Silent on Trampling of the First Amendment
One excellent recap of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's outright trampling of the First Amendment as his police force evicted the Occupy Wall Street protesters earlier this week from Zuccotti Park, was written by Barbara Morrill for the DailyKos site.
Morrill's post was titled "A media blackout on Michael Bloomberg's raid on Zuccotti Park", making it clear from the get-go that the mayor wasn't much concerned with the First Amendment. She cited statements from mainstream reporters kept from practicing journalism during the raid, bolding added:
New York Observer Politics Reporter Hunter Walker: I was blocked from viewing nypd raid at #occupywallstreet along with reporters from cnbc, nbc, cbs, wsj and reuters #mediablackout
New York Times Reporter Brian Stelter: I'm w/ a NY Post reporter who says he was roughed up by riot police as Zuccotti was cleared. He thinks violence was "completely deliberate."
Everyone seems have received the meme that Bloomberg was the person responsible for the raid on Zuccotti Park, after weeks of strenuously rejecting the argument of Occupy Wall Street protesters and supporters, except Democratic gay consultant David Mixner. He was the key organizer in 2009 of enlisting numerous bold-names from the LGBT community to endorse Bloomberg's bid to buy himself a third-term as Hizzoner.
Mixner's post today, "The Assault on Occupy Wall Street", about the raid and attendant issues omits Bloomberg's name and responsibility for that assault. After singling out Oakland Mayor Jean Quan for a lashing, Mixner deplores the raid and media blackout:
To see squads of police in riot gear move into these encampments late at night or early in the morning to avoid press and witnesses is outrageous. Press were kept at a distance so they could not record the movements and actions of the police. Many members of the press in different cities were arrested with the protesters for attempting to monitor the actions of the police. In many cases, including New York, the police went in with a vengeance. The pictures of some policemen assaulting those peacefully resisting arrest was disturbing.
Nice of him to use words like outrageous and disturbing about the NYPD keeping the press from witnessing the ousting of protesters, and deploring cops bashing activists, but where the hell is Mixner naming the man responsible for it all - Mayor Bloomberg? Says a lot about Mixner that he didn't name Bloomberg in his post.
Mixner and the Bloomberg campaign in 2009 compiled a list of notable gay leaders who backed his reelection bid, and included on the list were Richard Socarides of Equality Matters, Oscar-winner Dustin Lance Black, GLAAD employee and candidate for NYC's City Council Corey Johnson, Truth Wins Out's Wayne Besen, activist and restauranteur Florent Morellet, actress Cherry Jones, former Congressman Michael Huffington, ex-GLAAD executive director Neil Guiliano, and furniture designer Mitchell Gold, among others.
I found that list in an essay written by gay Bloomberg critic and longtime NYC activist Allen Roskoff, who detailed what was wrong with Bloomberg on LGBT and AIDS issues, along with enumerating civil liberty problems with the mayor. Thanks Allen, for archiving who supported Bloomberg in 2009.
If I were advising anyone on that list, I'd tell them to quickly release a statement deploring Bloomberg's despicable raid, the assaults on protesters and the curtailing of the First Amendment. Since the LGBT endorsers lent their good name to help reelection Bloomberg, I believe they have a duty now to condemn the mayor and actions.
A search of Socarides' Equality Matters site failed to turn up any denunciation of Bloomberg's b.s. this week. Click here to read a bit about the years of Bloomberg butt-kissing by Socarides' lying lips.
Why have I singled out Socarides and his group? It has to do with how this sack of shit has instant access to mainstream TV, print and online news outlets, and if he wanted to take his buddy Bloomberg to task for trampling on activists and free speech, he'd have many venues to broadcast his criticism.
The silence of Mixner and Socarides regarding Bloomberg's tactics in recent days says a lot about their allegiance to the mayor.
2 comments:
Mixner is repugnant; he has always been on the wrong side of history as it is being written. Shame on the roster of well-known gay bloggers promoting him.
What Bloomberg has been doing regarding OWS was entirely predictable. What OWS has been so brilliantly teaching us are the visceral realities of class; and those divisions are just as real in the gay community. It's past time to start choosing sides.
thanks for speaking up, ish. it was so irritating to read mixner's take on the raid and media suppression and not see him name his buddy bloomie once. this queen was not gonna remain silent about mixner's omission of bloomie.
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