Conor Oberst and Occupy Wall Street: Where is the next Bob Dylan when his generation needs him most?

Where is the "next Bob Dylan" when his generation needs him most? Well, if you subscribe to the theory that Conor Oberst is the next Bob Dylan, the answer is he's in Australia.

Oberst is no stranger to taking on politics -- his anti George W. Bush ballad "When the President Talks to God," released in 2005, is still available free to download on iTunes -- and the Occupy Wall Street movement seems like it'd be right in line with his Peoples' Champion aesthetic -- in the past he's been an outspoken critic of media conglomerate Clear Channel, for instance, and a voice of support for independent artists.

Yet while the 99 percent are busy scuffling with police in Zuccotti Park -- where a judge ruled today that the city can keep them from bringing back their tents -- Oberst is currently out for the count.

Not that it's Oberst's job, necessarily, to give the movement a voice. But for a generation that could be defined by a movement currently on the brink of a long winter and possible collapse, right now Conor Oberst may be the best hope for a voice -- and after today, some much needed motivation -- that Occupy Wall Street has.

Police attack peaceful U.C. Berkeley protesters

A video uploaded to YouTube on Wednesday showing U.C. Berkeley police and Alameda County sheriff's deputies apparently attacking peaceful protesters on the college's campus Wednesday has gone viral on the Internet and has created questions over whether or not the police used excessive force in attempting to disperse the protesters.

In the video (see above), students are shown attempting to keep the police from disbanding a campus "Occupy" encampment when the police, in riot gear and carrying batons, begin beating the protesters with their batons.

The San Francisco Chronicle quotes U.C. police as saying the human fence the protesters tried to build around the encampment amounted to a violent stance against police, and quotes Capt. Margo Bennett as saying "The individuals who linked arms and actively resisted, that in itself is an act of violence. I understand that many students may not think that, but linking arms in a human chain when ordered to step aside is not a nonviolent protest."

Other authorities — including the ACLU and the National Lawyers Guild — are raising questions over the officers' conduct.

The Chronicle reports that 39 people were arrested at the protests Wednesday, including 22 students and a professor.