Poll Position: Was Reed too fast or too slow vs. Occupy Atlanta?
They came, they camped, they got thrown in jail.
The Occupiers of Atlanta, or at least of Woodruff Park, logged nearly three weeks of unlawful “urban camping” before finally pushing their luck with Mayor Kasim Reed. About one week into a three-week extension of the permission he’d granted the Occupiers to stay in the park, Reed sent in the police. The mayor said some Occupiers had demonstrated they “were on a clear path to escalation.”
Unlike in Oakland, Calif., the arrests went peacefully. Now the Atlanta Occupiers say they’re moving on to a new location — and will eventually return to Woodruff, because it “is the people’s park.” (Sure it is. And the people’s duly elected representatives have made laws governing the people’s park.)
But the question remains: Were the Occupiers kicked out of Woodruff too soon, or too late?
How do you rate Kasim Reed's actions toward Occupy Atlanta?
- Kicked 'em out too late. (125 Votes)
- Kicked 'em out too soon. (60 Votes)
- Got it just right. (48 Votes)
Total Voters: 233
Loading ...On one hand, Reed had authorized their stay in Woodruff through Nov. 7 — and, given that he’d already extended his executive order once before, it’s fair to wonder if he meant “at least Nov. 7.” Absent some kind of riot or imminent public threat, why not stick to that plan?
On the other hand, a city ordinance clearly prohibits overnight camping in public parks. Why should Reed have allowed this group to violate the law — at a cost to the city of tens of thousands of dollars, even before last weekend’s flare-up — when other groups have followed the protocol for requesting similar park usage and been denied? (With Reed, maybe it truly is better to ask forgiveness than permission.)
That’s this week’s Poll Position. Answer in the nearby poll and in the comments thread below.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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144 comments Add your comment
flossofer
October 28th, 2011
5:13 am
Amendment 1, US Constitution: The Right Of The People Peaceably To Assemble SHALL NOT BE ABRIDGED!
marko
October 28th, 2011
5:31 am
Gee whiz flossofer, you’d think he’d taken away their guns the way you carry on. As I see it, it’s just big misunderstanding. Kyle sees an unruly mob illegally occupying public land. I chose to view them as a well regulated militia defending their right to arm bears.
Joel Edge
October 28th, 2011
6:06 am
Show up, have your protest, go home.
marko
October 28th, 2011
6:08 am
.This is off topic, but a national poll conducted by Time shows Hillary Clinton creaming the top GOP contenders in head to head matchups. For me Obama has been a huge disappointment. Kyle seems to think that the presidents unpopular because he doesn’t do what the Tea Party tells him to do. I feel that Obama was given a mandate to come to Washington and kick butts. Instead he chose to compromise with morons. Compromise with stupid people, and at best you wind up with something half stupid.At any rate, we had the chance to sic the Hillabeast on these clods and we blew it.
Joel Edge
October 28th, 2011
6:17 am
marko@6:08
It’s just buyers remorse. It’ll pass.
It's called civil disobedience
October 28th, 2011
6:53 am
It didn’t matter when the mayor removed the protesters. They were there, willing to be arrested, living in tents, and dealing with the weather. It’s called civil disobedience.
They made and continue to make their point loud and clear. They want big money removed from our politics. They want corporations and the rich to pay their fair share in taxes (Exxon, GE paid no federal taxes last year and the wealthy pay 15% on investment (unearned) income.) They want the crooks on Wall Street whose gambling (greed) brought us to the worst recession since the Great Depression to be prosecuted for the fraud they committed.
It's called civil disobedience
October 28th, 2011
6:55 am
These kids have something that more and more people have. Nothing to lose.
Joe The Plumber too.
October 28th, 2011
7:10 am
Should have been ended the first night they stayed past closing time. Firehoses and beanbag bullets next time. The criminal leader (name change to hide fact he’s a convicted thief) telling the protestors before the arrests, if they had been doing drugs or alcohol or were on probation to leave the park. Shows what kind of trash was gathered at the protest. Losers with no place else to crash for free.
Karl Marx
October 28th, 2011
7:15 am
If you apply the same measure to how Atlanta has treated the Tea Party I vote Way Too Late.
What started as civil disobedience ended in freak show of the surreal. Beside the interviews of college students where it was painfully obvious they never had a real job, the Marxist communist wanting everyone to draw the same paycheck, to levitating the Georgia Pacific building the movement became a circus side show. Democrats tried to get traction with Occupy but found that they would be better off staying away. It’s really too bad because there were some good points made by this now defunct movement. Made but lost and perhaps now damaged beyond being able to use those again.
Here are some points worth saving.
Wall Street received bailouts but failed to pass it on to the rest of us. Financial firms and bailout businesses are setting on billions of dollars but will not loan money or hire people. Corporate welfare?
Companies are shipping jobs overseas claiming they need to cut labor cost to be competitive while taking bailout money, special tax breaks, and government contracts from the very people who they are putting out of work.
Companies are using H2A and other similar visa programs to gain a 8 to 10% tax advantage for not hiring us citizens in our own country. The sad thing about this, it’s sanctioned by our own government.
Ronald Reagan made the point that business doesn’t pay taxes they collect taxes in his famous loaf of bread interview. What amazes me is government by ignoring the above points is destroying the very revenue they so desperately are trying to keep. When you layoff a US worker they are no longer paying the taxes they were they are also not buying as many “loafs of bread” causing more job losses. If Reagan was right and there is 151 different taxes embedded in a loaf of bread then our government is by its own choice is reducing tax revenue. We should not allow them to make it up somewhere else.
I hope something good does come out of the Occupy movement maybe the seeds of the points listed above were sown and will bear fruit in the future. Maybe business and government will wake up and realize that per square mile the rich will but maybe 5 washing machines where the Middle Class will buy 100, the rich will buy 20 pair of 100 dollar jeans where the middle class will buy 1000 20 dollar pairs of jeans. The rich may buy 50 gallons of milk the middle class will buy 5000 and don’t forget the embedded taxes paid on each product.
We in the middle class would do well to remember we also have those same strengths in numbers at the voting booth which is something politicians want us to forget.
Jimmy62
October 28th, 2011
7:25 am
Karl Marx: Are any of the people who signed mortgages they couldn’t afford and then got huge breaks on it from the government sending their bailout money on to the rest of us? No, and why should they? Nor should Wall Street. The problem is not Wall Street keeping their bailout money, the problem is that our government bailed them out in the first place. You wanted Wall Street punished? Well they woulda been punished if the government hadn’t bailed them out. Occupy should be called “Occupy The White House” not Wall Street. The government made the choices, and they were the wrong ones.
