This is why Mayor Bloomberg was smart in avoiding a showdown with the protesters. If there were a showdown (like the one in Oakland) the city would lose and the protesters would gain sympathy from the public. Instead Bloomberg has allowed the weather, the criminal element, the homeless and the freak community to erode Occupy Wall Street’s effectiveness.
I attended college in NYC from 1969 to 1973 and went down to check out a few of the anti-war protests that popped up from time-to-time in the city. It was quickly obvious that protests in NYC turn into “freak shows” that draw everyone with a cause and many others who just want to have a good time. New York City thrives on a freak show and the anti-war protests drew them all out. I suspect that Occupy Wall Stree is having the same problem. One advice to anyone who wants to protest in NYC...watch your wallet. The pickpockets are really good in New York.
“Instead Bloomberg has allowed the weather, the criminal element, the homeless and the freak community to erode Occupy Wall Street’s effectiveness.”
Hence, my reference to maggot eating through the mass of shit.
By avoiding a showdown, Bloomberg is not just avoiding imputing sympathy or allowing erosion to take it’s toll. Remember the line “a conservative is a liberal who got mugged”? he’s letting the natural order of humanity “mug” the kids who are so used to the luxuries of society they don’t understand why conservative rules are in place. Maybe, having suffered from assorted social maladies, they’ll figure out that some people making lots of money is a small “price” to pay for facilitating a society of such comfortable norms.
That's why I carried a purse with fake stuff in it and my ID and money in my shoes.