Open Thread Wednesday 10/5/11

Yes, I was there and the cops new what the crowd size would be, had total street closures along the route but kept 10-15 THOUSAND of us mostly penned to the sidewalk and run through several barricaded gauntlets 4-5 ‘ wide. If this was a rock concert, the promoters would be sued! The cops are aggressively trying to force confrontations this time. It’s a totally different tone and method than they have used (successfully) at past protests. The crowd was totally diverse with many over the age of 30. These were neither professional protestors or out of towners, rather people who recognize that Wall Street crashed this economy and threaten the security of the US with illegal trading practices, yet not 1 of them has been prosecuted and the practices have not ben regulated, so it can and will happen again. The other overriding message is hat the unregulated corp “donations” and lobbying have totally superseded our democratic process to the point that politicians of ANY party must answer to them rather than the voters. These are not vague goals, but have been clearly articulated and are attainable. The media is pushing the myth that “we” don’t know what we want or stand for. For the life of me I can’t fathom people who claim to love this country and what it stands for, yet are so outraged by peaceful citizen protests, the right to witch is the bedrock upon which this union was formed.

@ Andrew Porter – The Cranberry Street Festival is taking a breather this year and will return in 2012 so I’m told. Also rumored that there will be some sort of small neighborhood festivity before Christmas.