Kyle: I was in total agreement about kicking the protesters out, until I was reminded about the part in the bill of rights where it says we have the right to peaceably assemble. If you can’t assemble in a public park, and you can’t do it on random private land, where are you supposed to assemble? Saying they can’t hang out in a public park peaceably is tantamount to denying them their first amendment rights, unless you can tell me how kicking them off somehow guarantees their right to peaceably assemble. I think they are dead wrong about who they are protesting, they should be camped out on the White House lawn, but I won’t deny their right to hang out in a group and illustrate the sub-par educational system in this country.
Jimmy62
October 28th, 2011
7:28 am
it’s called civil disobedience: Can you please describe this “fraud” you refer to? Little they did was illegal. And if the government didn’t require Wall Street to follow the ratings given out by the ratings agencies, none of this would have happened. If there was any fraud, it was on the part of the government forcing them to use ratings agencies chosen by the government, and the government implicitly backing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac so that everyone knew they could go down and the government would bail them out. Because of our government, far higher levels of risk were attainable. As usual, government meddling in housing and finance distorted the market and set things up for disaster.
Jefferson
October 28th, 2011
7:50 am
The cost incurred is the beginning. Cost money to control people.
Jefferson
October 28th, 2011
7:59 am
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/atlanta-had-greatest-income-1211646.html
What’s this all about ?
Jack
October 28th, 2011
8:00 am
It’s a good bet that none of the losers at Woodruff have ever voted.
Mark T
October 28th, 2011
8:03 am
“They made and continue to make their point loud and clear”
How is sleeping in tents and banging on bongo drums making a point…I say let em stay, and see how long they are willing to bang on those drums. Lets see how well they do in 30 degrees and freezing rain
Waheema
October 28th, 2011
8:13 am
Reed should have moved on the first day.
He can’t in good conscience allow Occupy to violate the law about public meetings and then require other groups to follow it becasue he might have some affinity with Occupy’s politics. That would be freedom of speech and assembly for those we agree with …hardly a constitutional principle.
Occupy wanted a confrontation. They were indeed on a path to escalation to preserve their fifteen minutes of fame. It was always going to end this way… the sooner the better.
Occupy is irrelevant. They are a bunch of lost marxists, professional protestors and none to bright children, surprised that their degree in medieval art history is not a ticket to a middle class lifestyle. No one will remember them soon. What they will remember is Reed’s political calculation to keep Occupy in the park while he would deny that right to others. Hardly equal protection under the law.
He spent a lot of money. He made living in town a little less attractive. He made his own politics more important than his office.
JDW
October 28th, 2011
8:17 am
@Marko…”I feel that Obama was given a mandate to come to Washington and kick butts. Instead he chose to compromise with morons.”
There is a lot of truth to that. The right wants to harp on the poor approval ratings of the President. The part they like to ignore is that about 1 in 4 of those that disapprove do so because he has not been liberal enough. I don’t see those people voting for a Republican nominee.
JKL2
October 28th, 2011
8:19 am
flossifer- Amendment 1, US Constitution: The Right Of The People Peaceably To Assemble SHALL NOT BE ABRIDGED!
It’s not. They can assemble every day. They just need to go home at night because we have laws against squatters. Feel free to invite them over to your house if you like. party, party, party…
JKL2
October 28th, 2011
8:24 am
jefferson- The cost incurred is the beginning.
I think we should leave all those “peaceful” protesters to rape, kill, and steal from each other as they see fit. They might actually learn something if Darwin hit’s them in the face while they’re waiting for their handouts.
JDW
October 28th, 2011
8:24 am
As to the blog topic…I think he did a reasonable job with them. He got them out very calmly. This crowd was unorganized and inarticulate and more of a side show than anything else. The question is will they be better organized and more focused when they come back?
The other thing I find curious is how all of the “strict constitutionalists” in our midst are so quick to favor the laws that abridge the right to free assembly…what is the difference in limiting assembly and limiting gun ownership that drives them to distraction.
Mark T
October 28th, 2011
8:34 am
“what is the difference in limiting assembly and limiting gun ownership that drives them to distraction.”
They can assemble all they want, they just cant do overnight
mike "hussein" smith
October 28th, 2011
8:36 am
Those who don’t “occupy Atlanta” on a nightly basis — in their homes — should just shut up and keep north of Buckhead. The park isn’t yours so your thoughts about it represent mere meddling and oral BMs. Boy Wonder doesn’t really care that the puppet Reed waited so late to make a liar of himself. He’s merely trying to push newspapers/site visits — even if he has to trample on the Constitution to do that.
carlosgvv
October 28th, 2011
8:41 am
Whether they were kicked out too soon or too late is not the question. The real question to ask is why were they there in the first place? It’s not too hard to find out. When 1% of the population controls over 50% of the nation’s wealth and when jobs are so hard to find even for educated people, the streets will start to fill.
commoncents
October 28th, 2011
8:41 am
Freedom of assembly is much like freedom of speech… It ends when your assembly or your speech infringes on the rights of others. I’d say squatting, holding a public space hostage and attempting to have an unpermitted concert infringes on the rights of others.
I believe Reed handled this as well as he could have.
Mark T
October 28th, 2011
8:42 am
SO whos park is it?
JDW
October 28th, 2011
8:44 am
@MarkT…”They can assemble all they want, they just cant do overnight”
Cities have passed laws stating you can have all the guns you want so long as they are secured when not in use…The NRA sued…whats the difference?
Joe The Plumber too.
October 28th, 2011
8:44 am
mikey, those of us who do “occupy Atlanta” on a nightly basis are glad the mayor did something right for a change and sent the children and their ex-con leader packing, we have enough freaks in Atlanta on a nightly basis without sanctioning free homesteading to the wasted and worthless.
Mark T
October 28th, 2011
8:47 am
“When 1% of the population controls over 50% of the nation’s wealth”
Actually its 38.1% and they pay 38% of the taxes
Mark T
October 28th, 2011
8:48 am
JDW
October 28th, 2011
8:44 am
@MarkT…”They can assemble all they want, they just cant do overnight”
Cities have passed laws stating you can have all the guns you want so long as they are secured when not in use…The NRA sued…whats the difference?
I really dont see what the two have in common
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
October 28th, 2011
8:49 am
The human debris known as Occupy Atlanta were breaking the law and were given a pass for too long. Justice delayed is justice denied.
Streetracer
October 28th, 2011
8:54 am
commoncents:
To maybe make your point even simplier for those that need it, I’ll quote my high school English teacher. “You have the right to do whatever you want, but your rights stop at my nose.”
