The message is clear: Challenge Wall Street and America's plutocratic financial system and face police brutality

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I get that it could be a lot worse than pepper spray, but still. This is what those paid to protect the system (including the oh-so-beloved, can-do-no-wrong NYPD) will do -- and they will do a lot worse if necessary.

And saying it's not as bad as it otherwise could be isn't a defence, it's a threat.

(And while this particular pepper spraying of peaceful protesters may have been an act of brutality by a single rogue cop, and while we shouldn't lump all police together, don't think this was just some isolated incident.) 

In other words, if you meddle with the primal forces of nature, you're in for it.

Watch the clip below...

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I'm not sure I agree with Chris Hedges (via Balloon Juice) that the "Occupy Wall Street" protest is "really where the hope of America lies," but nor do I agree with BooMan that the protest has "no platform, no legislative vehicle, no coherent call to action, no overriding message, and very little in the way of any point."

As Ayesha Kazmi reports at The Guardian, the protest "appears to be gaining ground":

Defying harsh critiques from Stephen Colbert and slews of bloggers who scoffed last week at the "leaderless", "directionless", Frisbee-throwing hipsters camping out on cardboard at a random New York City park in the financial district, Occupy Wall Street appears to be gaining ground. From the modest 200 occupiers last week, numbers of protesters rose to an estimated peak of approximately 3,000 to 5,000 at the weekend's march. Media attention has grown exponentially.

After taking their inspiration from the Egyptian "one demand" model, Occupy Wall Street have now released their list of "one" demands, bringing much-needed clarity to their objectives. The movement has moved to reach out to a broader base, including labor unions. Last week's execution of Troy Davis also contributed to the growth of Occupy Wall Street as crowds of protesters in Zucotti Park, renamed Liberty Plaza, swelled to approximately 1,500 last Thursday night demanding an end to capital punishment.

Nothing will come of it, of course -- realism trumps idealism -- but it's nonetheless turning into an admirable expression of populist opposition not just to Wall Street but to the various interlinked policies of a decaying empire that seeks to keep its non-wealthy citizens in a state of narcotized impotence, if not utter degradation.

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