Today’s Show – Matt Taibbi on #OWS

Josh Trujillo/SEATTLEPI.COM photo of 84-year old Dorli Rainey, moments after she'd been pepper-sprayed at OccupySeattle

Tomorrow marks two months since the Occupy movement officially began in Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan.  Since then, the occupations have spread to all 50 states and upwards of 80 counties around the globe.   Although some tactics may have to change in the wake of the NYPD’s brutal eviction and demolition of the original occupation, the toothpaste can’t be put back into the tube!

I’ve been a fan of Matt Taibbi‘s since I began paying attention to serious reporting.  I first interviewed him back on Air America in March of 2009, when he was putting the truly complicated crimes being committed by Wall Street into accessible articles for Rolling Stone that even I could follow and understand.  (Yes, click on the link to hear that interview!)

I’ve been reading his take on the Occupy movement at Rolling Stone, and truly appreciate his struggle with his hopes for its success alongside his feelings that they were making some mistakes.  A month into the occupation, Taibbi penned a piece called “My Advice to the Occupy Wall Street Protesters” – in which he suggested five demands they might want to focus on.

His newest piece for RS – “How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the OWS Protests” – began with an admission you rarely hear from anyone in the mainstream media:

I have a confession to make. At first, I misunderstood Occupy Wall Street.

It was so good that I asked him to come on the show to talk about it. Then the NYPD raided Liberty Square (Zucotti)…  So,  we had a lot to talk about this morning.

Yesterday, while the protesters were trying to get back into the park  after a judge had issued a temporary restraining order allowing them to do so, lots of people were milling around the perimeter – including Steven Thrasher of the Village Voice.  He witnessed the NY Post’s Andrea Peyser excoriating a man for bringing his son down to the protest.  The man, a Canadian tourist, explained that he’s from Canada, and they bring their kids to protests regularly!.

Another man witnessed the exchange and asked Peyser what her problem was.  After she said “Fuck You” to him, he must have called her an old lady, because she responded with “I’m not as old as I look.”

I think I can attest to that.  I went to elementary school with Peyser, who was known as Edna Peyser then.  I’ve been informed by another classmate show somehow felt compelled to defend Peyser’s nastiness that she has legally changed the unfortunate name as it was a source of much teasing when she was younger. Perhaps that’s what turned her into a bitter old bitch.

I spoke with Steven Thrasher about his encounter, written up for the Village Voice “Andrea Peyser at Zuccotti: ‘I’m Not As Old As I Look.’ (Also ‘Fuck You’)” — of course, I had to have him on the show to tell him of our time together in school. I even have photo proof:

Just posting these pictures… because I could!

And Jeremy Koulish also joined in today from Main Street Insider, to talk ALEC and voter suppression bills.