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Who Are Our Rescuers? Us!

Who Are Our Rescuers? Us!

The time has come. Six years after the Supreme Court’s malignant Citizens United ruling, nearly every American plainly sees how our nation’s historic, political ethic of citizen equality — “one person one vote” — has been buried in a roaring avalanche of corrupt, corporate money and voter suppression. Moreover, nearly nine years after Wall Street thieves wrecked our economy, the great majority also plainly sees that the court’s turbo-charge of money politics has produced economic policies that richly reward the plutocratic robbers and coldly abandon the robbed.

There’s no need to convince the American people that they’ve been stiffed. As they reveal in poll after poll, they know it, for they’re experiencing it personally, and they’re furious at the business-as-usual establishment that has done it to them. A major, non-partisan survey taken last September by Public Policy Polling found:

–80 percent of Republicans and 82 percent of Democrats “strongly agree” that special interest money has too much influence in political campaigns. Only 4 percent in either party disagreed.

–85 percent of GOP primary voters and 86 percent of Democrats agree that elections would be less corrupt if candidates focused on small donations from ordinary people, rather than on big money from special interests.

–62 percent of Republicans and 72 percent of Democrats agree that America needs public funding of elections. Similarly, a New York Times/CBS poll last summer found that across the entire political spectrum.

–85 percent of Americans think that officeholders “promote polices that directly help” the special interests that funded their campaigns;

–85 percent say that the present system of financing political campaigns must either be “fundamentally” changed (39 percent) or “completely rebuilt” (46 percent).

–77 percent say the unlimited amount of money that wealthy interests can now give to candidates should be … well, limited.

This powerful anti-Big Money sentiment is also part of what has fueled establishment-stunning Bernie and Donnie presidential runs, and it’s why we democracy rebels should shift now from complaining about the plutocratic corruption of our country to stopping it. The people are ready, and this hyper-political year is the time to move, for the presidential and congressional elections will focus public attention on the political system for months to come, and corporate and political cash will be on full display (from the Koch Brothers’ Billionaire Money Bash to the garish corporate sponsorship of both parties’ national conventions).

While all of the establishment forces (and too many of our progressive leaders) have dourly told us commoners that we must resign ourselves to the new Citizens United order of court-sanctioned rule-by-money, the people themselves have not accepted that. But where could they turn for help since the leadership of both political parties either enthusiastically welcomed government of, by, and for the 1-percenters (the GOP) or — with a wink and a nod — agreed to go along with it in exchange for getting their own share of big money donations (the Democrats)? For six years, the broad public has been yearning for someone, something, some moment, to arise and rescue the founding ideals of 1776.

Well, here it is! And who are our rescuers? Us! This April, the Democracy Awakening and Democracy Spring are bring together a diverse coalition of labor, business, environmentalists, public interest advocates, media and issue-specific constituencies, along with you, me and thousands of mavericks gathering in Philadelphia, Washington and around the country to fire a new democratic “shot heard ’round the world.” This will signal to the millions of members of the coalitions that we are not helpless in the face of an American plutocracy. And we can go on the offensive to inspire many millions more to shuck the idea that the majority is powerless and to step up with a renewed sense of our own possibilities.

The moment is ripe to rally a People’s rebellion, intervene in this year’s elections with a clear change agenda, and make this moment the turning point for implementing those changes. Just getting such a myriad of diverse reform forces to join hands in such an effort is an auspicious sign that maybe — just maybe — we can bind our forces into an effective populist movement for the long haul, rebuilding America’s democratic promise for the greater good of all.

Given the opportunity, don’t we have to go for it? To join the rebellion and get more information on the upcoming actions in April check out www.DemocracyAwakening.org and www.DemocracySpring.org.

To find out more about Jim Hightower, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2016 CREATORS.COM

Will Police Protests Fade Like Tea Party And Occupy?

Will Police Protests Fade Like Tea Party And Occupy?

