Free Republic

About a year ago I called Occupy Wall Street a “tea party with brains.” Today, I’m the one who needs his head examined. Occupy Wall Street, the movement critical of banks, the super rich and their influence in our politics and daily lives, has failed to live up to its promise as an important social and political force. Though its core message — that big finance and greed undermines society and corrupts our political system — is fundamentally correct, Occupy hasn’t lived up to the standard set by the tea party in its ability to turn grievance into a political...

This photo is making the rounds: This is part or the whole of an extensive stash of bottles recovered in the 010th District the other day. All filled with human waste and no doubt whatever extra fecal matter the ne'er-do-wells were able to pick up on the parkways. Counts range from 100 to 500 bottles recovered depending on the rumor you believe. We're sure this isn't the only stash floating around out there. How about the Department try something novel and get the media to cover what the protestors and anarchists are planning and maybe get the public overwhelmingly on...

<p>John Ford signed up for a revolution, but he’s running a clinic.</p> <p>In the early days of Occupy Boston, Ford, a 30-year-old bookstore owner from the white, blue-collar town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Alex Ingram, a 22-year-old African-American from Georgia who served in the Air Force as a linguist, would stay up late into the night in Occupy Boston’s library. Enveloped by Rousseau and Chomsky, they’d ponder big ideas about how to change the system. But tonight they’re grappling with a different set of issues: How do we deal with Henry, who’s drunk and pissed off again and recently threatened another Occupier with a hammer? What do we say to the furious young woman who’s on a manhunt for the guy who promised her forty bucks for sex and then ran off? And what the hell are we going to do about Phil?</p>

The Occupy movement is stepping up its confrontational tactics, plotting “alternative forms of protest,” including flash mobs that can be deployed nationwide. Citing the success of last week’s so-called Day of Action protests, Take to the Square, one of Occupy’s main online planning forums, has devised an “Alternative Day of Action” to coincide with international Human Rights Day on Dec. 10. “Our freedom and dignity are under attack as a result of market dynamics and corrupt government institutions that are turning our local and global societies into increasingly unjust places,” the site complains. The Occupy forum calls for “alternative forms...

The various "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrations around the country declared Thursday to be a "day of action" in the ongoing protest of big banks and Wall Street policies that they blame for a sagging economy. While thousands protested in Manhattan, Los Angeles and other cities, several hundred people took to the streets of downtown Amherst. According to video supplied to The Republican by Julie Varney of Amherstwire.com, demonstrators assembled in front of Bank of New England branch at South Pleasant and Amity Streets. At one point, the footage shows demonstrators storming into the bank lobby to disrupt business. After several...