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
October 28th, 2011
8:55 am
It’s called civil disobedience: These kids have something that more and more people have. An entitlement mentality driven by their own greed and envy.
——–
Fixed, at no cost to the tax payer.
JDW
October 28th, 2011
8:56 am
@Mark T…”I really dont see what the two have in common”
They are both laws that abridge in some way a perceived right under the Constitution. If that is an acceptable thing to do, then how can someone rationally hold that it is ok to abridge the right to assemble but not the less specific right to bear arm?
Mark T
October 28th, 2011
9:01 am
JDW
Like I said, no one is saying they do not have the right to assemble, but it is unlawful to camp out in Woodruff Park over night without a permit so they are breaking the law. They can come back every day for the next 5 years but they cant stay overnight, so Reed is not abridging anything
carlosgvv
October 28th, 2011
9:02 am
Mark T – 8:47
Actually, I must stand corrected. The 1% only own a mere 42% of the wealth in America. So, now I can sing “happy days are here again”.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
October 28th, 2011
9:03 am
The right to assemble is not unlimited, just as the right to free speech is not without limits.
If the Tea Party decided they wanted to assemble in the same park at the same time as the OWS scum, somebody’s not going to get to exercise their right. Just as the scum were infringing on normal working Americans’ right to use the park.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
October 28th, 2011
9:04 am
carlosgvv, why aren’t you part of the 1%?
Welcome to the Occupation
October 28th, 2011
9:04 am
They came, they camped, they got thrown in jail.
But they got people like you a little worried, apparently.
BULLSEYE
October 28th, 2011
9:05 am
But talkin’ about it and bein’ it, that’s two different things. I mean, it’s real hard to be free when you are bought and sold in the marketplace. Of course, don’t ever tell anybody that they’re not free, ’cause then they’re gonna get real busy killin’ and maimin’ to prove to you that they are. Oh, yeah, they’re gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom. But they see a free individual, it’s gonna scare ‘em.
Mark T
October 28th, 2011
9:07 am
carlosgvv
October 28th, 2011
9:02 am
Mark T – 8:47
Actually, I must stand corrected. The 1% only own a mere 42% of the wealth in America. So, now I can sing “happy days are here again”.
And like I said, they pay 38% of the taxes…do you have wealth envy?
Mark T
October 28th, 2011
9:11 am
Welcome to the Occupation
October 28th, 2011
9:04 am
They came, they camped, they got thrown in jail.
But they got people like you a little worried, apparently.
Worried?…Am I suppose to be worried about 100 people (out of 9.6 million) banging on bongo drums and repeating everything 1 person says like sheep..worried no, laughing, yes
Hootinanny Yum Yum
October 28th, 2011
9:13 am
I think Reed got it just right. I like Kasim. He exhibits a nice balance in most decision-making.
Welcome to the Occupation
October 28th, 2011
9:14 am
Mark T: “Am I suppose to be worried about 100 people (out of 9.6 million) banging on bongo drums and repeating everything 1 person says like sheep..worried no, laughing, yes”
Nervous laughter perhaps?
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”
Sounds like stage 2 to me.
Mark T
October 28th, 2011
9:17 am
Sounds like stage 2 to me.
Good luck with that
UGA 1999
October 28th, 2011
9:20 am
When they were protesting without a permit, they should have been kicked to the curb immediately.
Pat
October 28th, 2011
9:22 am
@Welcome, I am glad people like that are out there. It weeds out people that want a job and those who complain about not having it. If I ever become unemployed, I know I already have a step ahead of the 100 or so people.
Uncle Jed
October 28th, 2011
9:25 am
The problem with Hizoner was that he set deadlines and then backed down. That may have seemed popular and I feel certain that some “suggestions” came down from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but it was not an illustration in leadership.
The right to assemble and peaceably protest the government shouldn’t be mistaken for having a right to violate the law. What we witnessed on display was the rule of man trumping the rule of law and that is never a good plan, unless one supports such forms of governance. I prefer a more orderly, transparent, and equitable system. Don’t forget that the park is also “owned” by the non-protestors and therefore some may have had their rights to the peaceful enjoyment of the space infringed upon.
We don’t get to pick and choose which laws we will abide by and we do have a mechanism to change laws with which we find ourselves in disagreement. It is not by breaking an exisitng law and I think in those situations we cross the line between lawful assembly and anarchy.
The “it’s a public park” and “a public space” argument is a weak one. Libraries; schools; fire stations; air control towers; I-285 for the more daring; and many other places are owned by “we the people”, but to suggest that if my group (a hypothetical) chose one of the aforementioned as our assembly and camping spot,as opposed to a park, we should be left alone is ludicrous.
Welcome to the Occupation
October 28th, 2011
9:27 am
Good luck with that
Sounds like nervous laughter all right.
Pat, you think this is about just getting a measly job?
What’s a job when you can retake an entire conversation, and eventually the system?
Don't Tread
October 28th, 2011
9:30 am
“They want the crooks on Wall Street whose gambling (greed) brought us to the worst recession since the Great Depression to be prosecuted for the fraud they committed.”
George Soros did his fair share of insider trading and committed REAL fraud, yet I don’t see you picketing his house or slamming him like you do everyone else. Oh wait, he’s the financing behind the liberal special-interest groups, isn’t he?
I guess it’s better to punish people who violated some unwritten law in your head than to punish those who are actually guilty of something.
Pat
October 28th, 2011
9:31 am
I know it is more than about getting a job. It is about people who do not want to take responsibly and want everything handed to them from “wealthier” people.
UGA 1999
October 28th, 2011
9:34 am
Pat….AMEN!
MM
October 28th, 2011
9:35 am
Mayor Reed should have shown more restraint especially in light of Atlanta’s history in civil rights and Rev. King’s record of civil disobedience. The farce we saw played out with Atlanta’s. black clergy and Andy Young was reminiscent of our actual conservative history of poor leadership in the black community.
Equally is a disturbing trend toward autocratic and arrogant behavior by Mayor Reed. If the
Mayor is to have a socially useful future he should learn to hand the Occupy Atlanta and the CFO DeFoor and other similar situations with more subtlety and transparency.
carlosgvv
October 28th, 2011
9:36 am
Barry, Mark T
Of course I have wealth envy. Unfortunately, I must play the hand the fist of fate dealt me and wealth is not in those cards. And, as if that isn’t bad enough, I actually have a sense of right and wrong, a real hinderance to wealth in America if there evey was one.
UGA 1999
October 28th, 2011
9:44 am
Carlos…why is wealth “not in” your cards? You sound defeated?
