This Would Be Funny If It Weren't So Sad

NYPD Prepares for Occupy Wall Street Protesters at Times Square

I took this shot today at about 1:30pm on 41st Street between Broadway and 6th Avenue. NYPD officers gathering in preparation for the Occupy Wall Street protesters marching up 6th Avenue headed towards Time Square.



Approximately 300 cops lined up on the sidewalk extending from 6th Avenue and almost reaching Broadway. Blog reader Nowhere Man is participating in today's march and will give me his perspective of today's events along with some photographs of the day.

Picture of the Day

At the Occupy Wall Street protest.

Wisconsin's State Tree Is What?! - UPDATED

Bill O'Reilly has been getting pretty hot under the collar at all the Wisconsin protesters chanting "Fox lies" while their so-called "reporters" are on the ground at the state capitol in Madison. So what does The O'Reilly Factor do? They lie.

Here's the intrepid BillO and his crack staff using stock footage of some random protest while speaking about the people in the streets in Wisconsin to promote the illusion that the protests are violent. Notice the short sleeve shirts and the palm trees in the background.



Now that's some fair and balanced reporting, huh? And here I thought the Wisconsin state tree was the Sugar Maple. Someone had better correct Wikipedia!


UPDATE (3/3/11, 12:15pm): Mediaite has defended O'Reilly as "not lying" regarding the above video.

The segment in question occurred during The O’Reilly Factor as Bill O’Reilly was discussing the anger in the union protests. At the top of the piece, he rolled footage of a number of the “union thug” videos that have become so popular on Right Wing news sites in the past few weeks. O’Reilly clearly identified the videos as collectively coming from “all over the country.” As many shows do, this B-roll footage was replayed again during the rest of the segment, including during an interview with Mike Tobin, Fox News’ reporter who’s been on the ground in Wisconsin.

Here’s where the problem occurred. Tobin was discussing Wisconsin (since that where he’s been) while the general footage played in the background. Taken out of context, these few seconds would seem deceptive. But, if you’d already seen the full segment, you’d recognize what the footage was (besides, this same clip has aired on other Fox News programs like Glenn Beck and been identified as coming from California). Further, the protest footage from Wisconsin is clearly labeled “Madison” as well as date and time stamped, while the “palm tree footage” is labeled “Union Protests.” Confusing? Not really, though if one were to simply see the 43-second clip on YouTube, one could reasonably raise their eyebrows. A reminder of the importance of context.

Had Fox News Channel, and in particular The O'Reilly Factor, been completely honest, instead of labeling the video "union protests" they would have specified the locality of each video. It's not so hard.

They deliberately misled the viewer by speaking to someone stationed in Madison, Wisconsin while showing video from Sacramento. How do I know it's Sacramento? Because a legit website, Think Progress, updated their site with that information.

By the way, that video of the shoving match was the only reported incident by Sacramento police, so the idea that protests have turned violent has no merit. And reporting about "anger" at protests isn't really news, is it? Anger at protests is a given, otherwise there probably wouldn't be a protest.

Was it a lie? Technically, no. But it was definitely sloppy journalism at a minimum and at worst, tried to paint a biased picture of what's actually happening across the country; far from the "fair and balanced" motto they purport. Therefore, I'll make the reassessment that the O'Reilly segment was purposely misleading.

Morons Have Free Speech Rights

Even the Westboro Baptist Church.

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a grieving father's pain over jeering protests at his Marine son's funeral must yield to First Amendment protections for free speech. All but one justice sided with a fundamentalist church that has stirred outrage with raucous demonstrations contending God is punishing the military for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

It's unfortunate that these low life scum make a mockery of their god and whatever twisted religion they profess by acting out in profane, bigoted protests whenever and wherever the mood strikes, like at military funerals or Holocaust museums. But hey, hate groups have First Amendment rights just like anyone else, and if you want to look like a buffoon and call the President of the United States the Antichrist, that's within your rights as well. But that's what separates us from almost every other country in the world. And sometimes it's not easy.

"America isn't easy."

Cartoon of the Day

They're So Godly

Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church will be dispatching members of its congregation to protest the funeral of Elizabeth Edwards this Saturday, CNN reports.

..."When they were visited from the Most High God with the death of their 16-year-old son, they did not humble themselves before His mighty hand. They reared up in rage, decided they would show God who is boss, and meddled in matters of the womb, resulting in 2 more children -- now motherless."