By David Lightman, McClatchy Washington Bureau (TNS)

WASHINGTON — This time, the protests might have consequences.

Decades of demonstrations since the 1960s have usually started with passion but led to little. Now, however, protests over police-caused deaths of unarmed black men are having an impact.

They’ve spawned fresh, high-level looks at racial profiling. State and federal officials are seeking more money for police equipment and training. President Barack Obama has spoken out. At the Capitol, lawmakers are voicing concern.

Thousands are expected to gather Saturday in Washington for a mass march. The rally follows weeks of protests across the country after grand juries declined to indict police involved in the deaths of men in Ferguson, Mo., and New York City.

This wave of action and reaction hasn’t been seen for some time. “This feels big to me. I don’t know that I’ve seen this kind of passion recently,” said Peter Levine, director of the Medford, Mass.-based Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.

The protests first erupted this summer in Ferguson, reflecting the black community’s anger over the Aug. 9 shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. When a Missouri grand jury decided not to indict Officer Darren Wilson on any charge, demonstrators around the country mobilized.

Protesters took to the streets again Dec. 3 after a New York grand jury would not indict police officers involved in the chokehold-related death of Eric Garner.

While the Ferguson case triggered fierce debate over whether the grand jury had acted properly, the Garner case produced a less-polarized reaction, thanks to a video that clearly showed Garner being manhandled by police.

Conservatives, liberals and those in between expressed outrage, and protests since have reflected deep, long-festering frustration with the nation’s legal and political system.

“These issues are American issues, not simply race issues,” said Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ).

At first, Congress barely responded. Congressional Black Caucus members spent an hour one evening making speeches, and a few lawmakers expressed outrage on the floors of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Protests did once move the country. In the 1960s, civil rights marches produced landmark legislation and leaders who wound up running cities and states and serving in Congress. The anti-war movement of the late 1960s helped motivate a generation of baby-boomers to enter public service.

Since then, however, protests have rarely led directly to much political action.

The grassroots Tea Party movement was influential in helping elect Republicans to Congress in 2010, but the momentum fizzled, and its impact on recent elections has faded. The Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011, protesting the government’s coziness with Wall Street, had little impact on electoral or legislative politics — and this week, the House of Representatives approved weakening a finance institution regulatory law enacted after the 2008 financial collapse.

The political inertia helped alienate the young people who tend to most populate demonstrations. A 30-year-old today grew up watching President Bill Clinton get impeached, President George W. Bush get the nation involved in an unpopular war, and President Barack Obama see his popularity tumble.

The 2008 Obama candidacy helped spike youth turnout to 51 percent, but participation last month returned to dismal levels. About one in five 18- to 29-year-olds voted this fall.

Not even issues thought to spark interest, such as same-sex marriage or legalized marijuana, helped jolt turnout. Levine’s group found that in 20 instances from 2006 to 2012 where those issues were on state ballots, six to eight had turnout rates that might have been affected by the referenda.

But little by little, the outrage over Brown’s and Garner’s deaths are having an effect.

Obama is seeking $75 million to buy 50,000 more body-worn cameras for local law enforcement. Attorney General Eric Holder says the Justice Department will take new steps aimed at ending racial profiling.

States are also acting. In New York, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for a look at police training and “diversity, and cameras, and transparency and accountability.” In Ohio, Republican Gov. John Kasich formed a task force to examine police-community relations.

The challenge now is maintaining the momentum. “That’s a little bit harder nowadays,” said Lottie Shackelford, a former mayor of Little Rock, Ark., and a veteran civil rights activist.

Congress could hold hearings or push legislation when it returns next year on police equipment and policies, though prospects are iffy.

Sen. Clare McCaskill (D-MO) plans an effort she said would “reform and revise the programs that fund and give equipment to local police departments.”

It’s uncertain if Republicans will go along. “I don’t know if we need a hearing. I just think people ought to recognize there are legitimate concerns in the African-American community,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), a senior Judiciary Committee member.

