KEITH OLBERMANN: Joining me now — as promised — Scott Olsen, the Iraq War vet whose skull was fractured at an Occupy Oakland rally in late October. Scott, it's a pleasure to talk to you. I'm glad we can do this. Thanks for your time tonight.
SCOTT OLSEN: How do — Keith, glad to be here.
OLBERMANN: How are you feeling and how — people who saw that interview that you did over the weekend, at Occupy Oakland — how fast are you getting better? Let me put it that way.
OLSEN: It's difficult to — to say. Every time I run into somebody new, who I haven't seen for quite awhile, they're — surprised how much I am doing better. Every time I check in with my doctors, every time I check in with anybody — any friends, they see the change faster than I — I do.
OLBERMANN: I would imagine that, so you must be — is it — do you find it frustrating or has the — the support that you've gotten nationwide actually contributed to this process? Not to have everybody pat themselves on their back but, I mean, has it been with any practical value to you?
OLSEN: Well, it's frustrating at times but the support has been such — such a great help to me, just going home and reading a new card. I've still got a whole stack to get through and — support from vet groups and, like, VFP or IVAW has been outstanding and it's been helping me get way, way better.
OLBERMANN: How — how clear a picture do you have of how much support there is and how much you've come to represent — not just to Occupy Oakland but Occupy in general?
OLSEN: Well, I mean, I've got this idea of a — it's — it's a bit hard to get my head around. I — I was — on the streets of San Francisco today and three or four people who you — you wouldn't expect to be involved with politics, you know, they recognized me, and they stopped me and it's — it's always a — surprise to me.
OLBERMANN: Yeah, I would think so. What — what does that mean to you, when — when people think of you as part of, maybe, the essence of Occupy?
OLSEN: I mean it — it's — it's important to me because, you know, I — I am a part of it. We're — we all are and it's important for us all to be a part of it and — and embody those values that we hold — hold true.
OLBERMANN: Tell me what — what was it particularly that — that drew you to Occupy Oakland in the first place?
OLSEN: Just the — just, really, the — the community involved, and the diversity of opinions. You know, everybody you talk to there is going to have a different opinion, and — and you can always learn something new from talking to somebody else.
OLBERMANN: I don't know if you know this name — Sergeant Shamar Thomas.
OLSEN: Uh-huh.
OLBERMANN: Good. Well then, you what he did here in New York, and he became famous for it, because he stood up to the cops and he said, with — with real vigor, but real politeness towards them — that, you know, "There's no excuse for you to behave like this. This is not a battlefield."
He knew battlefields, you know battlefields. Does the degree of militarization of the police at Occupy protests — obviously, that had an impact on you, personally, but in a broader sense — does it shock you that you're seeing this on the streets of this country?
OLSEN: I don't know, it's — on one hand, it shocks me a lot. On the other hand, it doesn't — because our nation's peace officers have been militarized over the past ten years to combat terrorism, but they're combating anybody with an opinion.
OLBERMANN: Relative to your opinion and these protests, do you have plans? Do you have hopes about resuming participating in some — some regular way? Or what do you want to do with this as it goes forward?
OLSEN: I'm — I'm excited to get back involved and I'm trying to plan on how — how I can get back involved and be an asset to — the Occupy movement but, you know, I have to make sure I — stay safe.
OLBERMANN: Well, you're already an asset. You don't have to worry about — about achieving that. You make sort of, like a practical, in-the-field kind of thing. Let me sum it up this way. What do you want — having been through all that you've been through, involved in this — what do you want to see Occupy achieve: long-term, short-term, however you want to put it?
OLSEN: I mean, really, I just want to see more people at — get involved with real democracy, to build a democratic nation. With that, I think we need to end our wars — all of them — and that'll do our country a great service.
OLBERMANN: Scott Olsen, we wish you — all of us here, everybody who's watching — we wish you the best as your recovery continues and, obviously, we thank you for your bravery — getting involved in this and — and for doing these interviews and of course, thank you for — for your original service, as well.
OLSEN: Thank you, Keith.
OLBERMANN: Okay, thank you, sir. All right.