Welcome to the Occupation
October 28th, 2011
9:44 am
Pat: “I know it is more than about getting a job. It is about people who do not want to take responsibly and want everything handed to them from “wealthier” people.”
No its not, Pat. I mean, these aren’t Wall St. bankers after all. They don’t want something for nothing and just a free handout (i.e. bailout). These are people who by and large are hard working people who see that the system has been bought out from under them. So they’re not protesting because things aren’t being handed to them, but because the social contract has been broken.
Don’t Tread: “I guess it’s better to punish people who violated some unwritten law in your head than to punish those who are actually guilty of something.”
Misdirection, Tread. The point was made that with Wall St. what we have is systemic corruption and misallocation of public resources. You then immediately try to reduce the discussion to a single individual. As if this is just about a handful of miscreants running rampant on Wall St. How we judge the ethical value of the actions of a George Soros is really immaterial here.
It’s not this or that corrupt individual that matter’s, it’s — to borrow a phrase — the system, stupid. It’s not greed as such, it’s a system that breeds and requires greed in its participants in order to thrive.
the original and still the best John Galt
October 28th, 2011
9:45 am
What finally scared Reed was the guy walking around in Woodruff Park with an AK-47. Exercising your First Amendment rights is one thing, but exercising your Second Amendment rights, ooohhh, that’s another thing.
emo
October 28th, 2011
9:45 am
Actually, none of these people want “other peoples’ wealth handed to them”; what they want is for the 1% not to be able to use their wealth to literally write laws allowing what little we have left to be funneled to them.
Possibly, this worried the 1% sufficiently for them to call in their chits and have the mayor send in their enforcers.
UGA 1999
October 28th, 2011
9:46 am
Welcome….if ignorance is bliss you must be smiling ear to ear!
Pat
October 28th, 2011
9:46 am
How has the “social contract” been broken?
Cal
October 28th, 2011
9:47 am
Kicked them out too late. A big waste of taxpayer dollars. But then OWS doesn’t care about those of us who actually pay taxes as long as the money is spent on them.
Losers!
Billy Bane
October 28th, 2011
9:52 am
“They came, they camped, they got thrown in jail.”
Yep, and that’s the Democrat base.
ragnar danneskjold
October 28th, 2011
9:57 am
Since I do not have to be within smell range of the Occupiers I do not care. I think they represent the highest and best values of our leftist friends, and believe it beneficial for their conduct to be on display for all. One has to be amused to see such National Socialists refusing to allow John Lewis to speak to the mob.
JF McNamara
October 28th, 2011
9:58 am
The Occupyers need a clearer message.
The original intent, I thought, was to get Glass Steagall reinstated. That’s a small, achievable goal, and its clearly needed. Given that the banks were bailed out, they clearly don’t operate in a free market fashion and need the regulations.
Before I inevitably get jumped on, I believe in the free market, but the free market assumes that you take on risk because the risk of losing your money drives your decision making. The banks essentially have no risk, because they know they will be bailed out. Therefore, they are not operating under free market principles. They essentially get return with very little risk, so they take on greater and greater risk until they create a disaster. It’s why they created Glass-Steagall in 1932 to begin with, and they were right.
Billy Bane
October 28th, 2011
9:59 am
“These are people who by and large are hard working people”
So they steal, defecate on cop cars, start fights, molest 14 year olds….
Yep, hard working folks they is.
The_Truth
October 28th, 2011
9:59 am
These encampments, particularly the one in NY, have become a hazard to public safety. Lower Manhattan has become the meeting ground for drug dealers, petty thieves who are now preying on the campers, anarchists who are trying to incite violence, and the professional homeless (as one protester put it). In fact, the NYC OWS folks are going to stop feeding the homeless at their kitchens and are directing them to Christian outreach centers for their free food. How’s that for sharing the wealth. These misguided kids don’t even know that it was Clinton who signed NAFTA and the Graham Leach Bliley Act that opened the doors to domestic job loss and massive investment and commercial banking abuse. Someone needs to give these so called OCCUPIERS the book ANIMAL FARM and maybe they would learn something. It is unfortunate that these lost souls are being used by the left to push their socialist agenda.
Welcome to the Occupation
October 28th, 2011
9:59 am
emo says it well.
“Possibly, this worried the 1% sufficiently for them to call in their chits and have the mayor send in their enforcers.”
It’s just the tip of the iceberg. The so-called intellectual “leaders” of the establishment and the reigning ideology — people like Bill Kristol and their ideological hit men like Dick Morris and Doug Schoen — are now frantically trying to peddle a narrative that the movement features a troubling antisemitism in a desperate attempt to get the public to turn on it.
It won’t work.
And it especially won’t work with Gestapo tactics in the streets of Oakland.
Pat: “How has the “social contract” been broken?”
In the 20th C there was a broadly understood pact or agreement that gave this country a relative stability with regard to its economic life (i.e. leaving aside some social justice and war policy conflicts in the 1960s), which basically consisted in the principle that with a basic education and willingness to work, you could have access to a reasonable middle class life: ability to own a home, to retire without fear of destitution, health care through an employer, a modest level of comfort, ability to educate your children or obtain treatment for health problems without being bankrupted, to name a few.
Starting in the 1970s there was radical shift away from the pillars of that system towards privatization and deregulation and financialization (both at the CEO corporate level and in terms of consumerization and disintermediation in investment decisions). The 2007-8 crisis is the final reckoning of that ideology that took hold in the 70s and 80s. The radicalization of the Republican party in the 1990s and especially in 2010, and the weakness and fecklessness of the Democratic party mean that the jig is now definitely up in the eyes of large parts of the public.
The result:
Occupation
ohmy
October 28th, 2011
10:04 am
the messages on their signs were not mispelled. i did like that
Billy Bane
October 28th, 2011
10:06 am
“the messages on their signs were not mispelled. i did like that”
That’s because they were printed out by Moveon.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
October 28th, 2011
10:07 am
If the middle class are falling behind, it’s because they thought screwing bumpers onto minivans at the GM plant should allow them to afford that McMansion, bass boat and Jeep Cherokee in perpetuity. Dumb.
Welcome to the Occupation
October 28th, 2011
10:11 am
Cal: “Losers!”
Remember Gandhi’s words, Cal: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”
Sounds like you’re already on your way from stage 2 to 3. Congratulations, you’re ahead of Mark T.
Kyle Wingfield
October 28th, 2011
10:13 am
She of many names who’s been threatening to sue people: You’ve really gone over the edge the last day or two. I regret that I wasn’t able to pay as much attention as usual to the blog those days, but I am now. And you’re going into moderation.
