Occupying Wall Street

[Tunnelcat]

The US Day of Rage, the effort to occupy Wall Street and other financial districts all over the country with protests and civil disobedience. This has not garnered much coverage in the mainstream press, but it's been going on long enough to start bleeding through, because now the NY cops are getting a little aggressive and as we know, when things get out of hand, the press can't resist covering it.

Who's behind it:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/seius-s ... september/

Their handbook of rules for civil disobedience:

http://www.usdayofrage.org/resources.html

The police going all militant on women protestors as violence begins:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... faces.html

I wonder if this movement will gather any traction, like the war protests in the sixties, or will things end up as a footnote lost in history. Will Americans remain content to sit on their hands and do nothing as the Kleptocrats cement their Kleptocracy in our country and the world?

[Flatlander]

Hour of Rage

[callmeslick]

interesting protest......I was just debating recently(elsewhere) whether the youth in America are almost raised to NOT do such things. It is reassuring to see such an assumption might be wrong.

[Tunnelcat]

Hmmmmmmmmmm. Brings back memories of the 1960's when college campuses were tinderboxes of protest against the Vietnam War. But.......will this catch on as a movement, or die out due to apathy. Americans are soooo screwed if they don't at least take notice and see the writing on the wall. We are becoming a Plutocracy in this country and it's all happening due to greed, laziness, apathy, stupidity and the corporate propaganda machine that influences us every day. Corporations and the uber wealthy have the money and SCOTUS's backing to get what they want.

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/ge ... rossroads/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/pos ... _blog.html

I see the right-wingers are trying their level best to smear the whole thing as a "hippie movement". Must be scaring them a little. Well, it took a bunch of "young hippies" to bring major change to America back then too. Not all the protestors are young people either.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... 9500.story

[Spidey]

Must be a bunch of racists!

[woodchip]

I see the right-wingers are trying their level best to smear the whole thing as a "hippie movement". Must be scaring them a little. Well, it took a bunch of "young hippies" to bring major change to America back then too. Not all the protestors are young people either.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... 9500.story

You could say the same about the name calling towards the Tea Party movement by the left

[Zuruck]

It's not a movement woodchip, it's a group of vocal Republicans that are just whining but will inevitably vote for whichever GOP candidate wins the nomination. That's why nobody gives a ★■◆● about your 'movement'.

[woodchip]

It's not a movement woodchip, it's a group of vocal Republicans that are just whining but will inevitably vote for whichever GOP candidate wins the nomination. That's why nobody gives a ★■◆● about your 'movement'.

No one except all those who lost their congressional or senate seats to them. Biggest turn around in how many years?

[Zuruck]

Hmmm....I know of Republicans that won seats but I don't know any politician that has a (T) next to their name. 2010 was a perfect mix for the GOP, people were disenfranchised by the current administration (just like every past administration) and the GOP was able to do what they always do--convince the electorate that this time they are different and now was the time to be actually conservative. Because a good portion of this country can be considered mentally retarded, they won lots of seats and haven't done a damn thing besides cause a near default on US debt obligations.

As for the wall street occupation, what are they demonstrating against? I havent been paying attention.

[Will Robinson]

As for the wall street occupation, what are they demonstrating against? I havent been paying attention.

That is pretty much what they are protesting...not just you but everyone who has accepted the status quo for too long. They don't seem to offer any solutions though, they just know things are starting to suck bigtime.

[null0010]

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/10/01 ... ll-street/

Uniformed Marines are attending the protest. Risking court martial! Hardcore, guys.

[woodchip]

Curious how the wall street protestors are glorified and the Obamacare protestors were vilified.

[Will Robinson]

Curious how the wall street protestors are glorified and the Obamacare protestors were vilified.

Lemmings responding to feigned populism and outright class warfare demagoguery. And it helps to have a little bit of truth and substance mixed into that sales pitch. With that added you can draw in more than just the stupid lemmings and get some semi-intelligent ones too.
Motivate the Base + Moderates = Win at ballot

[null0010]

The wall street protesters aren't even really being covered, I don't see how that's glorification.

[callmeslick]

The wall street protesters aren't even really being covered, I don't see how that's glorification.

very true. Heck, that protest was a month along before getting any real press at all. The Obama protests at Town Hall meetings got instant press(summer=slow news cycle, which helped).

[Spidey]

You guys watch the wrong news shows.

These protests are just ripe for some commie pinkos to come in and galvanize.

[callmeslick]

You guys watch the wrong news shows.

