2012: The Year The Republican Party Could Die

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 16: An Occupy Wall Street protester sits in Zuccotti Park a day after it was cleared of the Occupy Wall Street camp in an early morning police raid on November 16, 2011 in New York city. Hundreds of protesters, who rallied against economic inequality in America, have slept in tents and under tarps since Sept. 17 in Zuccotti Park. A New York judge ruled Tuesday that the protesters could return to Zuccotti Park but couldn’t set up tents or sleep in the park. Zuccotti Park became the epicenter of the global Occupy Wall Street movement. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)The Right To Peaceful Assembly In New York City

There is no stopping The Occupy Movement, TOM. Winter is over. Spring is here. And that is all the movement was waiting for. (Occupy Wall Street Could Legitimately Go Indoors) If the movement had not known the winter was going to be as mild as it was, there was never even going to be a break.

The Democratic Mayors of America have a choice to make. Granted the Mayor of NYC is not a Democrat, but he is a former Democrat. And every other elected official in the city is a Democrat, pretty much. The Democratic Party has a choice to make. Either the Occupy movement will breathe new life into the Democratic Party, or it will end up being its own political party.

America might continue to be a two party democracy. But one of those two parties might as well be the Occupy Party. Not now. But who knows where we will stand a year from now?

All the Democratic Mayors have to do is facilitate and celebrate the Occupiers' right to peaceful assembly. If they can't do that the Occupy movement is going to split from the Democratic Party and create its own party.

Total campaign finance reform within the first 100 days of Barack Obama's second term is the only thing that will quench the Occupy movement. Nothing less will. Should that goal be met, then the leaders of the Occupy movement could move on to running for elected office all over the country at all levels of government, armed with nothing more than social media. A new breed politician is about to be born.

Related articles

• Is the Republican Party Dying?
• How Do Political Parties Spend Their Cash in Philadelphia?
• Democratic Party / Republican Party

• Campaign Finance Reform and the Future of the Democratic Party (pro2sell.com)
• Democratic Party Picking Up Female Voters (alan.com)
• Election Laws (dalesideas.com)
• New political rules open way for old Gorbachev project (rt.com)

The Right To Peaceful Assembly In New York City

Occupy Wall Street protesters have taken over Zuccotti Park as a base of operations. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)It blows my mind that Zuccotti Park is private. It absolutely blows my mind. While we are at it why don't we privatize Central Park as well? Maybe The Donald will buy it. What about Prospect Park? I mean. Isn't there a budget deficit or something? What are parks for?

This city needs to buy back Zuccotti Park at the earliest, like this year. And give it to the Occupy people. The Occupy people put New York City on the world map last year like nobody and nothing else. That has to be honored. It is called saying thank you.

Ends up there is no right to peaceful assembly in New York City. There is a right to peaceful assembly in New York City just like there is a right to free speech in Syria. Assad was asked about free speech a few years back. He said, there is free speech in Syria. As long as people are respectful and decent in what they say. Otherwise you will have chaos, he said. Imagine that. Chaos.

There are people in this city who think the Occupy people doing their 24/7 thing in Zuccotti Park last year was chaos. Do they smell? They asked. It took a Time magazine to see the Occupier's worth, and people running this city still don't get it.

And this city is supposed to be the progressive capital of the world? I am not feeling it. I am not feeling the love.

10 million people joining a Facebook group could not have done what 200 people camping out 24/7 in Zuccotti Park did. It had to happen in person. It had to happen 24/7. It needed to happen in a public place.

Related articles

• Watch: Police Get Violent As OWS Retakes Zuccotti Park
• NYPD Occupy Wall Street Threat: Police Probing Tweet About Cops After Zuccotti Park Protest
• 'Occupy' camp marks six-month anniversary
• NYC activists reflect on Occupy's direction
• Occupy Wall Street Retakes Zuccotti Park, Kicks Off 2012 Protests @PolicyMic | Chris Miles

• Hibernation is Over: A Spring Preview for Occupy Wall Street (gawker.com)
• What's next for Occupy Wall Street? (storify.com)
• NYCLU Files Papers Contesting Trespassing Charges in Zuccotti Eviction Case (onthewilderside.com)
• Occupy Wall Street urges strike over arrests (cbsnews.com)
• Tweeter Behind Alleged Occupy Threat Against NYPD Speaks Out (newyork.cbslocal.com)

Republican Porridge

One guy won in Iowa. Another won in New Hampshire. A third won in South Carolina. The guy who won in New Hampshire has more money and a better ground operation than the guy who won in South Carolina.

I think I just decided Barack Obama does not need my help in his re-election bid. The opposition is in major disarray. I never doubted the possibility of a second term for Barack Obama, but now I am doubly sure.

I am going to take it easy. Or maybe not. The Occupy movement will herald an American Spring. Let winter pass. The Occupy movement is an unprecedented opportunity to enact a muscular progressive agenda, in this country and across the world. You ain't seen nothing yet. Let winter pass.

The Democratic Party will have a choice to make. Almost all Mayors that expressed physical hostility to the Occupiers across the country were Democratic. That is just a shame.

