# \#OccupyWallStreet **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 19, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851 "2011-09-19T18:27:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 67
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851/1321 "2011-10-28T00:57:02Z")
> [@Cyclone](#): > > Well, I see the membership is taking advantage of the opportunity to discuss one of the biggest movements on the planet by wasting each other’s time. > > If possible let’s see if we can get around to the subject. Two days ago 85 demonstrators in Oakland California were arrested so the mayor could clean the park. There is upheaval and violence. Here is utube. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fR2hx7yXjE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fR2hx7yXjE) > > \*\*The topic of this thread is “Occupy Wall Street” \*\* Hey, thanks for pointing that out, Captain No Shit, Man. We sorta figured that out 27 fucking pages ago. If you haven’t noticed, we have sorta wandered around discussing several things, as Dope threads tend to do. We are now ruminating on exactly fucking stupid **Gonz** is. We have determined that he may or may not be as dumb as a bag of hammers because we do not have bag of hammers posts to compare to. We also determined that he does not eat shit on toast as he has lost the recipe for toast. (THanks, Shodan) Now that you are caught up, feel free to post your own cute little story about how stupid Gonz is. Otherwise, ya know, you could always pound a few shovelsful of salt up your ass. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851/1322 "2011-10-28T02:27:33Z")
Speaking of gigantic movements… ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851/1323 "2011-10-28T02:57:16Z")
[Occupy Wall Street: Not Here To Destroy Capitalism, But To Remind Us Who Saved It | HuffPost Latest News](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/27/occupy-wall-street-isnt-h_n_1035988.html) The occupations are designed to save capitalism. The banks and other corps have become oligarchies controlling the markets, the regulators and the politicians. It is serious enough to destroy the American experiment . It can bring it down with naked greed. We need to get them back in control. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851/1324 "2011-10-28T02:59:11Z")
Heh-heh. Heh-heh-heh. He said “naked”. Heh-heh. ---
**Author:** ![PhiloVance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@PhiloVance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhiloVance)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851/1325 "2011-10-28T03:06:15Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > I’m not entirely sure what your argument is. People aren’t going to say, “Well, I think the tea party stands for some horrible things and has values opposed to my value system, but they’re very neat and good at cleaning the park, so I’m going to support them.” I think the people supporting the Occupy Wall Street movement aren’t saying “Well, we like the idea of poor sanitation and making a mess of the park”. They do so because they agree with OWS’s criticism of the current political and financial system. Amazing!!! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851/1326 "2011-10-28T03:29:07Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > What the fuck are you talking about? Or should I address the bottle of scotch? Or did you just get in a new shipment of straw and had some left over after restuffing your ego? You forgot “D” which is the obvious response. > [@](#): > > Cite? [**No problem.**](http://lmgtfy.com/?q=ows+hippies+trust+fund+) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851/1327 "2011-10-28T03:32:24Z")
> [@](#): > > …Well, we like the idea of poor sanitation and making a mess of the park". … I confess, I have a powerful sexual fetish for desecrated public spaces. Don’t talk about it much. Not because I’m ashamed, mind you, only that nobody else finds it remotely interesting. ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851/1328 "2011-10-28T03:37:49Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I confess, I have a powerful sexual fetish for desecrated public spaces. Don’t talk about it much. Not because I’m ashamed, mind you, only that nobody else finds it remotely interesting. It’s not that much of a secret **'luci**. Daily Kos uses an old pic of you masturbating like a motherfuck to the graffiti on Jim Morrison’s tombstone as a URL avatar. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851/1329 "2011-10-28T04:48:42Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Nothing would vitalize the OWS movement more than some serious police brutality. Americans LOVE being the underdog fighting against corrupt authority. A couple of NYPD beatdowns and the OWS movement would cover the entire financial district. No. Allegations of police brutality tend to turn off swing voters and independents. They only prop up the choir. A partial exception might be a rogue like Lieutenant Bologna. Even in that case though, if the victims were people of color, the sympathy garnered would be substantially less. Phase 1 of OWS was a rousing success. 1) We know this because of the massive and purely _ad hominem_ and hysterical attacks on it. Wingers used to see a Red in every bed: now they spot an Acorn around every corner. What they won’t do is engage on the substance of the protest. 2) The public discourse has shifted from crank-economics - expansionary austerity- to textbook economics, or economically defensible stimulus and pro-growth financial and physical infrastructure policies. [The Plutocratic emperors have no clothing.](http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/10/the_ideological_fantasies_of_i.html?mid=twitter_DailyIntel) Phase 2 began two days ago, with the storming of Camp Oakland. This is a counter-productive development in my view. Plus, I doubt whether the group is likely to pull together and go Woodstock or Gandhi on the cops: there’s some local history of police brutality which has put them out of the mood. The optics of this are bad, from a swing or independent voter perspective. The only silver lining is that apparently independents are over-represented within the OWS. In fact perhaps 70% of them are. [Occupy Wall Street: Who Are We? | The New Yorker](http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2011/10/occupy-wall-street-who-are-we.html) So bad behavior may be internally denounced, which could form a useful contrast with the Tea Partiers. Another twist is that Oakland has a few progressives on the local council, unsurprisingly. Some are even sensible. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851/1330 "2011-10-28T06:27:00Z")
> [@RedFury](#): > > No problem. I can’t tell if you’re dumber than you’re dishonest or vice versa. Regardless, my money is on “drunk”. Look you dumb bastard. You said I said something and then when asked for a cite you provide a Google search proving that some people somewhere used the descriptor you cited, but not me. I must admit to being flummoxed. It’s hard trying to have a coherent discussion with a drunk. ---