These protests are just ripe for some commie pinkos to come in and galvanize.

that is, to some extent, my fear. Not that I would be such a troglodyte as to get paranoid over 'commie
pinkos' whateverthef*** that means.....but, like the Tea Party(which this movement very much resembles in the early stages.....remember, the Tea Party/Patriot movement started before the Obama election), I fear that someone with a narrow agenda will swoop in, sell their personal brand of crap to the movement and usurp it. I once held great hope for the Tea Party, when the focus was more of a 'throw the bums out until they listen to us' thing, but look at the loony mess that has become, discarding even conservative, responsible politicians and spouting sheer lunacy. The approach of this 'Occupy' movement is probably more effective, if they keep at it, because as the Tea Partiers and most others have learned, the money drives the politics, and those making the obscene profits at the expense of the broad masses play any side of the political fence that works. And, therein lies the root of my fears, that money will ooze into a nascent political awakening and coopt it. It is, on the other hand, good to see the youth of America finally wake up, look away from Jersey Shore and their XBoxes and face the grim economic reality that will be their adult lives, should nothing change.

[Grendel]

http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/

[Tunnelcat]

You could say the same about the name calling towards the Tea Party movement by the left

My husband read some New York professor's blog the other day, who claimed that he went out on the streets to try and find out what was going on in the minds of the protesters. So out of curiosity, he asked them what political affiliation they leaned towards. The funny thing is, many of them claimed present and former membership in the tea party and that they were out on the streets to start a new movement. Apparently they were pissed off that the tea party had been co-opted by corporate interests, and that it was no longer representative of the people.

[Top Gun]

Herman Cain has a brilliant quote where he calls the protestors "un-American." That'll win him support.

[Heretic]

Herman Cain has a brilliant quote where he calls the protestors "un-American." That'll win him support.

As much support as Democratic leaders will get calling Tea Partiers neo-Nazis, militias, secessionists and racists (insert other insults here). The only Class Warfare going on is politicians vs the taxpayer. Politicians lie to the people to get people to support them and then turn around and take more of the tax payers money. The stupid will always believe one side or the other and hand over their support just to take it up the ass. Fact is I really think the smart ones are the ones who milk the taxpayers and the system to survive and then turn around and not vote for the morons in Washington. They get to ★■◆● every one.

[woodchip]

You could say the same about the name calling towards the Tea Party movement by the left

My husband read some New York professor's blog the other day, who claimed that he went out on the streets to try and find out what was going on in the minds of the protesters. So out of curiosity, he asked them what political affiliation they leaned towards. The funny thing is, many of them claimed present and former membership in the tea party and that they were out on the streets to start a new movement. Apparently they were pissed off that the tea party had been co-opted by corporate interests, and that it was no longer representative of the people.

"Claim" and "is" are two different realities.

[Duper]

You guys watch the wrong news shows.

These protests are just ripe for some commie pinkos to come in and galvanize.

lol Spidey, what do you think is DRIVING this??

Here: http://occupywallst.org/forum/proposed- ... add-so-th/

[Spidey]

Some Jerry Rubin wannabes I'm sure.

[flip]

I think Spidey is dead on. As long as these demonstrators keep all their individual voices and not elect a single representative or spokesperson, it has a good chance of being heard.

Addendum: ROFL I'd be hollering "KEEP YOUR INDIVIDUAL VOICE". " WE ALL SPEAK TOGETHER"

[Tunnelcat]

"Claim" and "is" are two different realities.

How do you know Woody? The tea party was a grassroots movement until Dick Armey and his Freedom Works cronies stuck their greedy little fingers in the pie. And Armey was using the subtext of racism to sway people his way. The same thing will happen to the Occupy Wall Street Movement, but it will be the damned Labor Unions and their "meddling" that blow things up for people who just want the unchecked greed removed from our Capitalistic system and some decent paying jobs back so they can feed and house their families. Labor Unions are just as corrupt, or have the perception of corruption, as any corporation on Wall Street and this movement doesn't need that stain.

Herman Cain has a brilliant quote where he calls the protestors "un-American." That'll win him support.

The usual BS from conservatives. Like they are the only patriotic Americans. They like to drape themselves in the flag, but they're just as un-American as any other self-centered thieves. By the way, Herman Cain can go eff himself. He's NOT the one who's lost a job or a house to the rampant fraud going on within Wall Street.

http://www.myfoxmaine.com/story/1562754 ... protesters

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/10/05/h ... -yourself/

People are NOT out of work because they are "lazy"! What an out of touch moron! They are out of work because their jobs have gone to other countries!

Republicans want class warfare, here's Elizabeth Warren's fiery speech that'll rile the libs! I agree with everything she says too!

