I showed up there at 8:15pm, 45 mins late, and couldn't believe that the talk was still about process. Very sad. The quotes below are right on - I can not say it better myself, so I'll just repeat them here:

"All I can think about is a cult...and I believe in every one of their damn principles."

"It was very divisive. Now they are a little group, like the 1 Percent."

"They think it is more important to purify themselves rather than connect with people who are not like themselves. They probably can't get much further than they are right now."

@1 bugjah: How sad! If we, the solid majority of shamefully overburdened tax-paying U.S. citizens, want real change, then we all need to do something about ending the corruption and corporate greed that has run amok. Boycotting is a good start. Not shopping on "Black Friday" (how many of us can afford to?) is another option. Pay ourselves first, not the CEOs.

One big problem with OWS is, how do people working three slave-labor jobs already just to support a family of five have any time with which to get involved? It's a shame to see a movement like this whose time has come just fizzle out.

This is a problem in every city. The hardcore and the extremists bitch and moan about process and democracy, but if their views get voted down by the majority (you know, the 99% they claim to represent) they throw a fucking hissy fit.

People need to check their egos at the door.

We were all so self-righteous (and correct) to mock the Tea Party folks; yet, in the process of finding and demonstrating our own voice we’ve proven that we all have the mentality and attention span of those who watch 2 ½ Mooks.

Direct action needs to trump process or nothing ever happens just like congress

I was not at this event but it just aired on The Seattle Channel (11-22, 3-5pm). I must say that I am very impressed by Nick Licata's patience with what - at least on camera, and as a whole - was a travesty.

It's odd to find oneself largely supporting Occupy's political goals but completely disgusted by the arrogance of what appears, at least, to be a collection of immature, privileged narcissists - who sit on the shoulders of their elders but have no recognition that they have been carried their whole lives.

NO - this was NOT what democracy looks like. It looked like a beer hall putsch, with a complete lack of respect to Town Hall - which has over the decades been completely unique in its role to give space and time for people to listen to radical and marginalized ideas and views.

The occupy movement is not one person, one event, however real the problems found in this situation it does not force me to turn away from this movement. I find this to be a much more meaningful review of the movement: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/comm…

@6 for the win!!!

Ias: thanks for the link. Solnit's points are spot on about the State's reaction to OWS etc. as a window onto its fundamental fragility. If people simply stop playing along, and sit still in space, the whole neoliberal system is at risk.

A point worth raising, which one of the speakers at this event mentioned [Frank Greer] was the "Occupy" ethos can be located not in Zuccotti Park, but rather in the occupation of the State Capital in Wisconsin; which...oddly enough...was composed by a broad coalition of trade-union "bureaucrats" and progressive citizens and has manifest in a phenomenal pushback to the Koch Brothers/Citizens United master plan do disenfranchise voting rights and eliminate public-sector unions. This effort will likely lead to the recall of Governor Scott Walker. Direct action has been brought to bear on established political mechanisms in a way that has been seldom witnessed since the Vietnam War.

OWS's street-level energy can be the engine of a social movement. The mantra that was repeated in this meeting and elsewhere: that OSW will be "co-opted," is telling. This form of organizational xenophobia leads to, among other things, the dismissal of the work that organized labor "bureaucrats" and established organizations do on a daily basis. It 'silences' the contributions that sympathetic and supportive Democrats would hope to provide; and reorients its focus on establishing boundaries.

I don't understand why one can't profess a radical politics and yet still see mutual benefit that can arise with strategic alliances based upon common goals.

Please consider endorsing and participating in this event.

Thanks ,
Kenn

Dear Mr. President,

There is a very large demonstration being planned for January 20th, 2012 at the Federal Courthouse at 700 Stewart street in Seattle, - and at every Federal Courthouse in the United States.. There are many groups organizing and "gearing up" for this demonstration. I will be promoting and advertising it. This "occupy movement" has only just begun. I suggest you figure out your plan of action and response; The rules of engagement; - Need a way better understanding of what is going on; - than during WTO in Seattle. Treat the people like they are the enemy, and they will become it

I feel the occupy movement does have a basic underlying message; Stop letting money decide political elections; And regulate corporate lobbying (and all lobbying) making it a public forum. Right now lobbying is mostly two old white guys sitting across from each other in an office. "They" have probably worked with each other or went to the same school; And "they" have promised you a job when you get out of politics, -- tripling your present salary!. The "lobbyist" used to be a "politician", it worked for him!. Who owns who? - That's a "Person-hood".

"I" was at the WTO protests in Seattle Washington, (with thousands of "other" really awesome "people", and a few "freaks") when a bunch of "anarchists" started busting windows with crowbars. We surrounded them, and they got in a circle with their crowbars. I tried to get the "Seattle police" to come arrest "these anarchists”, that were only fifty feet away and threatening violence and breaking windows… The "Seattle police" would not budge from their “police line”, making all of "us" the "enemy".... (There were thousands of "union" and "other" people sitting and standing in the street, - it was a relatively peaceful protest until the windows started breaking…). " I" am not the "enemy".

January 20, 2012 – Move to Amend Occupies the Courts!

Move To Amend is planning bold action to mark this date — Occupy the Courts — a one day occupation on Friday January 20, 2012, of the Federal Courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States and as many of the 89 U.S. District Court Buildings as we can. (I am inspired by Doctor Martin Luther King who said; "a true revolution of values", ... "there comes a time when silence is betrayal"., "people are not gonna be silenced".). Move to Amend will lead the charge on the judiciary which created — and continues to expand — corporate personhood rights.

Please Sign the petition to amend the Constitution for revoking corporate personhood at:

movetoamend.org

It's Time to GET MONEY OUT of politics

Bailouts. War. Unemployment. Our government is bought, and we’re angry. Now, we’re turning our anger into positive action. By signing this petition, you are joining our campaign to get money out of politics. Our politicians won’t do this. But we will. We will become an unrelenting, massive organized wave advocating a Constitutional amendment to get money out of politics.

Please sign the petition!

http://www.getmoneyout.com/

http://open.salon.com/blog/kennspace/201…

is the video of this posted anywhere? seems like a must-see....

@11: I signed the petition. Thank you for sharing your information.