10.18.11
OWS e-mail spill backfires
Yesterday my attention was drawn to an Andrew Breitbart publicity stunt on BigGovernment, one in which some nobody advertised as a person of experience in computer security, had infiltrated an Occupy Wall Street mailing list and dumped the contents onto the net.
Posted to Mediafire, it’s purpose was to paint the protesters in a bad light. At one point, a Breitbart come-on for it tried to tie them to an Al Qaeda website, a ludicrous assertion.
I had a look at them. And for those who take the time to sift through the pile a bit, the net effect is the opposite of what the far right hoped for.
They make the people participating look decent and fairly normal. Just as they appear on television.
There is nothing particularly remarkable or outrageous in the spill, just lots of comments, links to various stories, some complaints about media along with praise, advice on where to march and the usual eye-crossing amount of re-quoting of previous messages in the serial presentation.
For example, from my notes:
Oooh. Here’s dangerous stuff. An e-mail telling OWS readers than when talking to reporters “speak about Wall St. and what it does to people.” Run to the police! Subversion!
There’s an e-mail on how to avoid “kettling,” the tactic British police used in London to squash protests into a narrow area. Seems sensible and legitimate use of free speech to me.
Excerpt on the 17th : “everyone hates bankers and corporations … we are demanding the rich pay for this crisis and that we support peace and justice for all races.”
Another excerpt, poignant: “One of the biggest problems I’ve had as an unemployed person seeking work is the ageism rampant in the job market. It is unbelievable how blatant and ubiquitous this is. And I think a larger number of older people would be drawn to an oppositional movement of resistance if that movement did not replicate such ageism … even sought to address this particular problem.”