Mayday! Mayday!
Published at 19:43 on 1 May 2012
I sat much of it out, having only recently stared a new job and thus being unwilling to take leave time so early on. I did catch a bit of the tail end of the day of demonstrations, however, and have several observations to share.
First, the fearmongering. At work they forwarded a e-mail from the Downtown Seattle Association (my job is downtown) basically predicting that the apocalypse was going to break out today. Nothing of the sort happened, of course. On the block where my employer’s building is located, nothing out of the usual ever became visible, and it is only a few blocks from Westlake Park, which was one of the focal points of today’s action. At Westlake, tourists were posing using the rally as a backdrop.
Second, the yellow journalism. Many of my co-workers were nervously following the Establishment media’s web sites today. Most were smart enough to figure out that there was something fishy going on with the reporting. One showed me a “paint bomb” that looked more like a mostly-empty paint container that had spilled. Which, in fact, is exactly what it was. When I stopped by Westlake, I saw an area with stocked with tempera paint, cardboard, and glitter, so that those so inclined could fashion their own protest signs. And some of the paint had indeed been spilled. Glitter had also been spilled. Maybe they could have breathlessly reported a “glitter bomb” as well.
Third, the hypocritical double standards, perhaps best exhibited here. Note how when some protesters use violence against reporters, it’s just an attack, but when the cops use violence against those same reporters, it’s all because of a “mistake.” They could have just has accurately said those protesters mistook them for the sort of reporters who collaborate with the police. Such reporters actually exist, by the way.