Protesters may find they’ll have to channel their energy into community organizing or other non-traditional means rather than rely on the political process.

“People today see politicians as spinally challenged,” said South Carolina state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee’s Southern Caucus. “They know we ought not to see getting elected to office as the only way to change the system.”

That’s a big change from days past, making the legacy of today’s protests uncertain.

This much, though, is clear, said Shackelford: “These protests are making people think about change again.”

AFP Photo/David McNew

Hong Kong Protesters Reject City Leader’s Call To End Rallies

Hong Kong Protesters Reject City Leader’s Call To End Rallies

Hong Kong (AFP) – Hong Kong demonstrators rejected demands Tuesday to immediately end rallies that have paralyzed the city’s center, their numbers swelling for a third night before a national holiday expected to put their campaign for free elections into overdrive.

Protest leaders are confident they can muster massive crowds overnight and into Wednesday for the National Day public holiday, which this year marks the 65th anniversary of the founding of Communist China.

Protesters rejected a call from the city’s embattled leader to end the sit-in, as well as Beijing’s branding of their demonstrations as “illegal”. They took to the streets once more in anger at China’s refusal to grant full democracy.

A heavy downpour briefly sent umbrellas skyward and crowds scurrying, but the prospect of bad weather left the crowds undeterred.

“We have spent more than a week under the sun, under pepper spray, we of course can stand the rain. Nothing can stop us,” a recent university student who identified himself as Choi told AFP.

In his first public comments since demonstrators were tear-gassed by riot police on Sunday evening, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said the pro-democracy sit-in organised partly by the Occupy Central group was now “out of control”.

“Occupy Central founders had said repeatedly that if the movement is getting out of control, they would call for it to stop. I’m now asking them to fulfill the promise they made to society, and stop this campaign immediately,” he said.

But protest leaders rejected Leung’s demands and renewed calls for the Beijing-backed leader to step down as they prepared for another night of huge demonstrations.

“I think there will be a massive turnout, over 100,000 people tonight and leading into National Day,” hedge fund manager and Occupy Central activist Ed Chin told AFP.

Beijing has been left grappling with one of the biggest challenges to its rule over the semi-autonomous city at a time when the Communist Party is cracking down hard on dissent on the mainland.

The demonstrations, the most intense civil unrest Hong Kong has experienced since its 1997 handover from British rule, were sparked by Beijing’s decision in August to restrict who can stand for the city’s top post.

Hong Kongers will be able to vote for their next chief executive in 2017 elections but only two or three candidates vetted by a pro-Beijing committee will be allowed to stand — something which demonstrators have labeled a “fake democracy” that shows Hong Kong cannot trust its mainland overseers.

Throughout Tuesday morning protester numbers dwindled from their overnight highs, when tens of thousands turned the city’s downtown into a carnival after riot police withdrew.

But they began to pick up again by the afternoon and people manning makeshift barricades showed no signs of backing down.

“We are all afraid, but we think we should keep on resisting for full democracy,” Jacky Yip, a 22-year-old university student told AFP as thunder rumbled in the evening.

“Never lose hope,” was one of the signs offering words of encouragement at one site.

Protesters have two demands — that Leung step down and Beijing rescind its insistence that his successor be vetted before standing for election.

Alex Chow, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, called on the government to respond to those demands by Thursday.

“If the government does not respond after October 2, the action will inevitably be stepped up,” he told reporters.

But analysts say the chances of Beijing backing down are virtually non-existent, leaving a city once renowned for its stability plunged into an unknown future — with democracy activists concerned the police could return in force at any moment.

Beijing stayed defiant Tuesday, saying it supported Hong Kong’s handling of the protests, which it described as “illegal activity”.

“We fully believe in and support the Hong Kong SAR government to deal with this issue,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular briefing.

Communist authorities are worried that dealing with the protests too softly could encourage wider demands for greater freedoms on the mainland, observers say.

