September 3, 2012

"Ayende Alcala, an activist with Occupy Charlotte, said the group organized the protest not with any singular agenda..."

"... but to give people a space to come together and be heard."
"No matter what your issue is, we want to let them know we stand together," he said. "We want to have a united front to start off this Democratic National Convention."

"Behind those doors, the story is going to be the 'poli-tricks' as usual," Alcala added. "It's the art of getting elected, of pointing the finger back and forth. We want to say there's another story and that's the people on the street still suffering."

Nobody in the protest expressed much hope in the political process. Said Alcala: "It's a two-faced one-party system. They have different colors and different names, but at the end of the day, they all answer to the same Wall Street corporations that dominate the system."
Organized... not with any singular agenda... Which is kind of disorganized.

44 comments:

harrogate said...

Hmmm, seems like a bit of a false equation there. Organized=single agenda?

Shouting Thomas said...

Watched the movie "Margin Call" last night.

A pretty decent take on the 2008 banking crash. Seemed to me like the fictional investment banking firm in the flick was meant to be Goldman Sachs.

Nobody has been prosecuted in the great banking/mortgage derivative scam because both parties were in it up to their necks... including Obama.

This seems to me to negate the Obama attacks on Romney. All the allegations of insider dealing and ripoffs apply to the Obama team, too.

Ctmom4 said...

@Shouting Thomas - Don't forget John Corzine , Obama bundler and client of Eric Holder's law firm, who will not be prosecuted.

harrogate said...

Shouting Thomas,

Very true. No meaningful recriminations or regulations even, emerged from the Dem Congress and Obama, for Wall Street or the banking industry. Indeed, these sites of political and economic corruption have just continued on in the same exact fashion. They've been rewarded.

But I real this and other con blogs and I thought Obama was a socialist? Or even a communist?

Peter V. Bella said...

They are protesting just to protest. Nothing here folks just move on.

The Drill SGT said...

group organized the protest not with any singular agenda...""

And therefore dominated by the fringe left and anarchists

Anonymous said...

It's obvious they're just doing it because they think it's a good time. They just wanna' have fun.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

But I real this and other con blogs and I thought Obama was a socialist? Or even a communist?

What's your point? Are you suggesting that socialists and communists aren't corruptible and don't enrich themselves and their friends and hangers-on at the expense of the people?

Shouting Thomas said...

Here's my take on the true identity of Obama. Chicago is (sort of) my hometown.

The Daley machine and the Jesse Jackson corporate shakedown team fought a turf war for a couple of decades in Chicago.

Somewhere along the line, smart people in both those camps noticed this... If you insert a black person as the front man in your operation, the Fed and State reward you with a ton of perks. The most obvious is an exemption from low bid requirements in government contracts.

Thus Obama. The Daley and Jackson machines united behind Obama, the better to empty the pockets of Chicago and Illinois taxpayers.

In Chicago, they call this... "The City That Works!"

Hagar said...

Socialism is a Eurpean ides; Critical Race Theory is not.

Sorun said...

These are mostly newly-minted adults experimenting and trying to figure out the meaning of life. Of course, they don't make a lot of sense.

The only interesting thing to observe about OWS is the older adults who are trying to manipulate and exploit the younger ones.

Darrell said...


President Barack Obama was a pioneering contributor to the national subprime real estate bubble, and roughly half of the 186 African-American clients in his landmark 1995 mortgage discrimination lawsuit against Citibank have since gone bankrupt or received foreclosure notices.

As few as 19 of those 186 clients still own homes with clean credit ratings, following a decade in which Obama and other progressives pushed banks to provide mortgages to poor African Americans.




Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/09/03/with-landmark-lawsuit-barack-obama-pushed-banks-to-give-subprime-loans-to-chicagos-african-americans/#ixzz25PuPunLP

harrogate said...

Erika,

No. On a literal level I of course agree with you. Of course partisans of all persuasion draw corruption and nepotism the way that dogs draw fleas.

My point is, the labels that get tossed around in the name of "freedom" are childish, as are the labels that get tossed around in the name of defending the poor and working classes. It is all laughable. Both parties are very corporate friendly and just fine with this thing we have "built."

There is a wish to resist these dominant economic trends within the Democratic Party, but it's really just a fringe element at best. That's what's so funny about the funhouse rhetoric that the Democratic Party has drifted "further left", that infects so much of our discourse, including this blog.

Shouting Thomas said...

The description of "Althouse" as a "con blog" is not accurate.

Most of the "cons" on this blog are old farts who went through all the social upheaval and craziness of the 60s and 70s, and were probably at that time lefties in good standing.

Those "cons" have moderated their views in the light of experience.

Unless you just consider any views that aren't party line leftist "conservative," I don't agree with the description of this as a "con blog."

In fact, it appears to me that the term "conservative" really has no meaning except as a catch-all term for those who don't subscribe to the leftist party line.

Fen said...

"Organized... not with any singular agenda..."

ie. we'll take anyone just to give our numbers some cred. Unhappy with the Grays stealing your organs? We've got a sign for you! Down on the Jews? Here's your brownshirt!

Fen said...

But I read this and other con blogs and I thought Obama was a socialist? Or even a communist?

Marxist.

Ann Althouse said...

"Hmmm, seems like a bit of a false equation there. Organized=single agenda?"

I didn't make an equation. I said "kind of." So it was more: organized ≈ single agenda.

But then you said "bit of."

So... do we even have a disagreement here?

Tibore said...

""Behind those doors, the story is going to be the 'poli-tricks' as usual," Alcala added. "It's the art of getting elected, of pointing the finger back and forth. We want to say there's another story and that's the people on the street still suffering."