**Author:** ![jlzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jlzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlzania)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851/1331 "2011-10-28T12:05:55Z")
Having participated in mass protests including Occupy Austin, I’ve seen that the grounds are generally kept very clean by the protestors. If you bother to watch some of the videos from Oakland, you’ll see the police knocking over garbage cans and scattering trash. Why? To provide an excuse for mass arrests, of course. The occupiers aren’t preventing the general public from going about their business. We have a right to be on the sidewalks and in the parks. We don’t need a permit- we have one. It’s called the First Admendment: > [@](#): > > Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851/1332 "2011-10-28T12:34:09Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > It’s hard trying to have a coherent discussion with a drunk. But in the morning he’ll be sober, and you will still be a moron. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851/1333 "2011-10-28T12:43:17Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > When has posting like a 6 year old become brilliant in right winger so called minds? We’re [playing the dozens](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dozens), **gonzo**. It’s supposed to be semi-lighthearted fun. I say you lost the recipe for toast, then you come back and say I could not play in the sand as a child because the cat kept trying to bury me. Then I tell you that you are so insignificant that you came in second in the Invisible Man Look-Alike Contest. And so on. The Pit can be too serious sometimes. Once in a while we need to riff off each other and zing each other and so on. It’s not a serious debate. It’s just fooling around. It’s not exclusive to right-wingers, or at least it doesn’t have to be. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851/1334 "2011-10-28T13:06:01Z")
> [@jlzania](#): > > Having participated in mass protests including Occupy Austin, I’ve seen that the grounds are generally kept very clean by the protestors. > If you bother to watch some of the videos from Oakland, you’ll see the police knocking over garbage cans and scattering trash. > Why? > To provide an excuse for mass arrests, of course. > > The occupiers aren’t preventing the general public from going about their business. > We have a right to be on the sidewalks and in the parks. > We don’t need a permit- we have one. > It’s called the First Admendment: Nevermind, just nevermind… sigh ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851/1335 "2011-10-28T13:14:44Z")
> [@jlzania](#): > > Having participated in mass protests including Occupy Austin, I’ve seen that the grounds are generally kept very clean by the protestors. > If you bother to watch some of the videos from Oakland, you’ll see the police knocking over garbage cans and scattering trash. > Why? > To provide an excuse for mass arrests, of course. > > The occupiers aren’t preventing the general public from going about their business. > We have a right to be on the sidewalks and in the parks. > We don’t need a permit- we have one. > It’s called the First Admendment: No, you don’t have a right to camp in city parks. Some cities might allow it, but they don’t have to. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851/1336 "2011-10-28T14:39:33Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > The Pit can be too serious sometimes. Once in a while we need to riff off each other and zing each other and so on. > > It’s not a serious debate. It’s just fooling around. It’s not exclusive to right-wingers, or at least it doesn’t have to be. This might be the truest thing you’ve said in a decade, you lovable jackbooted thug you. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851/1337 "2011-10-28T14:58:38Z")
> [@jlzania](#): > > We have a right to be on the sidewalks and in the parks. > We don’t need a permit- we have one. > It’s called the First Admendment: > > > [@](#): > > > > Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Not so fast. In _Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence_, 468 US 288 (1984), the US Supreme Court considered that very claim. Attempting to demonstrate, protesters camped out in parks administered by the National Park Service. Said the Court: > [@](#): > > The requirement that the regulation be content-neutral is clearly satisfied. The courts below accepted that view, and it is not disputed here that the prohibition on camping, and on sleeping specifically, is content-neutral and is not being applied because of disagreement with the message presented. > . > . > . > We have difficulty, therefore, in understanding why the prohibition against camping, with its ban on sleeping overnight, is not a reasonable time, place, or manner regulation that withstands constitutional scrutiny. Surely the regulation is not unconstitutional on its face. None of its provisions appears unrelated to the ends that it was designed to serve. Nor is it any less valid when applied to prevent camping in Memorial-core parks by those who wish to demonstrate and deliver a message to the public and the central Government. Damage to the parks as well as their partial inaccessibility to other members of the public can as easily result from camping by demonstrators as by nondemonstrators. In neither case must the Government tolerate it. All those who would resort to the parks must abide by otherwise valid rules for their use, just as they must observe the traffic laws, sanitation regulations, and laws to preserve the public peace. This is no more than a reaffirmation that reasonable time, place, or manner restrictions on expression are constitutionally acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851/1338 "2011-10-28T15:04:58Z")
The Counselor is always with us, lest we forget that the Law is the handjob of Justice. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851/1339 "2011-10-28T15:08:25Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > This might be the truest thing you’ve said in a decade, you lovable jackbooted thug you. He has a rattlesnake’s sense of humor, but lacks the warmth. ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851/1340 "2011-10-28T15:34:34Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > The Counselor is always with us, lest we forget that the Law is the handjob of Justice. Well, ya know, there’s something to be said for the reacharound of the Law in **Bricker’s** post vs. the dry hump of ignorance displayed in **jlzania’s** post [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851.md?page=66) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupywallstreet/596851.md?page=68)