Just when we thought the Occupy movement in Orange County was dead, or at least on its way out, it is back. Apparently there is going to me a national protest at over 200 courthouses on Jan. 20 (the press release is below), including Santa Ana, the Orange County seat, which has federal and state courts, as well as a federal appeal court.
Occupy’s main beef this time is a U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down those provisions of the McCain–Feingold Act that prohibited all corporations, both for-profit and not-for-profit, and unions from broadcasting “electioneering communications.
I am at loss as to why this matters to the Occupiers. Many of them aren’t registered to vote or simply don’t bother to vote. How can you complain about our political process if you choose not to be part of it?
It is true that California’s new open primary is a real problem for third parties, as it essentially shuts them out of general elections, but we can still vote for third party candidates in the primaries. And our votes will still matter in the general elections, even if we have less candidates to vote for.
And in today’s Internet age ANYONE can weigh in on political matters. I have personally proved that time and again – creating Orange County’s first political blog, the Orange Juice, which became a huge hit, and creating Santa Ana’s first civic blog, the New Santa Ana, which also went on to become a huge hit. Now I have started this new blog, OC Politics. Here we go again! You don’t have to be wealthy to have an impact on politics.
And it should be noted that the Supreme Court decision allowed not only corporations but also unions to spend what they want on independent expenditures. The unions have already occupied the Occupy movement – don’t the realize the court decision unleashed both the left and the right?
Here is the Occupy the Courts press release:
Santa Ana to Participate in OCCUPY THE COURTS — January 20, 2012
Over 100 Protests Planned at Courthouses Nationwide Against Supreme Court Ruling that Corporations Are People
Over 100 courthouses, including Santa Ana and the Supreme Court, will become the focus of Occupy protesters against corporate rule on Friday, January 20. This is one day before the second anniversary of the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, in which the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are persons, entitled by the U.S. Constitution to buy elections and run the government.
Neither the Declaration of Independence nor the Constitution mentions corporations, which were rare entities at our nation’s founding. But thanks to decades of rulings by Justices who molded the law to favor elite interests, corporations today are granted privileges that empower them to deny citizens the right to full self-governance. Armed with these rights, corporations wield ever-increasing control over jobs, natural assets, elected officials, judges and the law.
We believe corporations are not persons and possess only the privileges citizens and their elected representatives willfully grant them. Organizers of OCCUPY THE COURTS propose a Constitutional Amendment that will overturn the Court-created legal doctrines of corporate personhood and “Money Equals Speech.”
WHEN: Friday, January 20, 11am–6pm
WHERE: Federal Courthouse 411 West Fourth Street, Santa Ana, CA
WHAT: Advocacy fair, Street theater, Speakers, Music, Games, Artists and More!
CONTACT: info@otc-sa.org
To learn more about OCCUPY THE COURTS – 1.20.2012 please visit:
- www.movetoamend.org/occupythecourts
- https://www.facebook.com/events/246338102096402/
- www.otc-sa.org
Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Sincerely,
Sera Beckham
562 235 7474
info@otc-sa.org
“Just when we thought the Occupy movement in Orange County was dead, or at least on its way out, it is back”…….. Hmmmmm
Sometimes you do not pay attention Admin!
The OCCUPY movement is here to stay for a sometime, one generation, which is about 20 years.
So totally different people will reach the finish line.
This movement is necessary for the American Renaissance even though you do not see me there.
The movement is already being co-opted by the red and blue parties. It will be a fading memory by next year.
Wrong!
But you wouldn’t know because the USA was politically stagnant for last 100 years.
USA politics are just another Super Bowl.
In contrast, OCCUPY is real political movement which is evolving.
Since you do not understand politics you must change your political party affiliation 5 times per year.
Ironically, it is the politic based on which you should survive and change your party of which you are lifetime member.
Learn politics Art, and you will not need to keep changing parties.
The red and blue parties are two sides of the same coin. As for Occupy, it is not a cohesive movement. That is why it will fail.
“As for Occupy, it is not a cohesive movement. That is why it will fail.”……. Hmmmm
I do not know from where you are getting your logic Art, but what is cohesive and rigid will brake, See communist block.
In contrast, what is flexible and chaotic will adopt, and adaptation is essential not only for survival but for the evolution too.
So get your self popcorn and watch the American Renaissance flick.
That is why a lumpenproletariat like Gröfaz and Diamond are essential in the early stages of any social change because they are dumb but resilient.
They can take rubber bullets and gas better than I would.
If I remember correctly, the lumpenproletariat is essential to the initial cycle of Occupy movement, aka “the spiral of life.” Unfortunately, they will not be able to experience the end product of the 2nd American Renaissance, aka “the realm of magic,” because their collectivist mindsets make them unwilling to let go of the notion of creating man made safety nets and their insistence on saving others as a means of trying to be as powerful as The Great Spirit, or what Hebrews call Yaw’weh or Christians call “The Lord.” If they are able to make that leap into that unknown realm on their own as individuals, then they will be able to naturally lead others towards “the realm of magic” without putting up much of an effort to manipulate the powers of the Great Spirit. Instead, they let the powers of the Great Spirit take its course.