Nobody in the protest expressed much hope in the political process. Said Alcala: "It's a two-faced one-party system. They have different colors and different names..."


Two things:
1. It's amazing how these people adopt "people in the streets" to be the spokespeople for. Yet, who's willing to bet that most of those people would give zero truck to Occupy denizens?

Those who agitate "For The People" tend not to really commit their acts for the hoi polloi. Rather, they tend to use the common citizen as their McGuffin to act out (and act up while they're at it).

2. It's a shame that they have half a legitimate point to make. Disappointment in government is a recurring theme for nearly any American. But Occupy doesn't seek to replace the problme with a substantive solution. They exist to draw attention to themselves by making noise and performing public street theater. They're otherwise empty of true substance.

If Occupy were something other than a bunch of people complaining to complain, and self-aggrandizing themselves in the process, they might be worth respecting. But really, what respect have they earned? And given what they are - or rather, the fact that they're pretty much a gaggle of nothing - why do they keep making the news?

edutcher said...

You mean it's not gonna be like Chicago '68?

I am so, like, bummed, man.

Shouting Thomas said...

The description of "Althouse" as a "con blog" is not accurate.

Shout, the Lefties regard Ann as a traitor to the cause so she runs a "con blog". Maggie's Farm describes Althouse as Eclectic, which seems pretty much the case to me.

PS I was a Liberal for about 2 weeks in '65 and then I woke up, so does that make me one of the ones "who went through all the social upheaval and craziness of the 60s and 70s, and were probably at that time lefties in good standing"?

Pettifogger said...

"No matter what your issue is . . ."

So Tea Partiers protesting unmanageable government debt will be welcome?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tom Spaulding said...

"No matter what your issue is, we want to let them know we stand together," he said.

What if I have an issue with standing with people who stand together regardless of their issues?

Hell, just save me a spot in the small-government, conservative, Republican tent. I want to take a dump on a skateboard or Hacky Sack....you know, because:The Man.

virgil xenophon said...

Alcala's mere existence as the sort of human being he represents and his comments provide IRREFUTABLE evidence of the failure of our educational system if there ever was one.

The Crack Emcee said...

"No matter what your issue is, we want to let them know we stand together,..."

Suicide bombers of the world, UNITE!

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

wrong track before..

How I Feel

A. Shmendrik said...

Is there any drumming? I like drumming. Drumming is good.

Carnifex said...

I'm dyslexic! Dyslexic's of the world UNTIE!

I could support OWS if they stood for something more than "Give me MY share!" Because if you read closely, that's what they are upset about. They see the corporate cronies of DC "getting" while they get nothin'. If they get their free weed, tuition, and rubbers, they're happy as clams.

Richard Dolan said...

"Organized ... not with any single agenda ... which is kind of disorganized."

So it's basically a tribal thing -- us vs. them, where the factor defining 'us' is just that we're not them. Perhaps that's what happens when you smoke one peace-pipe too many. Choom gang, anyone?

madAsHell said...

I'm pretty sure this occupy thing was just a bunch of empty tents. The tents were purchased by the unions.

Rick Caird said...

"Organized... not with any singular agenda... Which is kind of disorganized."

Right up there with "Leading from behind", which is kind of like "Following".

Anonymous said...

"Organized... not with any singular agenda" i.e. herding cats.

The Occupiers protests will show how inept those in power are. Whatever the Occupiers' grievances were, they would be drowned out by their clashes with the police. If there were no clashes, there would be no news. If there were clashes, who were to enforce law and order? Romney and Ryan? If the police were heavy handed, they would be "fascists"; if they couldn't control the mob, they would be the Keystone Cops. Most likely, the fascist Keystone Cops. Lose-lose for the One.

If they couldn't run their Convention, how could they run the economy?

ObeliskToucher said...

"No matter what your issue is, we want to let them know we stand together,..."

I'm certain that a small cadre of Young Republicans would be welcomed with open arms...

Captain Curt said...

My favorite take on the Occupy movement was the guy (surely an infiltrator) with a sign that said, "We're here, we're unclear, get used to us!"

Captain Curt said...

My favorite take on the Occupy movement was the guy (surely an infiltrator) with a sign that said, "We're here, we're unclear, get used to us!"

Alex said...

Has OWS had any lasting effect on anything?

Jason (the commenter) said...

I saw the Occupy Wall Street crowd march with other protesters at the RNC. One of their chants was "F*** Obama, too!"

I wish them all the best in Charlotte.

Jason (the commenter) said...

Doing the math here: the largest protest at the RNC was 250 people, if this protest in Charlotte had "several thousand" that means at least eight times as many people came to protest Obama as Romney!

Jerome said...

"Singular" is not a synonym for "single. Singular means remarkable, worthy of note, while single means, well, single. I know, that train has left the station, we are all morons now.

cubanbob said...

Allende Alcala, sounds like a red diaper baby. Who but let wing nuts would name a kid after a communist?

OWS just hasn't figured out that at heart, they are the would be fascists.

kentuckyliz said...

They'll get organized when their leaders the Giant Puppets show up.

The Giant Puppets are their leaders.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

If you aren't organized, there's no one to hold responsible.

It's just cowardice.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

Can you imagine a Civil Rights march that wasn't clear about who they were and what they believed?

John henry said...

Don't forget that if you are looking for work, the Occupy Wall Street general Assembly has redirected to the Koch Brothers careers page

www.owsgeneralassembly.org

John Henry

mikee said...

"Organized... not with any singular agenda..."

So if my agenda is constitutional limits on federal power, and, say, expansion of 2nd Amendment rights, and maybe pro-life protesting, I'll be welcome by these folks in Charlotte?

Ha! I made myself laugh out loud.