Hong Kong authorities meanwhile are caught between protester demands, Beijing’s uncompromising stance and efforts to keep the city running.

Business leaders complain that the protests are hitting the economy. The world’s top cosmetics group L’Oreal said on Tuesday it was suspending all business travel to Hong Kong due to the street demonstrations.

Many locals have expressed frustration at the huge disruption, with the crowds blocking key junctions in the busy Causeway Bay and Mongkok shopping districts as well as the biggest protest site in Admiralty near the government headquarters.

Police Tuesday again called for the protesters to disperse, saying emergency services were being disrupted by the ongoing blockade of major carriageways.

But the demonstrations have also prompted displays of solidarity. Some social workers and teachers went on strike after unions called for members to take action.

AFP Photo/Philippe Lopez

Occupy Wall Street Protester Describes Police Brutality

In light of reports that police have been cracking down on the Occupy Wall Street protesters, many have wondered what the protesters did to provoke the NYPD. But Jeanne Mansfield’s first-hand account of the weekend’s police brutality shows that the protesters — who have been trying to stand against Wall Street’s greed and corruption — were only marching when police officers corralled them in and began to mace them.

As we circle Union Square, about twenty NYPD officers haul out orange plastic nets (the kind used to fence off construction sites) and close off the road, diverting the crowd. But the detour, too, is closed, leaving us only one option: straight down Broadway. The lighthearted carnival air begins to get very heavy as it becomes clear that we are being corralled. The main group, about 150 protesters, keeps on down the street, but the police are running behind with the orange nets, siphoning off groups of fifteen to twenty people at a time, classic crowd control.

A new group of police officers arrives in white shirts, as opposed to dark blue. These guys are completely undiscerning in their aggression. If someone gets in their way, they shove them headfirst into the nearest parked car, at which point the officers are immediately surrounded by camera phones and shouts of “Shame! Shame!”

Up until this point, Frank and I have managed to stay ahead of the nets, but as we hit what I think is 12th Street, they’ve caught up. The blue-shirts aren’t being too forceful, so we manage to run free, but stay behind to see what happens. Then things go nuts.

The white-shirted cops are shouting at us to get off the street as they corral us onto the sidewalk. One African American man gets on the curb but refuses to be pushed up against the wall of the building; they throw him into the street, and five cops tackle him. As he’s being cuffed, a white kid with a video camera asks him “What’s your name?! What’s your name?!” One of the blue-shirted cops thinks he’s too close and gives him a little shove. A white-shirt sees this, grabs the kid and without hesitation billy-clubs him in the stomach.

At this point, the crowd of twenty or so caught in the orange fence is shouting “Shame! Shame! Who are you protecting?! YOU are the 99 percent! You’re fighting your own people!” A white-shirt, now known to be NYPD Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna, comes from the left, walks straight up to the three young girls at the front of the crowd, and pepper-sprays them in the face for a few seconds, continuing as they scream “No! Why are you doing that?!” The rest of us in the crowd turn away from the spray, but it’s unavoidable. My left eye burns and goes blind and tears start streaming down my face. Frank grabs my arm and shoves us through the small gap between the orange fence and the brick wall while everyone stares in shock and horror at the two girls on the ground and two more doubled over screaming as their eyes ooze. In the street I shout for water to rinse my eyes or give to the girls on the ground, but no one responds. One of the blue-shirts, tall and bald, stares in disbelief and says, “I can’t believe he just fuckin’ maced her.” And it becomes clear that the white-shirts are a different species. We need to get out of there.

There was an anger in those white-shirt’s eyes that said, “You don’t matter.” And whether they were just scared or irrational or looking for a target for their rage, there was no excuse for their abuse of authority. I had always thought that people who complained about police brutality must have done something to provoke it, that surely cops wouldn’t hurt people without a really good reason. But they do. We were on the curb, we were contained, we were unarmed. Pepper spray hurts like hell, and the experience only makes me wish I’d done something more to deserve it.