You have exposed more of The Universal Smedley, who is walking among us, and of whom Bob Dylan was speaking when he said "I’ve been trying to get as far away from myself as I can" (Things Have Changed).

Horrifying video.

What's the backstory here? Looks like those cops enter the park and go right for that guy. As soon as he sees them he seems to know they're coming for him saying,"They're coming at me. They're coming at me." And before that you hear a voice(I assume it's the guy capturing the video) explaining to someone something that sounds maybe like-"I think they're going to arrest the student rep now." He says this with a little chuckle.

So what's going on? Why do the cops beeline for that guy? What was he supposed to have done, if anything? Why do they taser him for no apparent reason? Why are no words spoken by the cops, at least that you can hear on the video?

Unless there is some extrordinary reason which is not readily apparent from the video I think all those cops should have to do serious jail time. Extra time for the woman who did the tasering. This kind of behavior must not be allowed to stand.

This country is becoming increasingly and more dangerously lout of control.

This isn't fair at all. I honestly believe that if this had happened to the Tea Party, the left would have taken that opportunity to demagogue them and use that as proof that they were a violent threat all along.

Fact is both movements agree on too much and there's too much at stake to continue fighting across party lines, as you're doing here.

David Lasagna @2,

They have infiltrated every movement that has ever countered them. With Smedley (see comment #1).

They can also see if your fly is unzipped or not from space, from spy satellites, and can hear you talk through RF in paper.

What they can't do is make any fucking sense, so don't expect it.

Libconlib @3--

Don't understand your comment at all.

1. If cops had gone to a Tea Party rally and singled someone out outta the blue and tasered them, I would be horrified in that case, too. I don't care about the political stripes of who's being tasered. When I see ANYONE being tasered unnecessarily it freaks me out. I know it could just as easily be me being electrocuted. From what I can tell the use of tasers by law enforcement in this country is way, way outta control.

2. I don't see anything here as fighting across party lines. I think one of the points Brad is trying to make here is along the lines of hey, here's the sort of thing that the Tea Party is always screaming about--government abuse of power-- and while you never actually see this type of shit coming down on Tea Party activists, you DO see it coming down all the time on the heads of Occupiers. So where are the Tea Partiers when the shit they rail against is actually happening in real time to American citizens? Why aren't they putting their money where their mouths are and standing in solidarity with their Occupy Brethren and Sistren?

The answer would seem to be that though as you say both movements have much in common there is at least a faction of the Tea Party movement who seem to see progressives only as yet another "them" or "other".

Pointing that out is not fighting across party lines, in my view. It's naming the beast, in this case hypocrisy or inconsistency of word and action, so as to make it more visible.

Dear Dredd @4,

I'm not quite sure that I fully get what you're saying but I can say that though I don't expect a lot of sense from, for instance, those cops(or their supporters)I would expect that they have at least some sort of narrative they believe that would help justify, in their own heads at least, what from my perspective are their nonsensical actions. Such a narrative on the table might be a useful starting point for the introduction of an alternative narrative that DOES make some sense.

When will we start holding officers accountable for their brutality and excessive use of force? Evicting protesters is Unconstitutional and endangers the basic rights of EVERY last American. Is this the country we were raised in, were men and women are beaten, gassed, pepper-sprayed and arrested for their disapproval of the government? We have to be careful to protect our Constitutional Rights! Raise awareness and do your part with these free posters I designed for the movement on my artist’s blog at http://dregstudiosart.bl...for-occupy-movement.html

David @6,

you posted:

What's the backstory here? Looks like those cops enter the park and go right for that guy. As soon as he sees them he seems to know they're coming for him saying,"They're coming at me. They're coming at me." And before that you hear a voice(I assume it's the guy capturing the video) explaining to someone something that sounds maybe like-"I think they're going to arrest the student rep now."

to which I posted:

They have infiltrated every movement that has ever countered them ... They can also see if your fly is unzipped or not from space, from spy satellites, and can hear you talk through RF in paper ...

They knew exactly where to go to the "rep" ...

Do I really have to elaborate further?

I will close by saying ... don't have leaders and don't have specifics ... except spontaneously ... they know when Santa is taking a piss ... you should know that by now.

Brandt Hardin @7,

"When will we start holding officers accountable for their brutality and excessive use of force?"

When the people have the power.

The only way the people can have the power is, to use an old Army term, by "going ape shit."

That will not happen.

Of course this will not happen to the Tea Party.

As retired Philadelphia Police Captain Ray Lewis observed following his arrest by NYPD, so-called civilian police agencies are acting as mercenaries for the 1%.

As the Tea Party is made up of hapless stooges who are acting for the benefit of the 1%, there is no reason for the mercenaries who carry out the bidding of the 1% to carry out repression against the useful idiots who've been duped by the one percent.

I am as outraged as anyone over the widespread abuse of Occupiers occurring throughout the country, and I appreciate all your hard work (I follow your tweets religiously), but I think dragging the Tea Party into this article was a mistake. In doing so, you are perpetuating the us vs them, lib vs con, Dem vs, Repub, OWS vs Tea Party, (and on an on...) attitude that makes it so much easier to oppress us all through divide and conquer tactics.