CLASS WARFARE

[Top Gun]

The thing that really got me about that quote was remembering all of the signs at tea party rallies that said something like, "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." (Actually, I saw one who spelled it "Descent" once, which is great. ) So if one group of protestors is upset about something, it's fine, but if another group is, it's somehow "unpatriotic"?

[callmeslick]

The thing that really got me about that quote was remembering all of the signs at tea party rallies that said something like, "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." (Actually, I saw one who spelled it "Descent" once, which is great. ) So if one group of protestors is upset about something, it's fine, but if another group is, it's somehow "unpatriotic"?

just got off another board where a conservative loon(the fellow who CUDA admires so much ) stated about the rallies in NYC, "....time to crush some skulls". Yup, you are spot on. Free speech only applies to those to whom some folks agree with. Interesting, in the other direction, that Whoopi Goldberg and a few other liberal types jumped to the defense of Hank Williams Jr's right to make idiotic remarks about the President playing golf with Boehner. Doesn't seem to work in both directions in our current political climate.


...."descent"......hilarious, and on several levels.

[CUDA]

(the fellow who CUDA admires so much )

(_!_)

[Will Robinson]

... The tea party was a grassroots movement until Dick Armey and his Freedom Works cronies stuck their greedy little fingers in the pie. And Armey was using the subtext of racism to sway people his way. ...

Riiiggghhhhtttt...because the tea party movement was just a spontaneous gathering of white racists looking for leadership.

You are exactly who you think you despise in so many ways TC.

[CUDA]

You are exactly who you think you despise in so many ways TC.

+1

[Tunnelcat]

... The tea party was a grassroots movement until Dick Armey and his Freedom Works cronies stuck their greedy little fingers in the pie. And Armey was using the subtext of racism to sway people his way. ...

Riiiggghhhhtttt...because the tea party movement was just a spontaneous gathering of white racists looking for leadership.

You are exactly who you think you despise in so many ways TC.

Those who lay claim to innocence with the loudest of denials about a particular thing they say they are against, are most likely guilty of doing or harboring that thing themselves. It's called "self denial by throwing the blame back against the accuser", a very popular way for someone to hide their prejudice and hatred. Kind of like what most bullies like to do when caught in the act. The fact both you and CUDA even saw fit to even comment on the racism swipe I took says volumes. Most people that are comfortable in their beliefs will shrug off accusations without remark or reaction.

Back to the thread. Here's the protester's Statement of Purpose for demonstrating:

http://occupywallst.org/article/September_Revolution/

A Modest Call to Action on this September 17th

Posted Sept. 17, 2011, 9:46 p.m. EST by agnosticnixie

This statement is ours, and for anyone who will get behind it. Representing ourselves (not the movement as a whole), we bring this call for revolution.

We want freedom for all, without regards for identity, because we are all people, and because no other reason should be needed. However, this freedom has been largely taken from the people, and slowly made to trickle down, whenever we get angry.

Money, it has been said, has taken over politics. In truth, we say, money has always been part of the capitalist political system. A system based on the existence of have and have nots, where inequality is inherent to the system, will inevitably lead to a situation where the haves find a way to rule, whether by the sword or by the dollar.

We agree that we need to see election reform. However, the election reform proposed ignores the causes which allowed such a system to happen. Some will readily blame the federal reserve, but the political system has been beholden to political machinations of the wealthy well before its founding.

We need to address the core facts: these corporations, even if they were unable to compete in the electoral arena, would still remain control of society. They would retain economic control, which would allow them to retain political control. Term limits would, again, not solve this, as many in the political class already leave politics to find themselves as part of the corporate elites.

We need to retake the freedom that has been stolen from the people, altogether.

If you agree that freedom is the right to communicate, to live, to be, to go, to love, to do what you will without the impositions of others, then you might be one of us.

If you agree that a person is entitled to the sweat of their brows, that being talented at management should not entitle others to act like overseers and overlords, that all workers should have the right to engage in decisions, democratically, then you might be one of us.

If you agree that freedom for some is not the same as freedom for all, and that freedom for all is the only true freedom, then you might be one of us.

If you agree that power is not right, that life trumps property, then you might be one of us.

If you agree that state and corporation are merely two sides of the same oppressive power structure, if you realize how media distorts things to preserve it, how it pits the people against the people to remain in power, then you might be one of us.

And so we call on people to act

We call for protests to remain active in the cities. Those already there, to grow, to organize, to raise consciousnesses, for those cities where there are no protests, for protests to organize and disrupt the system.

