Truthout: Enough Of This Crap by Willliam Rivers Pitt

[CaliforniaPeggy]

Tuesday 15 June 2010

by: William Rivers Pitt, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed


Reports have been coming out of the Gulf for days about British Petroleum blocking access to beaches and animal-cleaning stations, in some instances using private Blackwater-style mercenaries to do so. Journalists as well as citizens have been thwarted in their attempts to see for themselves the extent of the damage being done by the runaway Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Know what I'd like to see happen? I would like to see a thousand people, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, just show the hell up down there and demand access. Citizens and reporters alike, just get down there, link arms, and walk to the beaches and the marshlands with digital cameras and cell phones for instantaneous blogging of what they see, hear and smell. Pile into as many rented, borrowed and begged boats as can be mustered and plow out there to the scene of the crime. Dare the gendarmes to stop us.

One of two things would happen: either the people would break through those unconscionable corporate barriers and show the world what is really going on in the Gulf, or the forces BP has arrayed against the truth would react with violence, which would tell us everything we need to know about what is happening, and would be enough to break that God damned criminal corporation finally and forever. Either way, there would be thousands of people down there to chronicle what is happening, a ready-made army of volunteers who can also pitch in as best they can and begin the epic process of trying to undo what has been done.

Sounds crazy? Maybe, but it is the kind of direct action that has been missing from our national narrative, not just in the Gulf but all over. What would happen if a million people marched on Wall Street, parked themselves in the road, and demanded that every "too big to fail" institution be torn down a brick at a time? What would happen if a million people parked themselves on Pennsylvania Avenue and refused to leave until American military forces are removed from Iraq, as promised?


The rest:
http://www.truth-out.org/enough-crap60452

[Dreamer Tatum]

1. I thought the title was "Enough of Will Pitt's Crap"

I'm disappointed.

I mean, the rage is appreciated, but his jeremiads always seem to come just a couple of days too late.

[KonaKane]

25. HA!

Words right out of my mouth. I see I'm not the only one here not under the Pitt Spell.

[walldude]

28. Me too... but I like this one...

Not a big Pitt fan, but he's right about this, it's a good idea. I wish I could get off of work...

[Cronus Protagonist]

66. Yeah, let's see if he's the first to do it

Somehow I doubt it.

[lark]

55. What - truth hurts?

Bet you also think that Obama is doing a great job representing us too?

[Maru Kitteh]

29. *snarf*

[AngryOldDem]

41. Ditto.

LOL.

[Cronus Protagonist]

65. He has to figure out where the winds are coming from before he writes

After all, when your entire career is based upon saying what everyone else is already saying, or thinking, however convoluted you write, you cannot also be ground-breaking.

[Dreamer Tatum]

70. EXACTLY. PRECISELY. nt

[Myrina]

81. ... for the win ...

:applause:

[SalviaBlue]

2. Thanks for posting... I miss William Pitt on DU

rec

[Liberal_in_LA]

12. why was he tombstoned? or is this a topic that must not be discussed?

[tomp]

31. tombstoned? i don't believe it. i thought it was voluntary. nt

[saracat]

33. It wasn't

[liberalhistorian]

60. WHOA. I can't believe I missed that, when

in the hell did that happen??????

[Liberal_in_LA]

85. within the last few months

[northzax]

63. for the same reason everyone else gets tombstoned

for being an ass and ignoring the rules.

[grantcart]

74. Mr. Pitt got into an emotional discussion with a poster

The poster made a reference to Mr. Pitts mother.

Mr. Pitt encouraged the poster to find him personally so that the discussion could be continued in person.

The nature of Mr. Pitt response was somewhat unrestrained and included vivid discriptions of various physical activities that he intended to visit on the posters body.

There was common agreement by those who read the exchange that the disciplinary actions taken were not out of line.

[Geoff R. Casavant]

77. He's a friend of mine on FaceBook and admits he was way out of line.

He hasn't tried to sugarcoat his actions as far as I can tell.

[Lasher]

79. I read part of the exchange.

He was, as he himself admits, way out of line. The DU admins had no choice but to tombstone him.

But it is very good to hear he has manned up on Facebook. When we admit our mistakes it is a sign of character and certainly not weakness. In this he reflects credit upon himself at least in my eyes.

[Liberal_in_LA]

84. hee hee. sorry I missed it.

[Myrina]

82. Pitt has come and gone several times over the years ...

.... depending on how much his sycophants love him or others call him on shoddy or lazy writing.

It got rather nauseating to watch the whole "I'm leaving to go live in a cave and eat worms ... oh wait, you like me? Ok, I'll come back" bullshit routine.


