I listened to New York City Mayor Bloomberg READ his statement at his press conference this morning.
Mayor Bloomberg mechanically recited why Zuccotti Park had to be cleaned for the sake of the protesters who were in danger from the unsanitary conditions and from fire hazards. I find it very significant that The Mayor had to read his statement. If Mayor Bloomberg had any gut feeling about free speech, he would be capable of making the statement extemporaneously.
Mayor Bloomberg READ out “everyone has the constitutional right to free speech, but free speech does not include sleeping bags or tents”.
Mayor Bloomberg is wrong in his legal interpretation of what constitutes free speech, wrong in his understanding of media effectiveness in free speech, and wrong in choosing to use the excuse of sanitation and public safety to attempt to stop the protests.
Each experience constitutes a “repeated shifting of analytic registers—from "reading" typographic print to "scanning" photographic facsimiles” “ each medium produces a different "massage" or "effect" on the human sensorium.”
The “encampment” with its tents and sleeping bags has become a logo of the Occupy movement and is part and parcel of the Occupy massage – the symbolism of persons willing to be inconvenienced and live in encampments is the message of the discomfort experienced everyday by the 99%.
Mayor Bloomberg associates himself with the image which he wishes symbolizes the City of New York - the pressure washer!
Free Speech is not dirty and unsanitary and does not need to be scrubbed out of sight.
OCCUPY!