That said, there’s been a noticeable uptick in incivility since Billy Bane showed up. Not coincidentally, I think, because he sounds an awful lot like the old David Axelfraud/LA who was banned here. So Billy’s going into moderation, too.
Same rules as usual: If you taunt either of them, you’ll be off the blog as well. And while circumstances prevented me from cracking down on name-calling the way I said a couple of weeks ago I was going to do, that crackdown is going to take place now.
Karl Marx
October 28th, 2011
10:16 am
Jimmy62
I think I covered that Government was to blame in much of the Bailout problem. You want to put all of the blame on people who “ Signed for a Mortgage” they could not afford however in that case the Government who wanted banks to make those loans and the banks who also wanted to make those loans also are at fault. Who do you think lobbied government for the breaks to make those risky loans? When the market collapsed it caught many people off guard that did have the income to pay their mortgage and don’t say they should have planned for the loosing most of their income. The only way to guard against that is to pay cash for everything and borrow nothing. Can you do that? You want to center on Wall Street but there is much more wrong with our current situation than just the corporate welfare queens on Wall Street as I pointed out. Look at the two faced crooks in the legislature (Republicrats and Demicans) and you will find the root cause.
Pat
October 28th, 2011
10:17 am
@Welcome, people still have access to all that stuff. They seem to missing the one point “willingness to work.” That means starting out and working your way up. Not expecting a perfect job when you are ready to work.
A basic education is not the same as it use to be. College degrees are not as valuable as they once were in the 80’s and that is due to the fact that the market has been flooded with people getting these now.
Pat
October 28th, 2011
10:19 am
Karl – I completely agree.
UGA 1999
October 28th, 2011
10:19 am
Welcome….yeah you are right. Defecating on police cars, American flags, doing drugs and raping 14 year old girls. Yep that is the crowd that I want to be associated with . Somehow I think Ghandi would not be on your side bro.
yuzeyurbrane
October 28th, 2011
10:21 am
I appreciate your comments about “Billy Bane” but I would rather the public got to see the true face of these extremists rather than have her censored.
UGA 1999
October 28th, 2011
10:23 am
yuzeyurbrane….I saw them I was in NYC two weeks ago. It is a shame that those clowns have their anger so misdirected.
Pat
October 28th, 2011
10:25 am
UGA 1999 – isn’t it great that the media is not showing that side of the Occupiers?
UGA 1999
October 28th, 2011
10:26 am
PAT…..yep! The media is so corrupt.
Kyle Wingfield
October 28th, 2011
10:28 am
yuze: I think the public has seen plenty of Billy’s face lately. At some point, it disrupts the blog, and that’s where I have to step in.
Welcome to the Occupation
October 28th, 2011
10:28 am
Pat: “@Welcome, people still have access to all that stuff. ”
With unemployment hovering at near 10%?
With the employer-sponsored health insurance system (which was always a kind of Frankenstein concoction from the beginning) collapsing as we speak?
With a decimated manufacturing base and an astonishing insistence by our political system on doubling down on NAFTA-style free-trade policies (and I mean BOTH parties, including this pseudo-left president)?
Not so much.
RAMZAD
October 28th, 2011
10:30 am
“Scum” “human debris” “squatters” “losers” “stupid people” “bean bag bullets” “fire hoses”:
Can we distinguish these voices from those of Gaddafi, Mubarak, and Assad? These are the same names these despots had for the honest people who had turned out to protest and resist dictatorship by the few and the powerful.
It seems like Al Quida has little going on with hate for Americans if we compare it with the
hate Americans have for each other. America has gone into dictatorship mode.
Kremlin propaganda machine needs to come to America to get lessons and demonstration.
“We have seen the enemy and it is us.”
emo
October 28th, 2011
10:31 am
Thanks, Kyle, you have elevated the tone instantly, but there is more work to be done.
Having said that, you all can wallow in your ignorance (cough, Rush, cough) and misinformation (cough, Fake News, cough), but please know that while you and your friends all agree with each other, the rest of the country sees what’s going on and will vote overwhelmingly Democratic (not “Democrat”, that’s just illiterate) in the next election.
I believe there were snide comments on Obama’s job approval on another post; now we know what Congress’ job approval is, and it’s 9%. I know your masters have their districts thoroughly gerrymandered and we are stuck with them, but in the next Congress, they will be backbenchers once again.
UGA 1999
October 28th, 2011
10:32 am
Kyle….did you ban Billy?
UGA 1999
October 28th, 2011
10:34 am
Emo….yep Obama is around 39% haha…great job!
Welcome to the Occupation
October 28th, 2011
10:34 am
Pat:
And do I even need to add to my list …
Collapsing state budgets and the social programs that depend on them
Skyrocketing tuition costs – partly as a result of the above ?
Pat
October 28th, 2011
10:37 am
Yes unemployment is at 10%, but maybe people should look at their job skills and redefine them instead of sitting there and waiting for a job to open up with the skills that person needs. There are still jobs out there, just look on the employment links on websites. Why do they want the employers to adapt to the person’s ability instead of adapting to what the employer needs to make their business successful?
emo
October 28th, 2011
10:38 am
‘Obama is around 39% haha…great job!’
Another closely reasoned argument. Please tell me how 9% beats 39%.
Pat
October 28th, 2011
10:40 am
You can add that to your list and I agree. State budgets are in a terrible situation right now. If you look at Ga, there revenue has actually increased over the last year, but they still are cutting budgets. That is what is causing the tuition hikes, etc. I do not think that the companies are causing that.
UGA 1999
October 28th, 2011
10:40 am
Emo….is the 9% up for re-election next year? haha
Pat
October 28th, 2011
10:41 am
Emo – approval ratings of 9% and 39% are not going to get you re-elected
emo
October 28th, 2011
10:45 am
Why yes, all of the House and 1/3 of the Senate are up for reelection next year, genius.
Pat, so who does get re-elected next year, none of them?
zeke
October 28th, 2011
10:46 am
WE MUST NOT ALLOW ANARCHISTS, ANTI CAPITALISTS, COMMUNISTS TO ORGANIZE THESE ANTI USA STUNTS SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY ARE MENTALLY DEFICIENT DUE TO THE LIBERAL SOCIALIST INDOCTRINATION THEY HAVE BEEN FORCED TO ENDURE IN THE GOVERNMENT SCHOOL AND COLLEGE SYSTEMS! THE FIRST AMENDMENT GIVES FREE SPEECH RIGHTS NOT ANARCHIST SCUM RIGHTS OR FREEDOM OF PROTESTS!!!
UGA 1999
October 28th, 2011
10:46 am
emo…you do realize that the repubs are a favorite to take over the Senate in the next election as well? They will have the House, Senate and presidency…..NICE!
