Occupy Wall Street interrupts President Obama. Crowd boos OWS. “No-no-no, It’s okay.”
Occupy tactics: sometimes self-defeating.
Occupy: we young liberals seem talented at making enemies of allies. The Tea Party wraps itself in patriotism, we wear dirty jeans, cry anarchy and…get tear gassed.
There’s been many calls for a change in tactics: dress nicely, learn how to communicate respectfully and clearly, remember that dissent is patriotism—we don’t have to hate the US to criticize it, and by the same token we can love it while wanting it to be better for all Americans.
Here’s the somewhat too-long message (especially via hard-to-hear Mic Check) the OWS tried to pass along:
“Mic check.”
“Mr. President.”
“Over 4,000 peaceful protesters have been arrested while bankers continue to destroy the American economy. You must stop the assault on our 1st Amendment rights. Your silence sends a message that police brutality is acceptable. Banks got bailed out. We got sold out.”
Later, President Obama said:
“A lot of the folks who’ve been down in New York and all across the country in the ‘Occupy’ movement, there is a profound sense of frustration, there’s a profound sense of frustration about the fact that the essence of the American dream, which is that if you work hard, if you stick to it that you can make it, feels like that’s slipping away…”
Let’s all remember what this is about:
Our flag was still there:
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