Occupy the Rebuttal Four: Lets Talk Camp!

If you think i've forgotten about Trill and company, or recent events, you're sadly mistaken.
BUT, i'm trying to keep some sort of a flow going here so I don't bounce around all over the damn place like I probably was in parts one and two.

Lets start with Camp. In fact, lets start with a bigger issue...the beginning of camp and what led to it.

You see, there was a division to start with, and it involved camping and occupying in the first place.
Half the group was opposed to the encampment, with part of them wanting to wait a little longer, and the other half wanted to occupy right then and there..as they had cleared to occupy at Legislative Plaza.
It was a very heated and tense debate, taking place just outside of the Parthenon. I was present..and a few times I thought that this might be the end of it right then and there.

Finally, they split off in half..with each going their own ways more or less. The Occupiers went and started on Legislative Plaza. I was a bit weird about it at first..as I was still too stuck within my comfort zones...but within about three days I decided to grab my Clearwire tower, my backpack with some things I wanted to work on storywise..and drawings to use as inspirationg for the story I wanted to continue on the side. Since revolution and war are a key theme at some points, I figured some experiences would make for good writing material backup.

Now, my biggest, dumbest mistake was the first day I figured i'd just rough it. No big deal...um, no. Very big deal, lol. HUGE deal. Michael was nice enough to give me a sleeping bag (a 25 degree one which was probably one of the only ways I made it through winter. Seriously, thanks Mike.) The backpack? Stolen or disappeared. All of my artwork, and most of the story i'd worked on, plus a crucial piece of story i'd spent most of my life on....all gone. Gone.)

My first experience in the rain was in a sleeping bag, with a trap carefully rolled over like some sort of screwy burrito. After that...someone decided to remove the tarp in the middle of the rain. Everything was soaked. That was how I finally woundup with the first tent..which I shared with Langdon, since he was nice enough to help me with things and had no place to rest himself..and that was our setup until the raid came...and after that I bought my own tent, which Firefly/Melton helped me set up after he was nice enough to help me get my clothes and gear washed *and* dried.

It was after that, that I was pushing to prepare for winter, because we got caught royally with our pants down when it came to rain. That was when I came up with the T sign, because stupid people wanted to talk about language and wording over the health and safety of the Occupiers.

Tents? We didn't have those until when the rains hit. First and foremost for a supply tent, but everything else was mostly in the open since we didn't know if we *could* use them or not. (Later it was clear we could so long as we didn't use stakes or poles to keep them in place. We could use weights, so long as they didn't create damage to the area.)

A portion of those that were against the camp taking form would continue to oppose the camps presence, and comprise of the same folks that are doing it now, and the same folks talking about Phase II. funny thing..they talk about office buildings..but who controls them? Then it creates a form of leadership..and giving the AFCLIU bit..and given the larger sense of who wants to constantly smear who..its pretty clear to see what group wants full control of everything. That's right! Its them all over again.

Now, Jonathan we mentioned way early on, but I left out the part where he would unhook the power cords and then steal all the power for himself..where he stole and ran off and around the Plaza with the food pot once just because they told him to behave, and where he even violently threatened people. Then we had Gollum, a little dude with some military moves and a posse around him that had a mixture of martial arts and the occasional gun or knife to back them up.

Now, Gollum was a known violent offender. He came in around the time of the first rains, attempting to disrupt the GA..and two members of his "crew" attacked Occupiers. This was a dangerous little dude. At one point, he had even made the threat to myself that he would "cut my legs off" when I tried to get around him to fix a power issue. (He had purposefully parked himself there so he could start with someone.) I simply told him that I could see him for what he was, and all he would get out of me was this..and proceeded to politely bow. He was surprised, and after mumbling some gibberish went on his way and left me un-accosted.

One day, he's literally just passing through..and Eva takes the opportunity to try and assert herself as top dog, and immediately starts to harass and yell at him. This is NOT a wise move. We're talking about a dangerous man that could easily call two or three of his boys with guns or knives and turn the place into a bloodbath..and she wants to pick a fight just to look good. I flat out told her "You don't stop a fire by throwing dynamite at it. You consider yourself to be a mediator..you  are doing the very thing you tell them NOT to. Knock it off."

But then, she was the victim, whatever, and she didn't want to hear it. Welcome to the real Eva. When a person bought hotel rooms so folks could take showers..she took one all to herself. When equipment was donated to Occupy Nashville, she took it with her..and as of the time of this writing, has still refused to give it back. She owes myself 100 bucks that i'll never get back...and she not only backed up Jonathan's bad behavior, but Lance's after he stole cash from donations that was supposed to go to direct action...but, instead, he took it to buy drugs with.

But this is okay. This is allowed. *shakes his head*

....but i'm the piece of shit? Strange priorities you people have, to be sure.

