The occupation of Wall Street is in its 11th day, and the number of protesters demanding changes to U.S. social and economic policies they say unfairly favor the rich is rapidly growing. It’s still too early to say whether the protracted protest will do anything short of creating more freedom pens and boosting pepper spray stock futures, but protestors appear to be indefatigable in the face of tribulation.
Like with most left-leaning movements the occupation has attracted a wide swath of different interest groups, including fellow comedian and writer Lee Camp. I have performed with Lee and seen him perform on several occasions, and he brings a orgiastic blend of intelligence and emotion. Things piss him off, and by things I mean political scumbaggery and corporate malfeasance that would make Mr. Potter blush. Lee is known for his appearance on Fox News, where he basically said what everyone with a fully functional cerebral cortex was already thinking, and called out the bastion of right-wing news for its flagrant false reporting and far-right propaganda. Lee managed to avoid being destroyed by Murdoch’s second death star and recently appeared at the wall street protests, where he joined the prolific political activist duo, the Yes Men.
Of course, Lee had some pretty engaging things to say about the excessive use of force by the NYPD.
Regarding some of the more bullish instances of police intervention, Lee Camp realizes that the NYPD are “just doing their jobs” , but he has this crazy notion that NYC taxpayers would sleep better if they monitored the banksters on Wall Street instead of say gassing kids in bandannas. Lee seems to feel that the anger and frustration of working-class individuals, such as NYPD employees, over the Scottish pay toilet economy should be directed at the greedy banksters on Wall Street. In brief, it’s the monied interests jeopardizing the economy, stupid. Apparently part of their job involves cleaning hobo vomit out of their uniforms.
” I realize that the police are doing their jobs, but is there not a little voice in each one of their heads telling him or her that it might make more sense to arrest the bankers, traders and economic rapers who are making millions while that policeman or policewoman is losing their benefits, losing their house, gets shot at for less and less money each year. He/she get’s vomited on by homeless alcoholics for less and less money each year. But instead the policeman beats down a 19-year-old with a feather in her hair and a Henna tattoo because she had the nerve to draw in chalk on the sidewalk ‘less money to create smart bombs and more money to create smart kids.’” ~ from Lee Camp’s “Moment of Clarity” Podcast. Click here to here for more podcasts from Lee.
Since the Occupation of Wall Street has generated little if any mainstream media interest due to the protest actually being about something other than fat, white angry mobs holding up hilariously misspelled signs; ever-so ‘hysterical’ holocaust references regarding Obama’s healthcare reform (you cannot open a book on 20th century European political history without seeing page upon page on Hitler’s positions on healthcare); Williamsburg ‘revolutionary war’ rental costumes; and pretty much just fodder for a South Park parody. Lee caught up with the wickedly funny and always scintillating social activists known as the Yes Men. For those of you living under a rock without wi-fi, the Yes Men are a culture jamming activist duo and network of supporters created by Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonannoa .
The Yes Men are essentially modern-day Merry Pranksters who, through actions of tactical media, aim to raise awareness about what they consider problematic social issues. They create and maintain fake websites similar to ones they intend to spoof, which have led to numerous interview, conference, and TV talk show invitations. They espouse the belief that corporations and governmental organizations often act in dehumanizing ways toward the public. They are famed for bringing Dow Chemical to its knees when, on their fake Dow Chemical website, the Yes Men said that Dow Chemical Company had no intention whatsoever of repairing the damage from the Bhopal Disaster in India (the country with funny talking people we scream at during customer service calls relating to erections gone awry).
The real company received considerable backlash and caused an uproar among its shareholders. Check out the video below and here what The Yes Men are up to these days where “corporations are people”:
Michael is a comedian/VO artist/Columnist extraordinaire, who co-wrote an award-nominated comedy, wrote for NY Times Laugh Lines, guest-blogged for Joe Biden, and writes a column for MSNBC.com affiliated Cagle. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. Seriously, follow him or he’ll send you photos of Rush Limbaugh bending over in a thong.
