#Occupy Newark Finds A City Previously Occupied....

I found this story, via WyBlog, to be both both hipster-ironic funny, and profoundly sad. It's a tale of what happens when the new-to-town #OccupyNewark crowd meets up with the liberal activists who have been occupying Newark since the 1960's...

When Occupy Newark came to town, they looked like kindred spirits to Newark's home-grown protesters.

Union leader Rahaman Muhammad brought the occupiers sandwiches. City Councilman Ras Baraka pitched a tent in Military Park. Donna Jackson, a vocal member of the Newark Anti-Violence Coalition, stood vigil.

But six weeks later, tensions between Newark's native activists and the occupation have devolved into accusations, shouting matches and threats of eviction.

"There's been drinking, drugging … They offered my son some marijuana," said Rahaman Muhammad, president of the SEIU Local 617. "There's really no code of conduct down there."

Reminds me of how American liberals who support the Palestinians and various Islamic movements are shocked, shocked, when these groups, once in power, engage in some of the most "un-liberal" policies and actions imaginable - even towards their former benefactors.

Ingrates:

Occupy members have declined to provide their full names, but one woman, Angela X, spoke on behalf of the group at yesterday's city council meeting, despite Jackson and others trying to shout her down.

"You've been protesting in Newark for 30 years," she said. "We're still starving."

Miss X is right about the futility of liberal activism, and its harm on the communities they occupy (like Newark), but she only suggests that her form of inane protest is superior to that of the previous generation. Drum circles, iPhones, and more potent marijuana, I suppose...

But another truth of the #occupy movement is brought to light here as well:  It is a racist movement, all about keeping the black man down:

Aside from generational conflicts, the recent schism may have a more direct cause.

"The leader of the leaderless movement told me I couldn't come down there anymore," Baraka said.

When the South Ward Councilman planned to speak at a Tuesday night march, occupiers asked him to keep quiet.

Ras Baraka, far right, with....Jon Corzine.

Bad optics. And dumb politics. If the #occupy movement is really predominately a college-educated bunch, I think they deserve at least a partial refund.

Finally..a scream for sanity:

Newarker Thomas Ibiang, 32, watched the two sides bicker. He said the behavior of both factions had left him isolated.

"Me, I care about improving people’s lives," he said. "Where do I go?"

Thomas, if you really want to help people - leave Newark, and do what good deeds you will elsewhere, unhindered by this madness. Let the leftists and the Occupation fight it out, until all around them is destroyed, and like parasites, they move on to a new host.

Then you can get back to the business of fixing Newark. Until that time, you are merely working for the self-styled activists, or the self-involved #Occupy thugs, neither of which has anyone's best interests at heart save their own, and both of whom will use you to further their ends, until you have served their purpose.

Get out. Go Galt. And when the locusts finally leave, return home, and rebuild from scratch. 

Sorry.  But that, after 30 years of liberal occupation, is about the only choice you have left...