UGA 1999
October 28th, 2011
10:47 am
Can someone tell me why Billy Bane got banned?
Welcome to the Occupation
October 28th, 2011
10:48 am
UGA 1999: “Can someone tell me why Billy Bane got banned?”
Read Kyle’s statement above. It’s pretty clearly laid out.
Pat
October 28th, 2011
10:49 am
emo – that is up to the voters. If the people do not approve of the people that are up for re-election, they vote in someone who is running against them.
Toussaint
October 28th, 2011
10:50 am
Way to go, Kyle. Did you really expect the poll to go any other way? This rabid republican, tea party love fest thinks that the OWS is full of marxists and scum.
I do wonder why you tolerate Lil’ Barry and his vitriol? “Scum”, “dumb and lazy”…wow, how American of him. He is so patriotic. And love thy neighbor was obviously lost on him!
UGA 1999
October 28th, 2011
10:50 am
Oh ok, I got it.
commoncents
October 28th, 2011
10:51 am
Occupation: “Collapsing state budgets and the social programs that depend on them”
I think you just inadvertantly answered the “How did we get to this point?” question
On the bright side, for all you optimists out there, 10% unemployment means 90% employment! Things could be worse. They could also be better, and will be, once the government stops propping up companies and interest groups with bailouts that do nothing other than delay the inevitable collapse.
UGA 1999
October 28th, 2011
10:52 am
Toussaint….”OWS is full of marxists and scum”…..and?
emo
October 28th, 2011
10:55 am
Pat, that’s anice theory, but in practice we keep re-electing the same people bought and paid for by Wall Street, with a few changes around the edges.
UGA (Could that school really have graduated you? Did they just get tired of seeing you after 7-8 years?), that you will win all branches of government is a stretch, seeing how badly your party has messed up the country. Are you really going to vote for Mitt, Herman or Rick, knowing how much you all despise flip-floppers?
UGA 1999
October 28th, 2011
10:57 am
Emo….a stretch? Really? I guess we will have to wait to see. You are right HAHA what a great job your messiah has been doing for the past two years! Please tell me what you think he has done to deserve a re-election?
Actually I would vote for Mitt, Herman, Rick or Hillary over the joke we have in office right now.
commoncents
October 28th, 2011
10:57 am
emo: “Are you really going to vote for Mitt, Herman or Rick, knowing how much you all despise flip-floppers?”
Would you really re-elect Obama? He’s no different
Pat
October 28th, 2011
10:59 am
emo – True, but those people do not need to be voted back in. If they keep getting re-elected, isn’t it the voters fault?
Billings
October 28th, 2011
11:02 am
Obama blows smoke in the face of his supporters.
At least 15 of Mr. Obama’s “bundlers” — supporters who contribute their own money to his campaign and solicit it from others — are involved in lobbying for Washington consulting shops or private companies. They have raised more than $5 million so far for the campaign.
Some Washington lobbyists suggest that the Obama administration’s tough public stance against lobbyists has served only to discourage those active in the lobbying industry from registering as lobbyists in the Senate.
“What all this rhetoric does is to drive lobbying even further into the shadows,” said a Democratic lobbyist who works frequently with the administration but spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“Obama will not take money from registered lobbyists like me,” the lobbyist said with some bitterness, “but that doesn’t mean that he won’t take money from people who are lobbying. There’s a big difference.”
None that I can see.
The LAW
October 28th, 2011
11:05 am
Those loser scofflaw miscreants should have been arrested the first night in the park. The mayor let this go on for way too long.
emo
October 28th, 2011
11:13 am
Would I re-elect Obama? You bet I would, even though he has disappointed me at times. It would be so much better than becoming a Third World nation, which is the R’s unstated goal.
Market – up 339 to 12,208.55
GDP – up 2.5%
Unemployment claims – down.
I know this is disastrous news for those of you who only profess to love this country, but it’s great for the majority of us.
Halftrack
October 28th, 2011
11:15 am
The Law is supposed to apply equally to all people & groups. Their right to protest has not been abridged. Their right to ‘homestead” on public property is not found anywhere. Also most people are looking for a “Glenn Beck” type leader, one who organizes the right of protest and leaves the park clean and sanitary.
UGA 1999
October 28th, 2011
11:16 am
Emo….it is so funny that everyone is spouting the GDP is up 2.5% hahaha what a joke. Let me ask you a question, what happens to a country when the debt superceeds the GDP? Just asking?
Unemployment claims – down? LIAR! Look at unemployment since he has been in office. What a joke.
Oh and you want to tout the market? Isnt this the people that your OWS thugs are demonstrating against?
Talk about flip flopping!! Dude look in the mirror.
Pat
October 28th, 2011
11:18 am
It is funny how people are saying that when the market goes up, it is because of the government, but when it is down, they blame the bad corporations. Interesting….
#occupy my desk...
October 28th, 2011
11:18 am
Nobody is saying you can’t protest – you just have to do so within the law. The rights of free speech and assemby does not trump every other law in the land. I would have much more respect for them if they weren’t acting like petulant 16 year olds. Maybe they should get a leader that isn’t a convicted felon and drug addict – may shed some sensibility into the situation. I also find it strange that they have not said anything negative about the man who actually did the bailing out – even though these corporate monsters are paying for his reelection campaign.
UGA 1999
October 28th, 2011
11:18 am
Pat…AMEN!
Pat
October 28th, 2011
11:19 am
UGA 1999 – Thanks, you too
Pat
October 28th, 2011
11:20 am
I completely agree #occupy my desk
JDW
October 28th, 2011
11:22 am
For all those consumed by the 39% approval rating Obama draws these days…
“But drill down into that number and you’ll see signs of a stirring discontent on the left,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “Thirty-eight percent say they disapprove because President Obama has been too liberal, but 13 percent say they disapprove of Obama because he has not been liberal enough…Looking at that figure another way, roughly one in four Americans who disapprove of the president say they feel that way because he’s not been liberal enough.”
It would be a stretch to imagine that 1 in 4 voting Republican. A fact which seems to be borne out in the latest polls…
“Obama leads Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who sits atop the GOP presidential field, 46% to 43% among likely voters. The President has opened a double-digit lead over Perry, 50% to 38%, highlighting concerns percolating through the GOP that the Texas governor would face a steep uphill climb should he capture the nomination. Obama also boasts a 49%-to-37% edge over businessman Herman Cain, whose strong Tea Party support has propelled him toward the top of Republican ranks in recent weeks.”
Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2011/10/13/time-poll-obama-leads-head-to-head-match-ups-with-republican-rivals/#ixzz1c5eqSx00
#occupy my desk...
October 28th, 2011
11:26 am
UGA 1999 – yeah our friend emo is pointing to a brief surge in the market due to Greek debt relief and a seasonal quarterly blip on GDP…which doesn’t prove to be statistically significant grouped YTD. The unemployment thing is just made up. Alas, they trumpet these acheivements by their Dear Leader who is hard at work selling his reelection…er um…jobs plan in states where he just happened to have a narrow margin of victory or defeat. This is really what happens when lunatics take control of the asylum…
UGA 1999
October 28th, 2011
11:30 am
JDW…you do realize that at this point in the last election Obama was getting KILLED by Clinton dont you? Funny facts.
Independent Voter
October 28th, 2011
11:34 am
I will not be voting for Kasim he seem like a angry black man. I see on the news where ever occupy goes helicopter flying over them. He is wasting our tax paying money to stop Occupy Atlanta.
The money he wasting could be helping the homeless in this city or fixing the pot holes in the streets. Use the police to protect Ga tech students.
Recall Kasim Reed.
Chuck
October 28th, 2011
11:52 am
I am so sick of hearing the whining about the rich this and the rich that. If you want your piece of pie, it is out there for the taking. You will have to be willing to risk everything that you have. Starting a business is risky and costly. You will have to be willing to work 80 to 90 hours a week, no leaving at 5:00 P.M. to have a beer and play video games. Forget vacations, to run a succesful business you have to be there, your employees may get 2 to 3 weeks a year, but you never will. You may not be able to have that nice house or nice car for quite sometime, you will have to put most of your earnings back into the business. Everyone wants the success, but very few are really willing to do what it takes to get it.
JDW
October 28th, 2011
12:01 pm
@UGA1999…”you do realize that at this point in the last election Obama was getting KILLED by Clinton dont you? Funny facts.”
All the more reason to believe that by Nov 2012 he will be comfortably ahead of the same people proposing to the same things that created this economic mess to begin with.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
October 28th, 2011
12:18 pm
Obozo didn’t have a record at this point in the last election. He does now, and that will be the difference. Record unemployment, record poverty, record deficits.
Americans are sickened by his efforts at “fundamental transformation” and the sorry results he’s delivered. Democrats aren’t, but Americans are.
DawgDad
October 28th, 2011
12:25 pm
Nothing but a bunch of mindless marxist/anarchists put forth as pawns by forcces on the left and demagogued to the hilt by the media and the Democrat political leaders. A lot of similarities to what we saw in the sixties here in the US and in Paris.
Reed and the other mayors threw them out too soon, but it’s clear why – they were a free daily-running campaign ad for the GOP.
The Democrat leadership has to operate in the real world. They can only push their marxist agenda as far as the politics of the day allows. They pushed too far, and now they are getting their lunch handed to them by the Tea Party. So, find some useful idiots to make it appear the public in general wants to take this country hard-left (which it clearly does not), and leverage the media in your back pocket (including the AJC) to trump a “coherent message” for the mindless idiots and cast an illusion of populist authenticity. It’s ALL hogwash.
Dusty
October 28th, 2011
12:45 pm
Would those of you here who think so highly of the OCCUPIERS, please list your home address? They need a nice place to camp. List your place only if you have several bathrooms. Thank you.
UGA 1999
October 28th, 2011
1:22 pm
JDW….nope more back peddling by Mr. Obama.
Old Physics Teacher
October 28th, 2011
1:33 pm
Whether or not Reed should have done what he did, how is it that Occupy Atlanta cost the City of Atlanta from “tens of thousands” to one blog post of “300 thousand” dollars for the clean-up? Does Mayor Reed and his cronies have to personally clean up after them? And the cost is figured on his pay divided by exactly the number of hours he really works? Does the entire site need new planted sod put in by landscapers making 1000 dollars an hour? Methinks someone’s estimate is a bit out of line with reality!
This reminds me of the old saw about a neighbor asking his neighbor for a cup of flour. The response was, “No. The temperature in my house is too high.” The neighbor responded, “What does that have to do with it?” The other guy said, “Nothing, but I couldn’t think of a better excuse, and any excuse is better than none.”
Kyle Wingfield
October 28th, 2011
1:39 pm
Old Physics Teacher: The rapid increase in cost, I believe, is attributable to the rapid increase in police presence Reed felt was necessary at the park toward the end. Police overtime costs a lot more than port-a-potties do.
Brad
October 28th, 2011
2:00 pm
Mayor Reed did a good job handling this situation. It could have gotten very dangerous if the police had entered too soon or been more strong handed. Most situations like this tend to “peter out” with time. The frustrations felt by the “Occupiers”, are felt by many of us, even if we are not the type to camp out in a park. As a 54 year old man, I remember the protest against Vietnam and how those young people were treated. We might not always like the message or how it is delivered, but we are paying attention to them. Many Americans feel a twinge of support for these “rebels”, as long as they are not destructive or harming others.
UGA 1999
October 28th, 2011
2:02 pm
Brad…..”but we are paying attention to them”?? Actually no, we are laughing at them. Big difference.
Brad
October 28th, 2011
2:14 pm
True, bout laughing at them.!! Especially when the media finds the most ignorant ones to interview. Sorta like when the tornado sets down in Georgia and they always manage to find the two people who cannot construct a sentence…and that’s who they interview. At least in the 60s and 70s, it seemed the protesters were generally college students who could communicate. The “occupiers” do themselves no favors with the spokespeople they use or allow.
@@
October 28th, 2011
2:23 pm
I’m in the minority. Just about right, I’d say. Long enough to let them get their “messages” out but not quick enough to appear as though he wanted to silence ‘em.
Now, instead of being squatters, they’re vagabonds.
And if they haven’t already figured it out…nobody’s listening.
Im for Change
October 28th, 2011
2:47 pm
Why is it when the Tea party had their rallies they were forced out immediately when their paid permits expired, and this group never paid a cent in fees permits security, sanitation, and allowed to stay that long…double standard thats why…first ammendment didnt have a thing to do with it.. no one was made to pay…except the taxpayers…somewhere around 300,000 or more
#occupy my desk...
October 28th, 2011
3:07 pm
They’re baaaaaack! Haha – let’s see what the convicted felon/ex con has to say…
“Tonight, we stared in the eyes of the 1 percent and those who represent the 1 percent, and they blinked,” Tim Franzen, an Occupy Atlanta leader, said. “We’re staying here.”
Wow…I don’t think anyone blinked dude, you obviously don’t know what that means if you think it happened…
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
October 28th, 2011
3:25 pm
You answered your own question. There is one expectation for law abiding America-loving folks, and another for punk Democrats. You can’t really expect the latter to “do right”.
williebkind
October 28th, 2011
3:42 pm
Most of us know that this Occupy demonstration is a copy cat of the Tea Party. The only difference is that the Tea Party acted like law abiding citizens. When ever have you ever known the liberals to assemble and not create chaos, break the law, and demand their handouts.
DawgDad
October 28th, 2011
6:21 pm
Im for change: Because the Tea Party is comprised of responsible adults, not a squalid bunch of marxist/anarchists resorting to civil disobedience. The difference? The Tea Party people understand economics, and they understand civil disobedience costs taxpayers (other people) money. The Occupy crowd doesn’t care about other people – despite their holier-than-thou Robin Hood rhetoric they’re all about me me me, and how much of other people’s stuff can I get. Think about that REAL HARD everyone, because it’s the core truth.
Doc
October 28th, 2011
8:56 pm
The fix is in. If you are extremely well to do, your interest are very well represented by state and federal legislatures. You may offer your private jet for a politician to use, or throw him a huge fund raiser in your hangar. You don’t want to pay sales tax on your jet parts, so you ask your Governor and legislators for a special tax exemption (Gulfstream). You certainly don’t want to pay landing fees, so you chum will your local commissioners (nearly every general aviation airport in the country). You likely don’t even register your plane in your state (Oklahoma City and Delaware will help you hide for a buck), and enforcement for sales, use and ad Valorem on your jet is liking non-existant, because those same commissioners,have you covered, and their people are trained to look the other way. And, your federally elected officials have you covered, too; you can write your plane off, mucho rapido, with the special accelerated depreciation. Even, the FAA gets in the act, they will develop, expand, and even fund the purchase of an airport by a local government (Tara Field). Heck, they will even fund the purchase of an airport by a private company, if you agree to their easy terms (Gwinnett County). If you hate to pay market prices for your alcoholic drinks at airports, you don’t have to; the FAA will let any federally funded airport subsidize or even pay outright for the cost to rent and maintain free private social clubs for pilots (check federal FAA regs, or Neal Boortz’ former Pentagon Club.at PDK)
JR
October 28th, 2011
9:00 pm
I believe Mayor Reed has shown exceptional leadership. As an Atlanta taxpayer, I am proud of the excellent planning by Mayor Reed and the precise coordination with Police Chief Turner which resulted in a peaceful and respectful clearing of Woodruff Park. The Occupy Group needs to apologize to the Mayor – he was more than accommodating and does not deserve the anger directed toward him by this group.
GT
October 29th, 2011
7:52 am
You ever notice the Republicans are constantly writing laws they cannot execute. Like I want to fly waving my arms and every person who is not flying at noon today goes to jail. The reason they can’t execute is they try to rule by minority, and being a minority they lose a lot in the translation of what is going on in this world. They are like the Amish in a way, cloistering themselves to their own community only reading and seeing FOX type material never dirty their minds with outside opinions. I guess as a minority they feel they can be more stubborn about their positions, than the Democrats who get in most of their deep water compromising with this minority thinking. In this compromise comes the space in between that the majority has no representation in until they hit the streets. The same minority that liked hanging people on trees only a few years ago can’t understand this civil unrest. Maybe it is time they get their heads out of their ….
GT
October 29th, 2011
8:03 am
Doc talking about planes, remember that director of MCI that had the use of a Lear jet for a dollar a year. I think if the FBI wanted to have a gold rush they would just go get that list of Lear jet owners at PDK and 10% at least would be breaking some white collar law over there. The ego that goes with having a toy like that is the same DNA that gins up crime. They want to be separated from the rest of the population in the privacy of a jet yet they want the world to see them. Newt G is a poster boy for this disease. Everything is theory because the real life is only seen from a window passing by. Not unlike Bush flying over New Orleans.
dcb
October 29th, 2011
8:18 am
No permit, no staying beyond the posted time limits. That’s pretty clear to me. I have no problem with Occupy Atlanta protesting – just do it within the letter of the law or on private property. The news media will follow them there as well as they did to Woodruff Park. So no problem with the protestors achieving that objective. Suck it up Mr. Mayor. This is one of the first times I’ve been disappointed with your action. Are we checking and listening to our President on this? Let’s let him do the campaigning – you run our Atlanta ship.
GT
October 29th, 2011
8:26 am
I smelling victory in the air. I woke up the other morning and it dawn on me none of these Republican candidates can beat Obama. What the Republican Parties does well is clog up the road, get in the way of operations. What they don’t do is produce. This lineup of candidates is a prime example. They really do a disservice to the American public. In the good old days they had people that could challenge the minds and hearts of Americans. Now all they have is half baked pies.
Glenn Paul
October 30th, 2011
5:17 pm
Since arriving in Atlanta, Georgia form my hometown (Albany) there have been homeless men and women occupying Woodruff Park. For many years homeless advocates screamed from the mountain tops to the valley about the lack of concern for Atlanta’s homeless community. Fast-forward to 2011 and we have a mayor who is deeply concerned about who is actually sleeping in Woodruff. I have shoved pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters into the hands of countless men and women in Woodruff Park literally since the day I arrived in Atlanta as a teenager. Not a single city official has ever took a serious look at ridding this city of its homeless problem, but we are suppose to concern ourselves with a few folks who at the very least took a stand for something. Once again, not a single city official, from the Jackson adminitration to the Reed administration gave a d#&! about the homeless living in Woodruff after 11pm, but he occupy movement is front page and headling news.
nadia
October 30th, 2011
11:44 pm
@Jack, @Pat… I am a participant in Occupy Atlanta, though I did not stay there every night. I take part in committees and General Assemblies. I have a Master’s Degree and a job that pays well and has benefits. I think the thing people miss about the Occupy Movement, if you didn’t take part in it or stop by to meet us, is that it’s not just about protesting. It’s about assembly – about people from different walks of life who share similar concerns (about growing income inequality and the fact that corporations and the elite have an unacceptable influence on our political system) coming together to have discussions and talk about solutions. From what I’ve heard: people DON’T want a handout. They want a fair shake. I want the growth in the economy to benefit us ALL – not just the top 1% or 10%. I think the bailouts should have “trickled down” to those suffering the most. I want our elected officials to represent our needs rather than the interests of corporations or millionaires. MOST people in this country want the richest to be taxed more, most people think our income distribution should be more equal than it is, yet the discussion is impossible to have in Congress. How do we make a change if not with a democratic movement? I’m taking a leap of faith as an American and trying to be part of the solution.