Lets not forget calling people drunks, accusing them of being women harassers, and so on.

Actually, let me take this moment to say a quick apology to both Devin and to Christopher A. I should have seen the writing on the wall then, stepped up, and said something. You guys were treated rotten by a bunch of immature children in adult bodies..after putting yourselves to the grindstone working Occupy like it was a 40/hr a week job in itself and *still* take care of your families, work, and so on.
I am sorry. I am so, so very sorry. I should have said something, I should have done something. I didn't. You didn't deserve to be treated like that...and if I don't say it, its going to haunt me to the grave.

Devin came up with the idea of the T-shirts..and fuck, guys. Say what you will..he *was* Outreach in every sense of the word. When he left, it literally left with him and there's been nothing to it since. When people were dehydrated and stressed, he took them to his place to chill out. When I was at my wits end, he took me along to relax and enjoy some music with his friends. When there was a problem, he stood up for himself, and he stood up for others. I salute you, dude.

Christopher A: My first memories of him are "Good morning sunshine!" after waking up that first night, looking up and seeing him hunched over and chuckling at me. Ignore the gruff demeanor. This is a guy that makes sure people get taken care of. Security? He did it. Make sure the women are okay? He's there. Inventory check? Did it before you thought of it. People? He knows who is whom, and who is a part of what. Areas to work? Either doing it, done it, or a part of it. Freaking machine. People had needs, he made sure those needs were met. He wasn't about to sugar coat it or take crap from anyone, but he'd make sure you were okay.

This guys lived and breathed Occupy. I miss them, quite a bit. It was more than that. They're decent people...and man if we couldn't use more of those. You guys were awesome, and you weren't appreciated for it. Not a bit. You should have been. I apologize for that. That goes out to many of the other folks that got run off in the beginning..we wouldn't have got anywhere without you. Occupy Nashville may have forgotten its own, but I haven't..and I won't.

Now, this wouldn't be complete without a bit from Jeremiah, Dillon, and Eva. Again with Eva the follower...first with these groups because "being Black Bloc is for the cool kids..HUZZAH!"..and Dillon..holy cow. You want unbalanced? Check this out. Right before the raids he started to flip out, declaring he was part of the Illuminati, throwing his stuff all over the place..cussing people out..and declaring how we were all going to eat batons and rubber bullets. During the arrests..before he disappeared for a bit..he royally flipped out on a dude for touching his sign.

Later on, he decided he was a black blocker and fuck the police, and started following around Jeremiah. These two numbskulls get on Jason's FB page and start sending me all kinds of juvenile messages about myself and my girlfriend...and later on Dillon decides to threaten me with actual violence on one of the Occupy facebook pages. (By the way, if you ever read this dude, I was actually there the next day waiting for you to show up in case you decided to carry out your little threat. What, did you think i'd back down in front of a cowardly troll? Get real.)

Again, its amazing the stuff that goes unreported by these so called "journalists" whom are so very concerned about the movement, huh? Simply amazing. Oh, guys..you also missed the part where Eva and Jeremiah were walking around with his Banjo going "I'm a terrorist, I blow shit up" and "I'm a terrorist...I fuck shit up.." ..when they knew there were undercover around just looking for anything.

So what gives, folks? How could you miss that? I'm just curious, here. You *are* supposed to be journalistically minded and concerned solely about the scope of the movement..and yet you're ignoring all these crucial details for the sake of a fucked up smear campaign centered around a couple of people. I don't get it!

In terms of camp security, it was myself, Russ, Country (and his wife), Chrissy, Gio, Chris A, and Cowboy as we called him. God, I miss the days when Cowboy was all I had to worry about with the movement. Let's talk about Danny boy for a moment.

From the beginning, I knew he was way too dominant..and I approached him about it. I was very surprised to see him added to the security detail..but he seemed to genuinely want to help people. The problem? He liked to fight, and to call him sexually aggressive was putting it way too mildly. I had to back him away from a lady one too many times...and break him up from a fight one too many times.
I tried to work with this one, as did many other folks..but finally he wanted to start playing that victim bullshit and I literally told him off up oneside and down the other. He ended up having to leave, and I stand by the decision..because while he could be a nice guy....that's no excuse to let him run wild..and it isn't right to be abusive or harassing towards others no matter who you are, how nice you are, or who you know.(Something you would have think Occupy Nashville should have learned already.)

Ah, but the same problems started to creep up again..this time "Ew, ew, the language is too harsh!" Like a bunch of babies, we had to be coddled and saved from ourselves against the evils of wording. So we couldn't be security..we had to be something "nicer" like Good Vibes. What...a...joke. And again, Eva..Dorsey..Darlene...the whole lot of them sticking their nose in and trying to be the leaders of Occupy. (At one point Darlene was on every single mailing list, because she was so sure that people were plotting something. Then, after they complied..they were just doing it to placate her. I swear..you just can't please some people.)