:puke:

[Obamanaut]

26. No need to miss him. Someone is posting his stuff quite frequently. nt

[AngryOldDem]

76. Which means he's still here,.

Albeit through the backdoor.

[onethatcares]

3. what you say is correct.

I can leave here on Friday evening, be there Saturday sometime.

This is how civil rights marches worked, they can't kill everyone.

[BrklynLiberal]

4. Thanks for posting CP!

[democrank]

5. Doesn`t sound crazy to me.

We tried that kind of "direct action" during the Vietnam War and during the Civil Rights movement and actually got somewhere.

The obscene mess in the Gulf, like the mess in Iraq and Afghanistan and the mess on Wall Street is the direct result of layer upon layer of bloated governmental bureaucracy owned by corporate contributions and a citizenry that puts up with it.

The record-breaking number of foreclosed homes didn`t do it for American citizens, nor did the thousands of dead and maimed soldiers and civilians in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. Maybe the dead wildlife and the destruction of the Gulf will be enough to end the excuses this time. Maybe we`ll be so fed up we`ll demand real change. Maybe.

[Oak2004]

86. Absolutely

I see people saying that they've marched and voted and petitioned and just get ignored.

Yet there is one thing that very few (and hurray for those brave few) have tried in recent decades, and *it*-- nonviolent resistance-- and not the marches, is what made things happen in the '60's (though it should be noted that many of the better known marches from that era were themselves acts of nonviolent resistance, as would be a march on the Gulf).

My body betrays me these days (I'm in a wheelchair, and am well past the point of being able to travel anywhere), or I'd be back to doing what I spent a good bit of my youth doing, to the betterment of those who came after me (in fact, I still have intentions to put together some trouble locally if I can manage it, though so far I haven't been physically able to).

Yes, being a troublemaker will "ruin" your "future", but so too will doing nothing, given the trajectory we're on. It's the moment when one accepts that one is doomed, and so can fight with the fury of one who has been condemned to die, that one is truly able to change the world.

[annabanana]

6. Thanks Peggy. . DU is poorer without him. . . n/t

[avaistheone1]

43. For sure.

We miss Will. He is a great writer with a wonderful social conscience.

:kick:

[lark]

56. Totally agree

[Dr.Phool]

58. You can subscribe to Truthout for free.

Right to your e-mail.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Brickbat]

8. M-hm.

I would like to see a thousand people, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, just show the hell up down there and demand access. Citizens and reporters alike, just get down there, link arms, and walk to the beaches and the marshlands with digital cameras and cell phones for instantaneous blogging of what they see, hear and smell. Pile into as many rented, borrowed and begged boats as can be mustered and plow out there to the scene of the crime. Dare the gendarmes to stop us.

Well, Mr. Pitt, if that's something you want to see, get on the stick and organize it then! Just a warning, though: you'll find that organizing and leading something like this takes a hell of a lot more work than writing on a Web site about it. Which is why there are more bloggers than show-the-hell-up-protest-leaders.

[Major Hogwash]

9. We need the truth dammit!!

We should know in about 48 business hours.

LoL

He'll never live that one down.

Luv the Will Pitt.

[Mnemosyne]

15. FYI - That wasn't Will, it was Leopold. n/t

[RoyGBiv]

32. +1

I've lost all patience with the "I want this to happen" tirades from people who never even seem to show up, much less actually take a lead in organizing what they want.

[sabrina 1]

53. You mean that hundreds of thousands of people

did not do exactly that to protest Bush's wars, sometimes traveling across the country to do so, often organizing their efforts online? Or are you knew to all this?

[Brickbat]

80. No, that's not what I mean. I mean what I said, which is that it's much more difficult to organize

huge protests like that than it is to write about it. Writing about how "we" "should" "revolt" is an easy way to feel like one has done something. Actually setting a date, applying for permits (over and over again), setting up aid stations, organizing volunteers, riding herd over the many disparate groups that are interested in supporting the march (and redirecting the energies of those you don't want to be associated with), keeping an eye out for those who actively want to sabotage your event, going hat in hand to labor unions to provide a little muscle, cultivating contacts within law enforcement to keep things smooth...well, let's just say a lot of people would rather blog.

[sabrina 1]

83. True, it is always easier to write about something, such as war eg,than

than to actually participate in one. But, we need all kinds of people to organize something like this. First you need people with ideas, then you need a tool like the Internet to get the word out across the country and people willing to do that. And you need people to report on the event otherwise it's like a tree falling in the forest. Of course if we had a real free press we wouldn't need bloggers to do the job.

I am not a fan of Will Pitt, or anyone for that matter, but I do remember that he participated in the war protests, not just blogged about them. And even if a writer just reports on these events, helping to get the word out and get people involved, that is a huge contribution.

