In a transparent effort to yet again applaud the left-wing Occupy Wall Street movement on Tuesday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams introduced the broadcast's Making a Difference segment by proclaiming:
"We all remember the Occupy Wall Street movement. We covered them here a
lot....Whatever you think of their agenda and them, they've re-formed
now, into Occupy Sandy. They're redirecting their energy into helping
hurricane victims..."
In the report that followed, correspondent Katy Tur announced:
"Remember the Occupy Wall Street movement famous for taking over New
York's Zuccotti Park and coining the term 1%? Well, now they have Occupy
Sandy. Within days after Sandy hit, Occupy went to work."
She gushed over how organized the often anarchist group was:
Although the Occupy movement says they have no leadership, they have set up a hyper-organized system for this, three main hubs in New York, each with a command center, a medic dispatch, and car dispatch to organize drivers. There's a phone bank, kitchens that provide two hot meals a day, and no shortage of helpers. They use Twitter and Facebook to match donations to needs. And UPS to deliver supplies that have been carefully picked out.
Despite touting the group's class warfare rhetoric about the 1%, Tur
went on to tout how they managed to accumulate "$400,000 in the bank" to
fund the relief efforts.
Wrapping up the puff piece, Tur added: "No bureaucracy and the Occupy
volunteers say that means no problem." A rather contradictory point of
view for a movement demanding more government intervention in the
economy.
Here is a full transcript of the November 13 report:
7:23PM ET TEASE:
BRIAN
WILLIAMS: Up next here this evening, from protesting to picking up the
pieces. The determined group of volunteers stepping up to make a
difference.
7:26PM ET SEGMENT:
WILLIAMS: We all remember the Occupy Wall Street movement. We covered
them here a lot. Just about everybody formed their own opinion about the
protesters and their cause. Whatever you think of their agenda and
them, they've re-formed now, into Occupy Sandy. They're redirecting
their energy into helping hurricane victims from the Jersey shore to
Long Island Sound. NBC's Katy Tur has our Making a Difference report.
KATY TUR: There are no official badges. All they have for
identification is a first name scribbled on some masking tape. These
volunteers may not have legal charity status, but that's not stopping
them.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: They desperately need our help, they lost everything.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTORS: End the war! Tax the rich!
TUR: Remember the Occupy Wall Street movement famous for taking over
New York's Zuccotti Park and coining the term 1%? Well, now they have
Occupy Sandy. Within days after Sandy hit, Occupy went to work. And
while FEMA temporarily shut its doors during last week's nor'easter, due
to bad weather, Occupy never did. More than two weeks after the storm,
thousands of people volunteer daily. Sasha Brown is just one of them. He
helps pack up supplies and deliver them to people in need.
SASHA BROWN: I'm just another New Yorker helping out other New Yorkers.
TUR: His band finished touring so he borrowed the van and showed up here. Who's paying for the gas?
BROWN: I am, the band is. They don't know it yet, but they're donating it.
TUR: Although the Occupy movement says they have no leadership, they
have set up a hyper-organized system for this, three main hubs in New
York, each with a command center, a medic dispatch, and car dispatch to
organize drivers. There's a phone bank, kitchens that provide two hot
meals a day, and no shortage of helpers. They use Twitter and Facebook
to match donations to needs. And UPS to deliver supplies that have been
carefully picked out.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Wonderful, thank you.
TUR: With $400,000 in the bank and next to no overhead, nearly all the
money can go straight to relief efforts. For Olive Small, every little
bit helps.
OLIVE SMALL: They're trying to help people to survive.
TUR: No bureaucracy and the Occupy volunteers say that means no problem. Katy Tur, NBC News, New York.