What the Occupy movement needs is red carpet treatment. You should be able to - come spring - provide a public space in your city where 100-200 Occupiers can camp out 24/7. It is for the Democratic Mayors to arrange for toilets, and public wifi, and police protection. It is for them to pick up the garbage. If not there is going to be rebellion in the ranks.

Occupy was the word of 2011. The Occupier was Time magazine's Person Of The Year. Liverpool had the Beatles. New York City has the Occupiers. Mayor Bloomberg is going to have to measure up. His entire legacy is at stake, come spring.

Related articles

• Newsy Video: Gingrich wins South Carolina (englishblog.com)
• GOP Race Is Still a Race + More (papundits.wordpress.com)
• The Republican Party: the Party of God and Money (fidlerten.com)
• Occupy Protesters Surround Santorum and Family After Final New Hampshire Pitch (abcnews.go.com)
• CAMPAIGN BLOG | Christie takes on Occupy New Hampshire (cbc.ca)
• Florida Next Stop in Now-Scrambled Republican Race (tampa.cbslocal.com)
• Occupy goes establishment (politico.com)
• Internal Affairs: San Jose city councilman avoids union label on campaign flier (mercurynews.com)
• Gingrich wins South Carolina GOP Primary (capitolhillblue.com)
• Democrats see minefield in Occupy protests (sfgate.com)

Happy New Year: Occupy 2012

Via Sean Parker

Mobile Occupy, Dawn To Dusk Occupy

Image by Saint Huck via FlickrEvent: December 12th: Occupy Strikes Back (RSVP for NYC only HERE)

Occupy Wall Street Could Legitimately Go Indoors

24/7 camping out in a public place of a few hundred people has been the heart and soul of the Occupy movement. And it will have to return to that. But skipping the winter months would be a good idea. April, anyone?

24/7 can mutate to dawn to dusk, no tents required. 24/7 can mutate to daylong events away from public parks. Flash events, planned events.

This movement went national a long time ago. This movement went global a long time ago. This movement will shake Russia, this movement will shake China.

Related articles

• Police arrest 46 Occupy Boston protesters during eviction (news.nationalpost.com)
• Peaceful Arrests Made as Police Clear Occupy Boston Camp (ibtimes.com)
• Occupy Protests Have Spread to the North Pole (prweb.com)
• Police evict Occupy Boston protesters; 46 arrested - USA Today (usatoday.com)
• Police Arrest 46 in Sweep of Boston 'Occupy' Camp (foxnews.com)
• Occupy Boston Protesters Get Evicted (abcnews.go.com)
• Occupy Calgary protesters must leave Olympic Plaza by Friday: judge (calgaryherald.com)
• Live Blog for #Occupy Movement: Occupy Tampa Participants Arrested After Refusing to Leave a Public Park (dissenter.firedoglake.com)
• Occupy Wall St EVICTED..ReOccupy NOW (thefreeonline.wordpress.com)

Occupy Zuccotti: The Eviction

Image by david_shankbone via Flickr(1) I am not alarmed.
(2) The operation was well done, well executed.
(3) It was the wrong thing to do.
(4) New York City should take pride in the fact that something that started in a small park in this city has spread across the world. Liverpool takes pride in The Beatles.
(5) There will be a regrouping.
(6) The eviction was top news on Google News for an entire day. It probably still is. The Occupy people could not have thought of a better way to spread their message around the country, around the world. An operationally well executed plan was a political defeat, if the purpose was to calm down the Occupy movement.
(7) The movement has to rethink, regroup, and do one better.

(8) It is not within this or any other mayor's power to address the concerns of the movement. The mayor does not have a political solution. The movement is above the mayor's pay scale. The movement is not asking the mayor for the solution. No city official can address.
(9) This movement is out of the box thinking. It is stepping out. It is saying the entire system is dysfunctional. Something fundamental is not working.
(10) The movement can sleep outdoors if it wants to. Why not? The right to peaceful assembly does not end when the sun sets.

(11) The movement has to go through some introspection.
(12) Public acts are important. 200 people in 200 basements hammering away on social media sites could not have had one millionth the impact. Of course Zuccotti Park mattered. That 24/7 character has to be brought back. (Occupy Wall Street Could Legitimately Go Indoors)
(13) Nonviolence is the only option.
(14) My favorite part of the movement so far has been individuals writing out on placards explaining what makes them part of the 99%. That has to be magnified.

(15) Mass actions like literally shutting down Wall Street and crossing the Brooklyn Bridge in ways that disrupt traffic might be great ways to get old media attention and magnify the message, but they go beyond my personal comfort level for now.
(16) But then financial bad behavior on Wall Street over the past decade was not exactly within your comfort level either.
(17) I wish the movement worked harder to achieve more sophisticated levels of organization.
(18) Isolated incidents of possible criminal behavior, or in one case suicide, would be a lame excuse to shut down the movement. There are murders taking place in New York City every day. Should the city be shut down?

(19) Message.
(20) Organization.
(21) The movement will take a few months to take both of those to the next level. The mayor wants debates. There will be debates.

The Occupy movement is not a mirror image of the Tea Party. To say it is to suggest Charlie Rangel is a modern day MLK. The Occupy movement competes with acts by MLK. It is a modern day movement, completely crowd sourced.

