McKibben: Enough Cynicism, Get Angry! bit.ly/Azlj8e #owsabout

winkeymeister RT @OccupyWallStNYC: Everybody has an inner @OccupyVoice. You just need 2 find it: ow.ly/8fJ1h

Tom__Paine RT @sabokitty: For perspective, #USA makes up 4.5% of the world population, but accounts for half the world’s 1%!

My favorite tweet of the moment: “cheffy6c RT @TysonHawk: When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead, #occupy.”

Republican and Democratic Convention planners, beware The White Rabbit occupation.

(White Rabbit via PhotoBucket)

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