Melanie Butler of the NYC Indypendent writes a lively first-person account of the action, which some naysayers have criticized for not having a common purpose:
As people are leaving work we march on Wall Street, led by the bombastic musical stylings of the Rude Mechanical Orchestra. I march with Eva-Lee, a seasoned CODEPINKer and member of the Granny Peace Bridgade.She is in awe of what young people are doing and says it’s unlike any other demonstration she’s experienced: "It's the process even more than the issues. I'm just blown away by how people are treating each other!"The city's "paper of record", the New York Times has not covered the protests other than in one blog post, but the action is getting attention from the foreign press. From BBC News comes a story of how the disparate band of park campers have boosted the fortunes of a local pizzeria. And the Voice of Russia talks about the militarization of the Big Apple, post-9/11. The New Zealand Herald concentrated on topless women flashing construction workers. In perhaps the ultimate irony, Pravda railed against the total American media blackout of the event. ("Arab Spring, American Fall")
Keith Olbermann sent a news crew to the park on Wednesday, noting on his TV show that if one Tea Partier were across the street talking to himself, corporate media would be falling all over themselves and leading with it on their nightly broadcasts. A few celebrities have shown up to speak to the crowd, including that maven of blue collar progressives, Roseanne Barr. Here she is, bullhorn and all.
And at Firedoglake, Kevin Gosztola has been running a liveblog and has further links to this ever-evolving series of events.
This is what we've been hoping and waiting for. Well, some of us anyway. October2011 is coming up as well. I am heartened. I even have hope for the first time in 3 years.
ReplyDeleteOn my numerous trips to Glacier this summer, I deliberately spoke to people who were from all over the country and asked their political views. Opinions were nearly unanimous: the system is broken, the people are not being represented, and it so corrupt and rotten that it needs to collapse so we can start fresh. I was surprised. And encouraged.
Karen, I hope you will be able to make it down to Wall Street one of these days and report to us. God knows we won't learn much from our corporate owned media. Polls now show that the public doesn't trust the media any more than they trust Congress. That's progress. The people are really getting it, although the media doesn't make it seem that way.
Your voice has been a powerful one, carried nationally through the NYT and through this website to make a difference, and has helped lead us to this tipping point. Keep speaking truth to power, and thanks.
Amen.
ReplyDeleteThis is where the blogs are going to take over from the MSM. The facts that people can only find media coverage of this kind of citizen participation in their democracy on the Internet is going to drive more and more people away from the Newspapers and into the arms of what is turning out to be the REAL MEDIA in this country.
ReplyDeleteToo bad it doesn't pay people like Karen better for their service! Hopefully, that will change.