We know the MSM will never cover anything coming from the 'left'. I still meet people who think there never were demonstrations against the War in Iraq while they know all about the miniscule, by comparison, 'Teaparty Rallies.

So we need all the help we can get. I would not have known about the huge anti-war rallies had I not been online reading reports from people like Will Pitt, and then using that information to help coordinate other people online who needed information and wanted to participate.

Everyone plays a part, not everyone can do it all, but coverage and disseminating information, and just coming up with the ideas is as important as implementing those ideas imo.

[Better Believe It]

10. I agree. Now what organizations will help initiate and organize massive direct actions?

It was those kinds of mass movements that have brought about real and significant changes in the past and will do so again.

[jotsy]

11. The finest catch on the day Miss Peg

I'm so glad it's you I get to push that rec button for.

I reached out to the Billy pulled Pitt through another venue just after his exit. I wished him power to his pen, which IMHO is what I just took in.

I thank you both.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

14. I thank you, my dear jotsy! And Will would too, if he could...

[jotsy]

22. My bet is he reads our responses.

As you know, I'm about the innards. The spirit of him here endures.

[Catherina]

13. Rec'd It's a much better alternative than just *praying* and *hoping* n/t

[ShamelessHussy]

16. k&r

[Morning Dew]

17. Boy did I misread that post title.

Rec.

Still miss WRP around here.

[G_j]

18. we need direct action

100% agreed

[mmonk]

19. Enough. I agree with Mr. Pitt.

I just don't know what it will take. In the meantime until more people are involved, keep fighting the good fight.

[leftstreet]

20. K&R

[me b zola]

21. K/R

[eowyn_of_rohan]

23. Precisely what is needed... somebody want to start?

[demwing]

39. Yes

I posted the same thing here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=474792&mesg_id=475038

I'll go, and I'm all the way down in Clearwater, Florida.

[mitchum]

24. But who will bell the cat?

[eowyn_of_rohan]

46. Good One ~ There's the Rub...

Must think creatively

[hunter]

27. Ha!

Most excellent eye catching Subject

[madinmaryland]

30. 24 business hours??

:mad:

[tblue37]

34. I was watching "Hair" tonight for perhaps the fifth time in my life.

I got all choked up because it reminded me that this country is doing the same crap in the Middle East now that we did in Vietnam, and millions of antiwar protesters haven't been able to get past the MSM filter to make themselves heard. A protest by a handful of tea baggers will fill the news cycle, but tens of thousands, even millions, of antiwar, anti Big Bank, or anticorporate protesters are readily ignored by the corporate media.

The whole BP thing is just another example of the way our protests and resistance are not moving the powers that be.

[demwing]

38. Now go rent "Across the Universe"

It's a musical chronical of thelate 60's set to the music of the Beatles. I especially liked what they did with "I Want You/She's So (Heavy)"

The idea of Uncle Sam lusting after young men for the war machine was fitting...

[scentopine]

35. Don't count on democrats for leadership against BP - we need leaders from the outside... centrists

will snuff out any ember of change. We all see that now. Democrats and republicans - its like one of those games where you try to find the differences and after an hour you discover the lady way in the background on the left has blue socks and on the right she has red socks.

Don't listen to the centrist bullshit that we shouldn't be angry and anger never solves anything. They are moderating you down so they can continue to rape and pillage while claiming broad support.

Anger creates change. Get angry, very fucking angry. The centrists destroy everything they touch.

[swilton]

36. The 'American exceptionalism' paradigm

seems to dominate this narrative as if 'we the people' deserve better than the rest of the world.

[malaise]

37. Excellent idea and super post

I miss you William Pitt. :hi:

[HughMoran]

40. I agree

Get a caravan going from NOLA and see what those clowns do then.

[Nye Bevan]

42. TONY HAYWARD HAS BEEN INDICTED

But they gave him 24 business hours to put his affairs in order.

[conscious evolution]

44. Doesn't Florida have a law that lets people use deadly force

against those one percieves as an imminent threat?
I wonder what would happen if citizens started shooting the blackwater goons when they try to stop people from accessing the beaches and waters in the gulf.

[Dr.Phool]

59. Yes, we are "The Shoot Me State".

Terrorists? Tourists? Can't tell the difference.

[spin]

75. I see that you live in Florida ...

but if you have a concealed weapons permit you should know that you NEVER go looking for trouble in order to display or use your weapon.

Those with concealed weapons permits in Florida have an exemplary record of good behavior with their firearms. Florida publishes a monthly summary report on Concealed Weapons Permits at:

http://licgweb.doacs.state.fl.us/stats/cw_monthly.html

If you take the time to visit the link you will find that in the 22+ year time period between October 1, 1987 to May 31, 2010, 1,787,628 licenses have been issued and currently 729,103 licenses are valid. Only 167 licenses have been revoked for a crime involving a firearm after the license was issued.

