Welcome to PHASE 2 of Occupy Wall Street, now here is a message

[Playinghardball]

Source: Daily Kos

The point of Occupy Wall Street is NOT to camp in tents, it is to challenge power and corruption.

And now that our tents are going away I am almost relieved. The tents were becoming a distraction anyway, now it is time for us to focus on how we will place pressure on the corrupt power structure and demand the changes and reforms and accountability we all know is absolutely necessary if we are going to have a viable future for millions upon millions of working class people.

So Welcome to PHASE 2 of Occupy Wall Street, and here is a brief message based on what I have observed in my 2 months of participation . . .

It is time to TAX THE RICH

It is time to END THE WARS

It is time to restore Glass-Steagal

It is time to repeal Citizens United

It is time to get the money OUT OF POLITICS

It is time to invest in infrastructure and education

It is time to STOP busting labor unions, whether private or public

It is time to defend Medicare and Social Security tooth and nail from phony reforms or baloney cuts

More at: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/11/17/1037356/-Welcome-to-PHASE-2-of-Occupy-Wall-Street,-now-here-is-a-message

[Fire Walk With Me]

1. More action. Good.

[Earth_First]

2. WHAT ARE YOUR DEMANDS?!!!!

:wink:

[Rosa Luxemburg]

3. I totally agree!

[liberal N proud]

4. The media will still be ignorant

[Old and In the Way]

5. Make everyone in Congress sign this pledge.

If people in Congress will sign a no-tax pledge to a Washington lobbyist, they sure as here can sign up for making these demands happen.

It's clear and actionable...everyone should adopt this as the new Bill of Rights for the 21st Century USA.

[vcc]

6. the Repugs won't sign, just to hurt Obama and Amercians...

...They have no compunction about burying their heels deep in the sand. The more harm they do, the worse they think it makes Obama look. And they also don't give a crap about how much people protest or even if they start a war. In fact, they'd find ways to profit off it and put us in even much worse shape. So OWS *must* use the 2012 election as its primary tool of change if we have any hope of seeing it happen.

[Old and In the Way]

34. True...but it becomes a pretty clear signal to the voter.

Do you choose the candidate that will support legislation that addresses these issues...or do you choose the guy who doesn't want to piss his sponsors off?

[Tx4obama]

7. Congress should NOT be siging 'any' pledges, including no-tax pledges.

They should be doing their jobs and representing ALL people.

The job of the House and Senate is to create and pass legislation,
not to sign promises/pledges of any individual or group.

[Zorra]

10. The job of the House and Senate is to create and pass legislation,

that the 1% want them to pass.

[vcc]

20. the Repugs therein think it's their job to fuck people over.

[socialist_n_TN]

18. Passing NO legislation is better than passing BAD legislation

nm

[redqueen]

8. K&R

:bounce:

[EFerrari]

9. Imo, whoever wrote this didn't understand what the tents were for

in the first place or how they were a process, not a slumber party.

[Tx4obama]

11. Bottom line is that the tents became a huge distraction from the real message. n/t

[EFerrari]

13. Nope. You're still looking for a "real message"

just like my students used to look for the "deeper meaning" in their lit assignments.

The tents were a vehicle to assert the first amendment and to model a different society. They aren't going away. They are the message.

[redqueen]

12. I skimmed over that...

the list of demands is excellent.

I guess I should confess I don't realize the process they were a part of, either. I hope the movement can continue on regardless of whether there are permanent camps or not.

[EFerrari]

16. The camps are so simply subversive, it's kind of beautiful.

Yes, there's a lot of natter about them. But they keep the protest in public. They are a way for protesters to insist on the rights that have been so eroded AND they take back the commons. And probably other things that I can't think of right now, like if everyone is in a tent, the abusive class structure is collapsed and homeless people and professionals all become as valuable as their work.