We call for workers to not only strike, but seize their workplaces collectively, and to organize them democratically. We call for students and teachers to act together, to teach democracy, not merely the teachers to the students, but the students to the teachers. To seize the classrooms and free minds together.

We call for the unemployed to volunteer, to learn, to teach, to use what skills they have to support themselves as part of the revolting people as a community.

We call for the organization of people's assemblies in every city, every public square, every township.

We call for the seizure and use of abandoned buildings, of abandoned land, of every property seized and abandoned by speculators, for the people, for every group that will organize them.

We call for a revolution of the mind as well as the body politic.

Here's their most recent "Declaration of Occupation of New York City"

http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/ ... _movement/

Declaration of the Occupation of New York City

As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.

As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.

They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.

They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.

They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.

They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.

They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices.

They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.

They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.

They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.

They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.

They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.

They have sold our privacy as a commodity.

They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.

They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.

They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.

They have donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them.

They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.

They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit.

They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.

They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.

They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.

They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.

They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.

They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.*

To the people of the world,

We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.

Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.

To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.

Join us and make your voices heard!

*These grievances are not all-inclusive.

[CUDA]

Most people that are comfortable in their beliefs will shrug off accusations without remark or reaction

and yet you consistently accuse everyone of every type of "ism" all the while feigning innocence when called on those accusations.

[Spidey]

Sounds like a commie manifesto, if I ever heard one.

[Will Robinson]

...

Those who lay claim to innocence with the loudest of denials about a particular thing they say they are against, are most likely guilty of doing or harboring that thing themselves. It's called "self denial by throwing the blame back against the accuser", a very popular way for someone to hide their prejudice and hatred. Kind of like what most bullies like to do when caught in the act. The fact both you and CUDA even saw fit to even comment on the racism swipe I took says volumes. Most people that are comfortable in their beliefs will shrug off accusations without remark or reaction. ..

Interesting. You seem to be proving my point quite well! You are railing against political hacks who spin bull★■◆●...by spinning bull★■◆●. And now you have tried to deflect my pointing out your hypocrisy "by throwing the blame back against the accuser". In just a few posts you managed to score the hat trick of hypocrisy as measured by your own standards!!

In case you are just too thick to understand...You made the racism claim about Tea Partyer's. I'm not one of them so I'm not deflecting or turning around anything because I never thought you were calling me a racist!

The "racism swipe" you took, in and of itself, was too ridiculous to bother attacking. The fact that you always claim ridiculous things to disparage your political enemies and create a narrative that you think supports your ideology is what I was attacking!
I'm accusing you of being the very epitome of the partisan hack who has no concern for reality, constantly spinning things to advance your political view.
I don't have a clue what race you are or if you care about race at all but you have made it clear that your partisan zealotry transcends your concern for race, religion and any measure of common sense!

[dissent]

I saw this comment here that was funny.

Communists make excellent drummers.
StuartGalore 4 hours ago

[Heretic]

It's called "self denial by throwing the blame back against the accuser", a very popular way for someone to hide their prejudice and hatred. Kind of like what most bullies like to do when caught in the act.

I think you are looking for the term psychological projection or projection bias which you clearly suffer from.

[Will Robinson]

Nothing like seeing a voter motivated enough to go out there and protest and then to hear him say the fed should take over the banks...meaning the democrats...and when asked to think it through only slightly deeper and consider if his solution still has merit if the Republicans get in the Whitehouse... does he still believe that the federal government should seize the banks and he thinks real hard to basically recognize his error but then clings to his illogical knee-jerk non-sense.

You just can't make up stupid like that. Real idiots put fiction to complete shame when it comes to delivering stupid. It can be no wonder why we have such asshat leadership when all you have to do is bite your lower lip or wink or shed a tear for the idiots once in a while to get the job.

[Sergeant Thorne]

I agree with maybe 40% of what TC quoted up there. The remaining 60% is insane. A hodge-podge liberal, socialist, anarchistic pipe-dream.

Edit: Actually 40% is pretty high. It's probably closer to 20%. A strong movement in America needs real thinkers, not these lame-brained, hippie college kids/grads who put forth half a thought and fill the void with favored socialist ideals and a reckless combination of angst and anarchism.

[Duper]

Now they're here in Portland Oregon



time to go buy some shells for my gun.....

For those that don't live here, the "moto" goes: "Keep Portland Weird". I don't need this here. I say get rid of the stupid while it's all in one place. (I'm kidding of course) but seriously, for those that are all po'd about the Tea Party folks, you had better be more concerned about these guys.