This philosophy is not so much a Euro-American concept as much as it is derived from the philosophies of the Ojibwa and Lakota nations, who inhabited North America long before the Spanish and English came. Many of these non-Euro philosophies are an essential part of the many stories that elders like to tell, which are a lot like the parables of Jesus Christ or the fables of Aesop. Or so I was told by the Ojibwa elders at last summer’s All Nations Pow Wow during the peyote ceremony.
Does that pretty much sum up the lumpenproletariat’s role in this current “spiral of life” Stan?
“This philosophy is not so much a Euro-American concept as much as it is derived from the philosophies of the Ojibwa and Lakota nations, who inhabited North America long before the Spanish and English came”…….. Hmmmmm
You are getting it right Fawkes, except that philosophies of the Ojibwa and Lakota nations were derived from an observation of the universe by their reliance on it.
Essentially, the Euro-American concept is encapsulated in the Golden Rule and Newton’s third law of motion.
That is where the spiral of life comes in the picture. It is all same throughout this universe except on higher level.
The Lakota’s tomahawk is as deadly as is AK-47 but on higher level.
In essence we can only observe and react to the rules of the universe from the prospective of the “realm of life”.
In the realm of life, within a life span (time), every living organism must occupy a space and must consume energy other than its own.
Very cruel fact because life of weaker organism must end so the stronger organism can live to sustain its consciousness.
However, in the “realm of magic” the space is time and the energy is consciousness.
There is absolute harmony in the realm of magic.
Ahem. Okay, comrade Stanislav is exactly right to begin with; we are here to stay for a long time. The people you surround yourself with engage in wishful thinking, closing their eyes and asking each other “Are they gone yet?”
I won’t address your main point which is your stubborn failure to see any problem with the outsize influence of money in politics, except to ask, HEY! How is your boy Gary’s fundraising doing compared to Barack’s and Mitt’s?
I’ll just ask, where do you get off contending that “many” of us aren’t registered to vote. You pulled that out of where again? What is “many?” Maybe 15% of us? Out of thousands? OK I suppose that would add up to many, but why even mention it?
Thanks for at least posting our press release. It’s gonna be a blast. And productive and educational to boot. Don’t miss the premiere of my musical theater piece, “Are Corporations People?”
Occupy is a leaderless movement, so you can’t really speak for it. But good luck with your musical number.
“LeaderFULL” We can all speak for it. As long as I don’t see any “hard blocks,” which I don’t.
Like the “Borg” on Star Trek?
With regard to voting, or lack thereof:
From: http://www.kcra.com/news/29670127/detail.html#ixzz1jahOpEFO
Occupy Sacramento protesters have been expressing their anger at the government’s priorities by protesting in Cesar Chavez Park and refusing to leave afterhours.
As of last week, 50 people had been arrested, some several times, according to the Sacramento Police Department.
KCRA 3 requested voting records for those people from Sacramento County.
Records provided by the Assistant Registrar of Voters confirmed nearly half, 24, are registered to vote in Sacramento County.
Of the protesters who are registered to vote, most have voted on average, two times in the past five years.
Some protesters admit they have never voted.
And one more, from http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/223311/8/Are-Occupy-Tampa-protesters-hypocrites
The 10 News Investigators checked the public voting records of some of Occupy Tampa’s most active participants. The sample size: the 22 individuals who have been arrested a total of 31 times since Oct. 21, many for sleeping in public parks.
While ballots are secret, whether a Floridian votes in specific elections is public information, and fewer than half of the 22 protesters had voted in any election the last four years.
Of the 22:
Only 14 were registered to vote.
Only 7 voted in the 2008 presidential general election.
Only 4 voted in the 2008 presidential primary election.
Only 3 voted in the 2010 state election, which included gubernatorial & U.S. senate races.
Only 2 voted in any recent municipal elections.
“There’s no accountability in government. There’s no answering to the people,” said William Joseph McClelland, a protester from New Port Richey who admitted he wasn’t registered to vote.
McClelland says he suspects most Occupy protesters haven’t voted because they had no faith in the system.
Don’t miss the premiere of my musical theater piece, “Are Corporations People?”………… Hmmmmm
No need to be orgasmic now Gröfaz.
Art, You are missing the point.
It is not purpose of the OCCUPY to create larger voting pool nor to vote.
The OCCUPY provides for the people who want some action now!
That need will be here for long, long time because lot of people do not believe that their vote counts even though that in every election there is a race won by only 2 or 3 votes; 8 votes in Iowa.
It is not Hippie trendy movement. [Emphases Added]
Ironically, this movement is perfect for you.
I give you 6 month to join, at least Platonically.
Gröfaz gets out of it relieve of his corporate dislike an Stone his dislike of Jewish bankers…. meaning that they left him out.
In meanwhile they both pray to the lord.
Bumper: