The Huffington Post has a story on the Occupy Movement’s plans for the DNC Convention in Charlotte next year:
Occupy Asheville’s Martin Ramsey said of the DNC, “We are aware of it and we are going to do something.” He’s just not sure yet what that will be. Ramsey said he’s also watching Charlotte’s ordinance issue closely: “This type of lawfare is to be expected.” Between the state’s anti-union stance and playing home to Bank of America’s headquarters, Ramsey expects the DNC here will be “a powder keg.” The city, he said, “has got a big target on it.”
That the city will be a target of direct action by the Occupy Movement has been a concern since the Movement began in October. New York Magazine ran a headline article earlier this year asking if 2012=1968?, 1968 being the year of the famous anti-Vietnam war protests in Chicago that included large scale rioting and violent confrontations with the police. The Charlotte Town Council is currently considering an ordinance that would ban tents and other popular protest tools such as padlocks from public property. All of this will surely mean even more increased security for the DNC Convention and more inconvenience for Charlotte residents. Recent reports in the Charlotte Observer have suggested that security for the Convention will cost as much as $50 million (with most of the cost being picked up by a federal grant) and include up to 5000 officers.
To clarify, the occupy movement is NOT a protest. A protest acknowledges an authority and petitions this authority for change. THE PEOPLE ARE THE AUTHORITY. We ask nothing of anyone. We’re simply doing what previous generations failed to do. We’re calling the system on its BS and we’re building a new one. Republicans and Dmoncrats are the same. they’re owned by the same corporations, banks and wealthy individuals… The goals are identical. the only difference is in how they go about achieving them.
Well, Midwesterner, while America definitely has problems, we are still the most prosperous, powerful nation the has ever seen. We need to fix the major problems in society (crony capitalism is one of them) but there is no need to create an entire new system. There is no appetite for another French Revolution style rebuilding of society-especially one led by disorganized activists “occupying” public parks and making fools of themselves.