Where the Hell's the American Spring Thread?

[zulu]

Gr. I hate being wrong about news. Meanwhile, I don't have a subscription so, could you offer a sneak peak, a snippet....?

From the NYT article:

"The group’s lack of cohesion and its apparent wish to pantomime progressivism rather than practice it knowledgably is unsettling in the face of the challenges so many of its generation face — finding work, repaying student loans, figuring out ways to finish college when money has run out. But what were the chances that its members were going to receive the attention they so richly deserve carrying signs like “Even if the World Were to End Tomorrow I’d Still Plant a Tree Today”?"

[Leslie]

From the NYT article:

"The group’s lack of cohesion and its apparent wish to pantomime progressivism rather than practice it knowledgably is unsettling in the face of the challenges so many of its generation face — finding work, repaying student loans, figuring out ways to finish college when money has run out. But what were the chances that its members were going to receive the attention they so richly deserve carrying signs like “Even if the World Were to End Tomorrow I’d Still Plant a Tree Today”?"

Thanks much, Zulu. Ah, these young hippies are so idealistic!

[trancendyce]

D. IS one of the best when it comes tracking this sort of issue! You lucky girl....

he certainly has a knack for keeping track of it all. sometimes i more or less make him go camping/hiking just to get him away from it for a while.

[James]

Looks like it's trying to grow some legs.

"We're mad as hell and we're not gonna take it anymore!"

Now if "thugs" show up with baseball bats and start to beat the shit out of them, they'll get some real Spring cred. Oh, wait. That kinda sorta happened yesterday. Pepper spray, no bullets yet.

[jeffx]

For all the misspelled signs and other things that have been popular to ridicule, the Tea Party gang has been far more successful at delivering their message.

which is...?

[jfm]

This is pretty interesting. I'm sure some people will read it and think, what a bunch of losers or whiners or whatever Rush Limbaugh calls such people. But read through a couple dozen of them and you start to get a sense of the way things really are.

[Leslie]

This is pretty interesting. I'm sure some people will read it and think, what a bunch of losers or whiners or whatever Rush Limbaugh calls such people. But read through a couple dozen of them and you start to get a sense of the way things really are.

Occupy wall street (knoxville) has a FB page, of course. And the Daily Mail has a good spread of photos. Better than anything Huffpost has produced

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...s-Chicago.html

[Keef Riffers]

[zulu]

"We are the 99%" starts to generate a cohesive message. That's good. Now add 'and we are registered to vote,' and maybe some attention will be paid. Add to that an organizational effort to actually get people to the polls on election day, and you've really got something. Money can buy cable news channels and all sorts of political advertising, but the big secret hiding in broad daylight is that motivated and mobilized blocs of voters are the real currency in Washington. Money is a means, not an end. Protesting in the street can be a means, but it's not an end. That's why coherent messaging is critical. When politicians see hippies and hipsters in the streets with a mile long laundry list of grievances and really cool and equitable assertions of individuality, they keep moving right on past, because while those people may be in the "99%," they are also typically in the majority that don't vote. What worked for the Tea Partiers was taking their discontent to the ballot box.

[metulj]

From the NYT article:

"The group’s lack of cohesion and its apparent wish to pantomime progressivism rather than practice it knowledgably is unsettling in the face of the challenges so many of its generation face — finding work, repaying student loans, figuring out ways to finish college when money has run out. But what were the chances that its members were going to receive the attention they so richly deserve carrying signs like “Even if the World Were to End Tomorrow I’d Still Plant a Tree Today”?"

Agreed. They should be out there kicking asses.