But It's Not About Racism (The Teabagger Edition)

So here's a "real American" (How do I know he's a real American? He's wearing an American flag polo, godammit!) - a "tea party patriot" - a protester against health care reform proudly standing with his signs on the Washington Mall depicting a donkey excreting a Shepard Fairey Obama head, complete with Hitler moustache; his other sign threatening violence if health care reform passes, because, you know, that's how the tea party rolls. And that's how they'll continue to roll until the politicians they support have the courage to stand up to the idiots in the crowd and tell them it's not okay to bring guns to rallies, or depict the President of the United States in a Nazi Schutzstaffel uniform, or spit on civil rights leaders and call them "niggers."

"This afternoon, [Congressman Emanuel Cleaver] was walking into the Capitol to vote, when one protester spat on him.

...This is not the first time the Congressman has been called the "n" word and certainly not the worst assault he has endured in his years fighting for equal rights for all Americans. That being said, he is disappointed that in the 21st century our national discourse has devolved to the point of name calling and spitting. He looks forward to taking a historic vote on health care reform legislation tomorrow, for the residents of the Fifth District of Missouri and for all Americans. He believes deeply that tomorrow's vote is, in fact, a vote for equality and to secure health care as a right for all. Our nation has a history of struggling each time we expand rights. Today's protests are no different, but the Congressman believes this is worth fighting for."

How many people of ethnicity do you see in this photo?



Now I know that painting with a broad brush, especially one dipped in "whites only" paint, does a disservice to misguided members of the Tea Party whose protestorial intentions have nothing to do with race whatsoever, but until they disavow those who walk around with Obama as witch doctor depictions, insist he's an undocumented worker or refuse to believe he's actually an American citizen, they're losing their message to the crazies.

You'd better learn what Socialism, Marxism and Communism are before assuming Glenn Beck is correct in whatever he happens to spew in any particular hour, or else you confirm your status as a moron.

Looking back at that "I didn't vote for the Socialist" sign, I can't help but wonder what the word "socialist" was a substitution for?

UPDATE (10:25pm): Rob Tornoe reports on fellow cartoonist Steve Hill's visit to the Longworth Building in DC today.

Ballsy Greenpeace Protest

Greenpeace activists scaled Mt. Rushmore today to issue a challenge to President Obama. "Our brave climbers rappelled down the face of Mt. Rushmore today to issue a challenge to President Obama: If he wants to get his face on this monument, he needs to be a true leader on global warming, not a politician," said one Greenpeace member.

Palestinian Protests In Times Square

Here's a glimpse of what's happening on 7th Avenue between 42nd and 37th Streets today.

From what I understand, it was a joint Palestinian/Israeli protest to stop the bombing in Gaza. I did see one sign that read, "Another New York Jew Against Israeli Apartheid."

And yet today we have this: Israeli ground forces enter Gaza in escalation

(Crappy photo taken from my Treo 700WX)

Debate Protesters at ABC Hand Out Flag Pins

This is great. DDay at Hullabaloo writes about the protest at Disney Studios on Friday as 60-70 people voiced their opinions of the "shoddy and despicable" handling of the latest Democratic debate. It shows you the strength of the internet and blogosphere when 70 people can organize within 24 hours without a single phone call being made.

Their main goal: bringing attention to the way moderators Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopolous focused on the past Democratic gaffes of Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, instead of issues like the war in Iraq and the American economy.

[Organizer Rick] Jacobs said he was offended that Obama was asked why he hasn't worn an American flag pin on his lapel.

"Patriotism isn't defined by a flag pin made in China," he said.

...[News reports] didn't note the most important part of the protest: our distribution of flag pins to employees as they left the ABC gates. Letting them know that they were getting "free patriotism on a stick" and telling them that "Charlie Gibson won't approve of you unless you wear one," we handed out about 300 pins. Most took them graciously and approvingly.

Yes... the pins were made in China.

Not Ready To Make Nice

Congratulations to the Dixie Chicks.

The Chicks, who ignited controversy four years ago when lead singer Natalie Maines criticized President Bush on the eve of the Iraq war, won all five [Grammy] Awards for which they were nominated, including the big three: album of the year (for "Taking the Long Way"), song of the year and record of the year (both for "Not Ready to Make Nice").

"I think people are using their freedom of speech with all these awards. We get the message," said Maines, paying tribute to other nominees with an oblique acknowledgement that the group was being honored as much for its stand as its music. "I'm very humbled."

Official Dixie Chicks Website