Do I share your frustrations? Absolutely. Furthermore, I couldn't be disagree with the Tea Party more on quite a few key issues. Nonetheless, I try to remain friendly and open to Tea Party-ers, encouraging them to keep an open mind about OWS just as OWS should keep an open mind about them. If we are simply telling them that we are a better, more "real" movement than they are, we aren't accomplishing anything.

Dredd @9--

I'm more optimistic than you. Especially after just talking to Jeannie Dean on the phone.(And THAT was a huge treat).

I'm not saying it'll be easy. I'm not saying it's going to happen tomorrow. I'm not saying that we'll win or that even if we "win" we'll be in time to avoid a whole bunch of the catastrophic shit we're heading for but I am saying that change most emphatically IS happening!

just wait until the "occupy rich neighborhoods" starts, and then see how the cops react.

I have to say that I always have to question the Gender Issue when I see these female cops with tasers and weapons used against men. They of course wouldn't last 2 minutes with the Male Backup present. Who would marry a female cop, and what kind of mother or wife would they make?
I see some ENVY ISSUE'S here if you get my meaning...

This is all on Obama's watch. I can only conclude that he wants it this way. I have not heard him speak against it. I am sure I will not.

We do not have a democracy. We may have had one, once, for mainstream white Americans. We have never had a democracy for certain members of our population. Now we do not have it for the 99%.

Same (but non-lethal) tactics as Fallujah. An illegal, military-style engagement.

Cordon 'em off, pretend you are giving those law-abiding citizens a chance to leave (when really you are not), then everyone who remains is guilty and in need of punishment. Move in and arrest 'em all. And whatever you do, don't communicate with them. They are THE ENEMY. And... target the press but don't let it look like you are. They might report what happened, and we can't have that.

Say NO to Police Brutality! NO to Police State Tyranny!
NO to Police Brutality!
NO to Police State Tyranny!

Now we are seeing the real demeanor behind the right-wing extremist walker supporters.

http://crooksandliars.co...reat-or-warning#comments

If this doesn't show you what a dishonourable disgusting disgrace our police have been allowed to become, I don't know what will. Signed up to "protect and serve", now they consistently abuse and torture. Enough to make one puke. Don't waste my time with a bunch of "there are good cops too" crap...I know, I've met some, and been grateful for their assistance. But the power tripping nazis that are violating our civil rights on a daily basis are all over this country, and every single one of the criminals with badges should be rotting in jail. Thank god for video and youtube. Everyone who knows any cop caught abusing civilians should confront them, publicize their shame, and cast them out from their communities until they make ammends. Crooked cops belong in jail! OCCUPY EVERYWHERE!

David @12,

A famous journalist was just arrested in public at a congressional hearing without provocation.

It is not a matter of optimism or pessimism, it is a matter of fascism hidden in plain sight.

Maybe it's time for protestors to create human walls to protect each other. And maybe it's time for protestors to carry tasers & pepper spray. The behavior of the cops in this and MANY other events around the U.S. amounts to criminal, dishonorable, abuse & torture. Those cops' communities should shun & press charges against them, & shame them out of town. If video cameras aren't enough to keep rogue cops from abusing power, people need to seriously organize. There are more of us than them...

I say no to the tasers (or stun guns) and pepper spray, especially if intended to be used against cops.

Dredd @18-

We're having different conversations. Or I'm not following you. Or something. I can see what you're calling the fascism. There's nothing to argue about there. (That filmmaker/journalist, Josh Fox, was on the Ed Show tonight. Love Josh Fox.)

I was responding to you saying that the only way for people to have power is by going apeshit and that that wasn't going to happen. That sounded to me like you were thus saying change wasn't gonna happen. It was that sentiment I was calling pessimistic and that I disagree with.

I'll say it again. Change is happening. And I feel that all these goon squad tactics, whether tasering a student in the park, arresting a filmmaker in Congress, or fast tracking anti-union legislation in the Indiana are helping fuel it.

libconlib @3: Moot point. This couldn't happen to the "Tea Party"! Why would the state attack it's own operatives?

David Lasagna @5: You're so obviously a good person. If only you could see the Tea Party for what it is: controlled, hijacked, neutered. It is unimaginable that the establishment would spend all that time and money cultivating the Tea Party only then to Taser it. They only Tazer THREATS. Think about it.

David @21,

No doubt change is happening, it is just that camping out in tents is not the form of change "we are the change we have been waiting for" should be satisfied with ... unless of course the Cub Scouts are the model that induced that camping out.

DieDaily @22-

Thanks for the kind words.

Also--not sure where you might have gotten the idea that I don't know the Tea Party has been hijacked and that I don't understand why they aren't being tasered. I do and I do.

Dredd @23,

If working on melding Occupy with the election integrity movement and interfering with home foreclosures, to name just two Occupy related activities, are the equivalent of Cub Scouts camping out, than I'm Mr. Clean's hair stylist and Pee Wee Herman's strength coach.