We were concerned about language..but man..fuck if we cared about food, water, clothing and tent needs, winterization, or the increasing violence on the Plaza. Heck, when we made a Code of Conduct, we were more worried about how Uncle Sam would use it to track us then we were the code itself. Wristbands, or anything that might identify us was a no go, because Uncle Sam might use it against us!
Forget the fact that things were fast falling apart with more violent types showing up..and the possibility that they were in fact, being deliberately sent to us.

I was there that night, the night a dude bashed a guy's face in..the cops took him, and then they released him right back into camp. At that point, we pretty well knew we were on our own. When we thought of hiring private security, Jeremiah and crew said that would be the same thing as "selling out to the man." Militia was (and has been) discussed..but no followthrough has ever been made on that.
We were asked to pay the State for security..and hilariously (or not depending on your take on irony)..we had the arrests soon after.

When we DID get Code of Conduct, everytime we tried to enforce it, again, the same people got in the way. It was the same with transparency, to the point of which the word had might as well be a joke to me by now. The same people call for it, and then when it shows up, then immediately fight it, and say the people wanting transparency are Fascists. Of course, it doesn't make alot of sense to do that.
But this isn't about making sense..this is about a group of folks being assholes and getting away with it, while playing the victim and hiding behind Occupy Nashville to start more crap.

Then, when it all hits the fan, they're going to step off to the side and watch all of you poor saps take the fall for their stupidity..and you're all going to say the same bullshit. "Why is this happening?"
"What did we do wrong?"  "How did we not see this coming?"

What a crock. You saw it. You heard it. You *chose* to ignore it. People in and out of Occupy Nashville have said for fucking MONTHS that there were problems, but oh, we shouldn't air dirty laundry. Oh, we shouldn't talk about it..its just being silly..it will go away on its own.

So...did it go away on its own guys? C'mon..why so silent? Speak up! You were good about that when you made that passionate speech about bullies and not putting up with their abuse only to let the same shit continue..while you belittled anyone speaking out against the abuse. But hey, pat yourself on the back. Continue to tell yourselves how you can change the world and serve the people, stand up for the people when you won't even stand up for your own people.

Oh right. Maybe next time. When is that? Probably never..or at least that is the way it looks.

Its crazy, and probably the craziest aspect of Occupy Nashville. Those whom make the majority of the decisions for and about camp are never in it, nor do they participate in it. They don't pick up trash, they rarely if ever serve in the kitchen..they come in for the GAs..an hour before and an hour after..and then they leave. That's the majority of their commitment and the rest is behind keyboards. Now, let me take a step back and say this...that is not to say..if you aren't on the plaza, you do nothing..because that's a pile of bullshit too. However, it IS to say that if you don't remotely help out with the camp, much less stop to pickup trash while you're politicking your "personal crusade" (while claiming to be mostly about Occupy..because, you're full of shit..you just want its resources and probably could give a damn about anything else..and you know who you are.)..or your online activities are basically just to start trouble and smear people within Occupy...not only should you not have a say in what happens with the camp..you should probably take your bullshit somewhere else.

Which is, of course, another thing Occupy Nashville won't say. Especially now, because they wouldn't really know where to start. I mean, in an email in which one person said that if we based our actions on anarchistic and socialistinc tendencies and didn't get back to our three core points..we would lose...what do you think the result was?

YEP. The same damn people, all over again. "Oh, we can't have that." Then they led it off to a future discussion that was supposed to happen but never did happen, which is the way it usually goes. Or it becomes a 300 mile long email chain of endless stupid and endless distraction...where no one gives a damn unless it clogs up their inbox too much. Other than that..wait, they still don't give a shit.

Welcome to Occupy Nashville. We went from something awesome to...eh, we don't give a shit unless we can get some press out of it. Corruption, Cronyism, Elitism, Sexism (on both sides, and fuck you to all of those that "never see it"..try taking your head out of your ass and stop being a sheepy follower...and actually looking..and while you're at it..look at your own remarks and notice your own sexism at work. Juvenile children, I swear..) They allow the bullies, and they trample their whistleblowers. They lose over 800 in donation funds to who knows where, kind of like when the FED lost all of that money..and in neither case did either care.

And then, the government that they act like is such a problem. Way to stick it to the man by mimicking them, people. Seriously, good job...if it wasn't for the lack of suits and real power..I almost couldn't tell the difference...

When you don't stand up for your own people, what can it be said that you are capable of standing up for?

Next up, we'll be talking about recent events, and a little more about Norma and Trill. Also, what about that pesky power stuff? Right. Might as well get to that too. And since I forgot about Jon in the last post, i'll include him in my next one.