Ezra Klein says Occupy Wall Street was going to have a hard time making it through the winter. As cold set in, he writes, all but the die-hards and the homeless would leave, prompting a media exodus. If someone died of hypothermia, the public opinion tide could turn. But …

Bloomberg spared them that fate. Zucotti Park wasn’t cleared by weather, or the insufficient commitment of protesters. It was cleared by pepper spray and tear gas. It was cleared by police and authority. It was cleared by a mayor who comes from Wall Street and a request made by one of America’s largest commercial real estate developers. It was cleared, in other words, in a way that will temporarily reinvigorate the protesters and give Occupy Wall Street the best possible chance to become whatever it will become next.

Click the link. Ezra Klein, as always, is a good read.