Park Service's non-eviction of Occupy DC a success

The squatters are still there. Occupy D.C. protest stays peaceful as no-camping deadline passes

But the National Park Service's threat to end "camping" (which doesn't include the removal of tents, because who ever connected tents with camping?) has inspired the non-campers to erect a huge "tent of dreams" over the General McPherson statue. So there's that.

"Let us sleep so we can dream," they chanted.

Lachlan Markay reports on the non-event, in which some occupiers packed up their camping equipment and sent it off to storage generously donated by the AFL-CIO. Others continued to, well, camp in the park.

Park police and campers alike seemed pleased with the way things went:

Park police to reporter...we're not kicking anyone out...are you disappointed? Were you expecting fireworks?

Also from Charlie Spiering's Twitter feed:

Smiling NPS officer standing outside the park says "This is overtime man!"

So there's that, too.

Meanwhile, McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza have yet to be liberated from the squatters (and the rats) that prevent people from enjoying the formerly public spaces.

And Michelle Malkin was right: the "eviction" got more coverage from the Washington Post (pdf of front page here) than did the hundreds of thousands of pro-life marchers on Jan. 23rd, who, as usual, were buried in the Metro section, their numbers under-reported, and equal time given to the barely detectable handful of counter-protesters present. A letter from marcher Elizabeth Plumb:

The sun also rises, and The Post’s coverage of the March for Life is equally predictable. On Monday, I marched with my children, and we took in the usual sight of tens of thousands of people braving miserable weather to defend life.

There were a few differences from past years: calls for defunding Planned Parenthood and signs noting the pain suffered by men who regret the deaths of their children. I told my son what we would see in the paper Tuesday morning: one small photo showing a handful of those marching with us, and a second photo showing a similar number of  counter-protesters, even though we had seen none that day.

The Post came through. Two small photos on page B1 showed one protester from each side, and page B6 included a larger picture of a pro-life marcher in front of a banner showing an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Presumably, this photo was chosen to illustrate the accompanying article’s false contention that the march is “hosted by the Archdiocese of Washington.”

So, I was right, but I would much rather be wrong.

Update from David Freddoso: "How big a joke is the national park service? This big. Just taken. pic.twitter.com/A08YTvGi"

Cross-posted at the Greenroom.

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