> [from the front page of the WSJ's "Marketplace" section, no less]
> Wall Street Journal - June 9, 1999
> Disaffected Youth Dust Off A Combustible Philosophy
>
> By PETER WALDMAN
> Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
>
> EUGENE, Ore. -- This university town of 150,000 is known for its liberal
> attitudes, moderate cost of living, environmental sensitivity and good
> cappuccino. Now it is known for something else: anarchists.
Eh? This dude must've been stokin' too much of that thar Willammette Gold. The "riot" at the Nike store was a minor scuffle, where some activists tried to get into some property which was under construction and knocked down some fences. Anarchist upsurge, my foot. There has, on the other hand, been a notable swing to the Left in local and state politics. I also note that Waldman doesn't quote one professor from the University of Oregon, or anyone with real activist credentials in the local community. A fine example of Bourdieu's journalistic habitus creating the reality it wants to see!
> Eugene police say they're baffled by the anarchists. Local cops have years
> of experience negotiating peaceful arrests with people engaged in civil
> disobedience, says Police Chief Jim Hill. But the new anarchists "see us as
> the enemy," he says.
These are the same police who daubed pepper spray in the eyes of peaceful, nonviolent local tree-sitters last year, and have been busted for racial harassment (arresting a UO faculty member, who is an ordained minister, *three times* just because he was a black man hanging out in the street; needless to say, a lawsuit is pending). They also routinely harass skateboarders and anyone who looks like they might be homeless. On the bright side, last November voters shot down a bond scheme to build ever more prisons, in favor of funding for new libraries, parks and social programs.
Rather an embarrassing lapse for the WSJ, I'd say.
-- Dennis