Occupy The World
Occupy Wall Street Could Legitimately Go Indoors
Occupy
The Conversation Is The Revolution
Tahrir Square In America

Related articles

• Occupy Wall Street - A look back at the last two months (rt.com)
• Official statement from Occupy Wall Street regarding the eviction from Zuccotti Park (dangerousminds.net)
• Occupy Wall Street Leaders: "Bloomberg May Have Done Us A Great Favor" (news.firedoglake.com)
• Occupy Wall Street: Evicted (bigthink.com)
• New York Judge Upholds Eviction of Occupy Wall Street from Zuccotti Park (reason.com)
• Zuccotti Park Cleared, Protesters Head to Court (inquisitr.com)
• Occupy Wall Street: judge backs mayor Michael Bloomberg's move to evict camp (telegraph.co.uk)
• Second Occupy Wall Street News Update of the Day (thedailywh.at)
• After Eviction, Zuccotti Protesters Scramble to Respond (dealbook.nytimes.com)
• On Scene: The Night the Police Cleared Occupy Wall Street (time.com)
• Occupy Wall Street: Protesters Emboldened After Downtown Eviction (newsfeed.time.com)
• Occupy Wall Street Awaits - And Tweets - Court Ruling on Zuccotti Park Eviction (mashable.com)
• Rational Second Judge Michael Stallman Denies Occupy Wall Street Request to Return to Zuccotti Park (atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com)
• Scott Stringer Unhappy With Occupy Wall Street Eviction From Zuccotti Park, Treatment Of Press (newyork.cbslocal.com)
• Occupy Wall Street: New York Police Department Evicts Protesters, Clears Zuccotti Park [LATEST UPDATES] (laurieanichols.wordpress.com)
• Judge rules against protesters in Occupy Wall Street eviction challenge (news.blogs.cnn.com)
• Emboldening Occupy Wall Street: Protesters Rally After Downtown Eviction (newsfeed.time.com)
• Judge tells Occupy Wall Street: You can't sleep in Zuccotti Park anymore (csmonitor.com)
• Police move in to evict Occupy protesters from New York park (news.blogs.cnn.com)
• Judge Rules Against Zuccotti Park Protesters (newser.com)
• NYC's top cop: Occupy eviction was restrained (cbsnews.com)
• Police move in to evict Occupy protesters from New York park (cnn.com)
• Occupy Wall St EVICTED..ReOccupy NOW (thefreeonline.wordpress.com)
• Occupy Wall Street: police evict protesters in New York and other US cities (telegraph.co.uk)
• Zuccotti Park Eviction: Court Order Against City Says Protesters Can Return With Tents In Tow - 15 November 2011 (lucas2012infos.wordpress.com)
• Judge Says Protesters Can Return To Zuccotti With Tents (stevebeckow.com)
• After OWS Raid, Media Await the Next Act (businessweek.com)
• Officials: Journalists Among Those Arrested During Zuccotti Park Raid (newyork.cbslocal.com)

Occupy The World

Image by david_shankbone via FlickrOccupy America has to be first and foremost about total campaign finance reform. I was Barack Obama's first full time volunteer in New York City. And I staunchly believe in the guy's reelection. But I have tried to see the Occupy movement for what it is and I have been open to options that might or might not be best for Barack Obama's political party. (A Multi Party System For America) But I believe 2012 has to be about The Agenda. The agenda is total campaign finance reform and progressive taxation (Sales Tax, Wealth Equity Tax) within 100 days of Barack Obama's second term. To that end giving him a second term, a super majority in the Senate and a majority in the House might be the best way. (Occupy Wall Street: My Idea Of Obama 2012) But that can be no blank check. The Occupy movement has to spell out the agenda by the summer of 2012.

Occupy China, Occupy Russia, Occupy Iran All Over Again

The Occupy movement can achieve globally what guns and tanks can not. The Occupy movement can end all wars for all times. You do that by turning all countries into democracies through peaceful protests. And once that goal is achieved, by achieving rule of law between countries. The UN General Assembly has to be reorganized and turned into a true global parliament.

Occupy Wall Street Could Legitimately Go Indoors
Occupy
The Conversation Is The Revolution
Tahrir Square In America

Related articles

• Giuliani on Occupy Wall Street Protests (economicnoise.com)
• Occupy Tokyo a welcome sight (japantimes.co.jp)
• Bill Kristol Calls #OWS Undemocratic, Marxist and Damaging to Liberalism (crooksandliars.com)
• Joseph A. Palermo: Occupy Wall Street: American as Apple Pie (huffingtonpost.com)
• Campaign Finance Reformers Launch Progressive Effort To Remove Money From Politics (huffingtonpost.com)
• Occupy Wall Street: Bettering or Destroying America? (oneway2day.wordpress.com)
• Rudy Giuliani: OWS, "Dangerous Movement" Caused By Obama; "Will Take His Presidency Down" (alan.com)
• Giuliani: Obama owns Occupy Wall Street movement (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)
• Giuliani: 'Obama Owns Occupy Wall Street' (politics.blogs.foxnews.com)