[spin]

72. Touchy situation ...

Non violence should work better in this situation.

I have a Florida concealed weapons permit and I really wouldn't want to go to a beach and provoke a encounter with these BP goons as an excuse to draw my weapon. I could easily lose my permit. I could also end up in jail if I shot some individual who was merely doing a job as BP security. The authorities might easily decide that I started the encounter and elevated it to the point that I used it as an excuse to misuse my permit.

BP security could say that my presence on the beach was endangering my health and they were merely trying to protect me from my own foolishness.

A better tactic might be for a camera crew from the local news station or a national news service to travel to the beach and insist on their First Amendment right to film the event. If they were in no danger, but the BP security decided to use force to prevent them from filming and they were able to film the attack, the footage would go viral on the internet.

Of course the problem is finding a media outlet with the balls to send a crew and a crew with the balls to actually take the risk.

Anderson Cooper from CNN or Rachel Maddow from MSNBC could possibly do the job but in general reporters are taught not to be the story but to report it.

[guruoo]

45. K&R

[Ho Tai]

47. Jesus Christ

but there are a lot more sophomores hanging out here than there used to be.

"My guy, right or wrong," is why we're in this fucking mess, boneheads!

All thes fucking excuses for not doing the right thing! Yes, it IS that simple.

[theFrankFactor]

69. +1 Kick it!

[Dystopian]

48. KandR.

Thank you for posting.
His piece is excellent ...as always.

The subject title...holy cow!

peace~

[Heidi]

49. Excellent article, unfortunate thread title. (nt)

[harun]

50. Comma after crap.

[lonestarnot]

51. How's that Hairy Bastid C. Peg?

;)

[blindpig]

52. I'll be damned...

Mr Pitt sez something sensible for a change, Direct Action is exactly what is needed.

[The Wielding Truth]

54. One positive note. All those people would help the tourism problem.

[earcandle]

57. We should send the closest million so we are energy friendly. Show up with bikes and bullhorns,

cameras and shovels.  And make sure our borders are secure and
not being used to bring in terrorists up the mississippi.

Why do I say that?  I really don't know.  But it seems to me
something to watch out for if the monied wealth get what they
want: America to go down as a third world country full of
slaves and feudal lords, tribal gangs, etc.  

[JDPriestly]

61. It's a great idea.

But the crowds need to be drawn from the people in the Gulf area.

If we all get in our cars and drive to the Gulf from New York and California and points above and between, we will just use mega-gallons of gasoline and make things worse.

Also, where would all these people stay once they were down there?

I think, otherwise, that this is a great idea. We are not being told the truth.

Obama's speech has been criticized for being too vague. Thom Hartmann noted this morning that the only really clear plan for the future that Obama voiced was a plea for prayer. Could it be that the situation is so bad that prayer is our only hope?

Again, if deprived of information, of free access to all available information, aren't we left to, nearly obliged to, imagine the worst?

BP is not gaining anything by hiding the truth. It stands to lose everything by hiding the truth. It may be that hiding the truth goes over in Britain. It doesn't here. Someone needs to explain to BP that Americans love nothing more than imagining catastrophes, that we never believe what we are told and that scandals are as American as our morning toast and orange juice. Secrecy ultimately loses in this country.

Great idea to have demonstrations. Start in New Orleans and Mobile.

[katty]

62. yeah, enough is right! K&R

[Jeffersons Ghost]

64. K&R great point N/T

[Cleita]

67. Good idea, but I don't think a lot of people want to confront and end

up in a situation where they or others could get hurt.

[uponit7771]

68. Nah, easier to complain on the internet tubes about our leaders

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

71. K & R love seeing Pitt back...

at DU, even if it is just a cross-post. Never stopped following him.

Thanks CaliforniaPeggy!

We do need to get more than angry, we need to show up. If not at the gulf itself then somewhere else.
had a "protest" here in Michigan lately against BP, sorry turnout, people wandered around wondering what to do.

I was embarrassed.

I come from the "burn your draft card" era. Had a better response then.

We need to come together, in spite of our differences, and fight for Our Earth, Our Country, Our Home.

[Beringia]

73. I agree

Though I don't know what is happening exactly if a person wants to visit the beach or marshes, I don't think it should be completely blocked out. There should be a way for the media to get in there.

[hulka38]

78. You know what I'd like to see?

I'd like to see Barack Obama during a crisis at home act like the CIC and move the contractors out of the way and have Holder work over the BP execs that gave the order for this to happen. How can this even happen in the U.S.?