That wonderful assessment of many American voters came from a union brother at a teach-in this afternoon. He was not the teacher, though he and any number of people there could have been; it was Bob Carney Jr ,former Republican candidate for governor. I did not agree with all of his opinions, but he was factual and informative. However,I took this pic for the sign!
more pics and news below the fold
I was late for the prep session for our rally to set up tents -we do not yet have permission to do so though we have asked county commissioners-but I determined it would be possible to be in safe area to take photos and be generally supportive without risking arrest. So I circulated for a while, got to finally meet a fellow Kossack there, and found the Zeitgeist people walking the walk with their own solar panels
it occurred to me I had not taken a pic of the medics' area yet, a little chaotic, but I love that they have an aloe plant on the table!
The rally in advance of tent set-up started at 4, most speakers were brief and led the crowd in chants. Another good sign spotted there:
no worries about people hiding sex or drugs in these! and highlights our desire for transparency in govt. They were lifted overhead by teams and we marched with them to the south plaza
the tents and their occupiers formed an inner circle with linked arms, the rest of us stayed behind our safety team and formed an outer circle
People in the inner circle spoke about why they were willing to risk arrest, there were sad stories of lost homes, lost jobs, and lost hope, but also people who wanted to do the right thing on behalf of others who could not.
Loved this sign!
after a while everything looked cool, so I went up to the balcony for one last pic before I went home to get the big pot of soup I had simmering and bring it back
While at home I checked in on Facebook and was dismayed to see the police were saying they would remove the tents after all. Packed up and got back as soon as I could, and the tents were still there. So I dropped off my soup, moved the car to free parking and returned by bike. This takes all of 15 min, and when I got back my soup had been devoured! So I got to eat someone else's cooking :-)
Meanwhile, the police had not yet removed anything, we heard of one arrest, I may know what that was about , and if I'm right, it had nothing to do with the tents or the main protest. The outer circle around the tents had thinned, people arranged to get food and water to the inner circle. Cars driving by honked their support. When I left , the TV news crews were all there waiting, but no drama had occurred. As I type this, no tweets or other news has come in, so I hope everyone is safe and warm in their tents tonight
UPDATE: Police moved in to remove tents and arrest occupiers at 1 am
Sat Oct 15, 2011 at 11:54 PM PT: Update 2: tents taken, no arrests