Oh man, TPTB must fucking hate those tents. lol

[redqueen]

21. Taking back the commons is very much a worthy goal.

Too many people have no idea what the concept even means.

[EFerrari]

23. I feel like I still don't get it completely

and it's sort of wonderful to know this movement is in smarter, more creative hands. lol :)

[Uncle Joe]

15. I agree, the tents served as an excellent symbol which furthered the message by their visibility.

It's like I posted on another thread, if a picture is worth a thousand words, the sight of the tents were worth a million.

I believe Bloomberg, the corporate media and other antagonistic PTBs knew that as well, that's why the concerted, coordinated effort was made to remove them in rapid fashion and if they didn't like the judge's decision to allow the tents, they removed the judge.

[EFerrari]

17. It was a stroke of genius and one I confess I didn't get for weeks.

:)

[Tx4obama]

24. Well there ya go. If you didn't 'get it' for weeks, then it was not a very clear message ;) n/t

[EFerrari]

26. And you're still worrried about messaging more than understanding.

:)

If the livestream is any indication, the message is loud and clear. :)

[Tx4obama]

27. The whole point of protesting is to get a message out that will bring about your goal.

If you're not getting the 'message' out then you're wasting your time.

Protesting doesn't work if it is like 'abstract art'.

Define your message, protest to get the message out, work to obtain your goal.

If you goal is to keep tents set up in an encampment then the main message is lost and you're not going to accomplish anything other then going to jail and having to waste your money on bail and paying a fine.

[EFerrari]

28. I'd say that the protests all over the country prove you are wrong

and that your Clift Notes from PR101 are outdated.

[Tx4obama]

29. Yes, tons of folks are protesting and camping out, but what have they 'accomplished' so far?

A million folks could be out in the street protesting but if their efforts do not bring about any solution to any of the problems then it's nothing different than singing to yourself in the shower.

Please post a list of the things that their protest has changed?
Tell us about at least one problem that is closer to a solution/resolution do to the protests.

[EFerrari]

31. People all over this country are asserting their rights for the first time

in forty years.

Hello?

[Tx4obama]

33. You didn't answer the question. n/t

[EFerrari]

35. I answered your question precisely.

[Terry in Austin]

38. Accomplished: they've changed the premise

Before, the premise was "how do we get Washington to do right?"

Now the premise is "Washington is irrelevant; democracy is broken, it's a plutocracy. We can talk about it now."

Maybe that's a bit nuanced for you, but I think we'll see that this is a major, fundamental shift.

Stay tuned, and you'll see the "problems" redefined.

[randome]

32. This is hilarious.

Thread after thread on DU the past couple of weeks questioning why OWS is wasting time trying to define 'camping rights'. And now DailyKOS saying the tents are a distraction.

And your response is STILL to blame the people who aren't getting the message.

Incredible.

[EFerrari]

36. It is. How can people be so fucking dense?

lol

[AntiFascist]

14. Excellent goals, and I think we can agree all are realistic! n/t

[librechik]

19. yeah, baby flashmobs for freedom

forget about the tents--just show the fuck up!

[Terry in Austin]

22. The Kos crowd tend to be big-D Democrats

They haven't yet noticed that the democracy is broken -- the Republicans won't govern and the Democrats can't.

They assume that the "real message" of OWS has something to do with tweaking levers in Washington.

Slow, maybe, but a lot of them will no doubt come around...

;-)

[EFerrari]

25. Yep. Those levers don't actually move anything

and a lot of them will get it in the coming days and weeks.

[Warren DeMontague]

30. End the drug war, stop putting cancer grannies in jail for getting high, legalize regulate & TAX pot

nt

[alfredo]

37. Un-checked power is tyranny

[nadinbrzezinski]

39. I wonder if this diarist has been to an actual camp

[AllyCat]

40. And as an aside, can we start working on registering people to vote?

We have to take back our elections and the more people vote, the harder it is for the PTB to steal the elections! But so few are even registered...