Rachel Maddow: Deranged Millionaire

[LiberalFighter]

in response to Bloomberg's actions against the 99%.

I have equal disdain for the New York's finest blues. Hopefully, there are some decent blues in NY that respect the law and don't act like company goons.

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. Act like? They ARE company goons.

[mojowork_n]

2. On Amy Goodman this morning, they said police are being replaced...

...with assorted ex-military, ex-nightclub bouncers, and all the other assorted ex-whatever who work for "private security" firms.

Ordinary police, who have some job security, were proving to be too friendly. Paycheck-to-paycheck goons, they hope, will be
more reliable.

It was early this morning and I just caught it while getting to work, but that's what I remember.

[Thav]

4. If that's true

Who is overseeing these mercenaries? What gives them jurisdiction? And who polices the mercenaries?

[mojowork_n]

5. They're Pinkertons

Back in the day, a hundred years ago, when the miners were striking or workers were trying to organize,
the mine owners and the money bags knew that local police were the neighbors, and sometimes the friends
or relatives of some of the protesters.

So they imported goons from the Pinkerton Agency.

Some of the Pinkerton agents did double duty as infiltrators (James McParlan wormed his way in with the
Molly McGuires), acting as spies and sometimes agents provacateurs.

It's impossible to say for sure, but some of these guys could be putting on cop uniforms for part of their
clock time, then going 'black op,' pretending to be storefront-smashing "anarchists," to get much more
lucrative remuneration.


In a digital age, with so many phones also doing double duty as cameras, we can only hope the bums get their
payback.

"Who's overseeing these mercenaries?" We all are, but no one is in charge. That's part of what these protests
are about. There are 'good guys' among the cops, working at some of the Federal agencies, and maybe -- one
can only dream -- even at places like DHS and the Justice Dept. But there are also opportunists, and bald-faced,
self-serving tools everywhere.

[GoCubsGo]

3. Ummmm....Rachel....

That's "Billionaire", not "Millionaire". Bloomberg is the 17th wealthiest person in the country. He is worth $19.5 Billion, as of this September:

http://www.therichest.org/celebnetworth/politician/independent/michael-bloomberg-net-worth/