They say they’re “confused” but they aren’t. This couldn’t be simpler: Jean Quan, the Democratic mayor of a Democratic city, was utterly intimidated by the media backlash after cops followed her orders to clear the plaza in front of city hall and ended up clashing with protesters. So now, to make amends, not only has she given them back the space, she’s giving all city employees the day off tomorrow to join the mass strike against “the establishment” — except of course for the designated scapegoat, the police. If, like the union, you’re wondering whether Quan and those employees aren’t also part of “the establishment” and why she thinks handing out extra sick days for dissent is more important than running the city, clearly you’ve forgotten an important lesson. Namely, any liberal can “speak truth to power” by virtue of being a liberal, no matter how fantastically powerful he or she might be. If this idiot is qualified, Jean Quan certainly is too.

Brutal:

That’s hundreds of City workers encouraged to take off work to participate in the protest against “the establishment.” But aren’t the Mayor and her Administration part of the establishment they are paying City employees to protest? Is it the City’s intention to have City employees on both sides of a skirmish line?

It is all very confusing to us.

Meanwhile, a message has been sent to all police officers: Everyone, including those who have the day off, must show up for work on Wednesday. This is also being paid for by Oakland taxpayers. Last week’s events alone cost Oakland taxpayers over $1 million.

The Mayor and her Administration are beefing up police presence for Wednesday’s work strike they are encouraging and even “staffing,” spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars for additional police presence – at a time when the Mayor is also asking Oakland residents to vote on an $80 parcel tax to bail out the City’s failing finances.

All of these mixed messages are confusing.

They should probably ignore her orders and join the protests too, no? They’re part of the 99 percent and OWS hero Michael Moore has been begging them publicly to join forces with the occupiers. Tomorrow would be the perfect time to leave the guns at home and show solidarity. Don’t worry about the security vacuum, either: The occupiers have their own security “working groups” so Oakland should be covered. And even if it isn’t, the movement is all about experimental living arrangements. What living arrangement could be more experimental than an entire police force suddenly disappearing from a major city?

To cleanse the palate, here’s Colbert torturing two OWSers last night. I know he’s a liberal, but give it a chance. You’ll enjoy it.