A few observations.
There is absolutely _no_ way those not in a particular Black Bloc can no whether any two appearances of a Black Bloc are in any way connected. Anyone can get together with a few friends, put on a mask, join a march, & break a few windows.
A given Black Bloc needs no one's permission, nor is there any particular reason to think anyone pretending to be or being a black bloc should search the web looking for deep political critiques of Black Bloc principles & practice.
Hence the endless professorial chatter (Lou is a Professor to the very jelly between his toes) has no present or future connection with the existence or non-existence of Black Blocs. Does anyone really think that a young man who enjoys the clatter of breaking glass or the style of masks Black Blockers wear is going to read and learn from Profesor Proyect?
Same thing with conspiracists. Critique of them is pointless unless you are seriously in love with the sound of your own voice.
One in every crowd: He is under the deep conviction that the civilian authorities are all for peace but are pushed by those fighting generals to go to war. He is utterly unimpressed, or rather he forgets by the next day, hearing of Albright's wail, what's the use of having such a fine army if we can't use it.
Another type, on anti-war strategy. We shouldn't make a fuss about racism because if we focus on taxes some of those rich people on the east side might join us. (Close to an exact quote from a student in 1967. His ilk still wanders the earth.)
All these and many other 'types' are self-sufficient. They do not need external praise, and they are impervious to external criticism.
And there is worse. In any given collection of people, there will be those who you need in your work, who are not themselves Black Bloc or Ron-Paul addicts who will immediately pick up their marbles and go home if the group becomes censorious and kicks out this or that person. You have a couple libertarians come regularly to your group's meetings; they are obnoxious and sometimes seriously interfere with discussion or planning. But you can't kick them out because three of the more active people in the groups have a real fixation on "free speech," and so to kick out the libertarians would in f act shipwreck the whole group. This is undoubtedly the case in some OWS groups: almost unanimous dislike of the Black Bloc, but important elements in the group would fade away if serious action were taken to exclude the Black Bloc.
Lou & Hedges aren't serious. They just like the sound of their own voices.
Carrol