Tankkks in Westwood
How to write like an angry anti-establishment progressive - use the word "fascist" and the initials "KKK" a lot. Note that this is distinguished from the progressives who actually believe in progress and coming up with solutions to problems. I guess you can say that there are progressives for progress and progressives for regress.
(My next project - out-reactionaring a reactionary.)
Anyway, I added my contribution to a thread at Infoshop about tanks in Westwood. First, the original post:
TANKS APPEAR AT ANTI-WAR PROTEST IN WESTWOOD, CA
LOS ANGELES, November 9, 2004 - At 7:50 PM armored tanks showed up at an anti-war protest in front of the federal building in Westwood.
The tanks circled the block twice, the second time parking themselves in the street and directly in front of the area where most of the protesters were gathered.
Enraged, some of the people attempted to block the tanks, but police quickly cleared the street.
The people continued to protest the presence of the tanks, but after about ten minutes the tanks drove off. It is unclear as to why the tanks were deployed to this location.
Needless to say, this generated a lot of reaction. Here's a sample:
Morpheus writes on Wednesday November 10 2004 @ 02:17PM PST: [ reply | parent ]
I suspect this was an attempt to intimidate activists.
Remember Tiananmen! writes on Wednesday November 10 2004 @ 02:21PM PST: [ reply | parent ]
I remember when a lone protestor standing in front of a tank was the symbol of freedom's struggle. The pundits at the time said it would never happen here.
C.G.Coit For: Rocky Mountain Med writes on Wednesday November 10 2004 @ 03:18PM PST: [ reply | parent ]
Isthis what a police state looks like? The cops are not worried about Arab types; no, it is the people they wish to crush.
Jay writes on Thursday November 11 2004 @ 08:20AM PST: [ reply | parent ]
When the police raided Tompkins Square last saturday Indymedia NYC was down as well.....i think their new tactic is suppress OUR media and then move in for the kill
anarchist writes on Wednesday November 10 2004 @ 08:00PM PST: [ reply | parent ]
Gasoline and Quaker Instant Oatmeal in a Perrier bottle is pretty good tank repellent.
cc writes on Wednesday November 10 2004 @ 09:24PM PST: [ reply | parent ]
I was at the protest last night and have jpgs. There was no mistaking that the tanks showing up was a deliberate attempt to intimidate peaceful protesters. I have lived in this area for decades (So.Cal. and West. L.A.) just off of Wilshire and I have to travel many So. Cal. roads for my job: I have never ever seen a tank on the road, much less one that went around the block twice and parked in front of peaceful protestors.
mr. Auer writes on Wednesday November 10 2004 @ 09:32PM PST: [ reply | parent ]
What does it matter to an unarmed civilian protester whether they are called "tanks" or APC´s? You will be easily run over or killed with the APCs machine gun in any case, should the soldiers so decide. Clearly that is meant as intimidation. They driving there by mistake, on a joyride? Someone is being rather naive about it. Tanks (or APCs for that matter) arent given to soldiers for simply joyrides. And if you still havent noticed, the government of the US is heading the way of Nazi Germany at full speed. It is very apparent even here in Europe. Possibly more so than in States where the news propaganda is being churned out massively all the time. Believe me, as Im used to European media and internet as my sources, the US media looks like straight out of Orwells 1984. Utterly unbelievable propaganda. As Goebbels (Hitlers propaganda minister) stated: A lie told once is just a lie, but when you repeat the lie tens of times, it becomes the Truth to people. And the bigger the lies, the better they will be believed. For how could the government lie to the people? How indeed...
Rock Pitts writes on Wednesday November 10 2004 @ 10:50PM PST: [ reply | parent ]
It could be a test to gauge the reaction of the protestors. A way of gathering tactical information for future use in more intense situations. I wasn't at this protest but I'm guessing it must of seemed absurd (and frightening) having these tanks show up at a relatively small, peaceful protest. If any protestors had been injured because of it I think it would have made them look really bad in the public eye, overreacting to a peaceful protest. However, they might be preparing for larger, less peaceful scenarios. This could have been a practice run.
Keelhaul writes on Thursday November 11 2004 @ 07:50AM PST: [ reply | parent ]
Pigs, national guardsmen or stormtroopers, it spells police state no matter how you cook it. Speaking of which, they won't feel so cocky when someone checks a molotov cocktail or two at 'em!
Time to remind them that Iraq isn't the only place with an insurgency.
Erik Johnson writes on Thursday November 11 2004 @ 11:39AM PST: [ reply | parent ]
I'm sure the APC presence in Westwood was a total coincidence...just like in Israel when the IDF drove the bulldozer they used to run over Rachel Corrie with right past her burial service.
So, now you have a large quantity of people utterly convinced that The Man is about to snuff them out. How can you argue against such stuff, even when you've read the explanation, sourced from the very group that reported the incident in the first place? The answer is that you can't argue against such stuff. If you can't beat them, join them. In that spirit, I added my own contribution to the thread, couched in appropriate terms.
Ontario Emperor writes on Friday November 12 2004 @ 12:10PM PST: [ reply | parent ]
The fix is in. The fascist regime has reported the obviously false claim that the tanks were simply lost. Check the agent of Amerikkkan imperialism, L.A. Observed:
According to witnesses and the video, however, the Marines in the Styker vehicles seemed as bemused as the protesters were angry. Commenter "Steve" at Indy Media checked into it this morning and wrote that the armed trucks had driven up the San Diego Freeway from Camp Pendleton to participate in today's Veterans Day parade in Westwood, exited at Wilshire, and became lost in the midst of the demonstration. They hung out for a few minutes then left, trying to get un-lost....
Thursday: Today's CityBeat runs a brief (not online that I can find) confirming via the LAPD that the two armored personnel carriers were headed to the nearby National Guard armory. They took the wrong exit off the freeway, and when they stopped at the red light at Wilshire and Veteran were briefly surrounded by protesters. The cops interceded to clear the path and point the trucks back to the armory.
This is worst than the fascist regime's setup to fix the Democratic nomination for John Kkkerry...
As for the thing about Kerry, I made it up. Unfortunately, there's some precedent for it; Nixon was apparently delighted that he wouldn't have to face Muskie in the 1972 election, and was very happy to face McGovern. Therefore, wouldn't it make sense to a name-calling anti-progressive to assume that the Bush Administration would seek to remove Howard Dean from consideration and replace him with a very rich guy who wants to kill Osama?
OK, now to find a reactionary.
Comments