DC protesters shut down K Street

[Zorra]

Source: Press TV

Under the banner Take Back the Capitol, anti-corporatism protests have shut down K Street in Washington, known as the home for lobbying in the United States.

About a thousand protesters gathered on the street, shutting down the major downtown intersection to traffic as well as several blocks in either direction, The Politico network reported.

The police made several arrests, repelling the demonstrators. They, however, stormed back into the street after some time.

Some activists chanted “hell no, we won't go” as the security forces moved in and prepared to make more arrests. Many others of the protesters brought newsstand boxes and other objects to barricade the street.
snip--
Some 3,000 activists, who came from Chicago, Boston, Saint Louis, Florida, Kansas, Wisconsin, and elsewhere, flooded Washington this week to join the movement.


Read more: http://presstv.com/detail/214420.html

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"protesters shut down K Street"

"protesters shut down K Street"

Sounds so nice, had to post it twice.

Occupy!

[xchrom]

1. Recommend

[elleng]

2. Not such a great idea, imo.

LOTS of the 99% use K Street every day; in fact, MOST of the people who use K street ARE 99%ers, and this heads in the direction of alienating supporters.

Glad I'm not downtown.

[Imajika]

4. Completely counter productive...

I just commented in the thread in general about this. I live and work in Northern Virginia, and many of our staff go in and out of DC frequently. All of them hate and complain bitterly about these protesters intentionally tying up traffic. Most of the younger employees are Democrats or at least vote that way, and they detest Occupy and all the protests associated with it because of the endless traffic snarls. We have protests in DC all the time and I've never heard anyone complain till Occupy. Intentionally blocking traffic in a heavy commute area like this creates traffic chaos far from the actual protest - and people resent it. It wins no one over.

[Zorra]

6. Same shit, different day. Y'all said the same damn thing

about us before. It's always the same crap.


"Occupy Phoenix is the Mississippi of this Movement"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW0UsV8zHzQ

We get out and get it done, others watch us get it done on TV and complain and complain and complain about us until we close it out.

Have a comfy day.

[elleng]

7. You comfy on the earth?

Don't live or work in/near a big city? Don't have to get to or from work through town?

NO NEED FOR THIS UNPLEASANT ATTITUDE. Join the real world, and recognize real problems for real people, of these actions.

This is NOT occupying a park at Wall Street, or keeping sheriffs from executing a foreclosure eviction, this is We The People trying to get to and from work.

[Imajika]

9. If you don't win over the public, none of it will matter anyway..

If people know there will be a big demonstration and that traffic will be tied up, they can plan accordingly.

What has been going on DC with protesters snarling traffic fairly regularly wins no one over. It actually alienates people.

It reminds me of the anti-abortion people constantly tying up traffic at the woman's health clinic in the town I used to live in. They became pretty well known for blocking traffic and little else and it turned pretty much everyone who wasn't a complete fundamentalist nut against their cause. Needless to say the anti-abortion people finally gave up that tactic when they realized they were becoming hated by pretty much everyone.

[Zorra]

16. My apologies, Imajika.

There is a lot of very insincere opposition to OWS going around, and various insincere criticisms as well, and I took your post the wrong way.

A lot of people are hurting because greedy banksters found a way to circumvent or remove the regulations that formerly prevented them from causing this damage. They are currently circumventing all attempts to re-regulate them, and regulate them even further, to prevent them from doing it again. They have so much wealth and power that our legislative and judicial systems appear to be powerless to control them and prevent them from causing further damage and assuming more control.

Having engaged in numerous protests for different reasons over several decades, I'm kind of burnt on people complaining about it when we take direct action on things that desperately need to be addressed, and will never be addressed unless direct action forces the issue.

It happens every time. The status quo gets in our face and uses every possible avenue to try to destroy the movement before it can begin to effect the changes in the national dialogue that lead to changes in the collective consciousness and ultimately to the practical implementation of the critical changes that we seek to bring about.

But there are a lot of people out there that have no idea about all this. They get stuck in traffic because of a direct action, and all they see is what they perceive as a bunch of stupid hippies with signs that don't make much sense to them, like Rush Limbaugh is so vehemently explaining to them as they sit there stalled in traffic.

The irony in this is that these people are partly responsible for the direct action that they see as keeping them from whatever is more important to them than understanding and subsequently possibly supporting the reason for the direct action. If enough of them had been paying attention over the years, it is very possible that the banksters could have been prevented from compromising our legislative and judicial system. But it is what it is, and it is frustrating.

So it comes down to this: Do we just sit there and watch and do nothing as things continue to get worse, because we might make some people temporarily uncomfortable, or do we take action and do what is necessary to force the changes that will inevitably result in more equality and justice for almost everyone?

The founders of this nation had to have asked this same question to themselves. As did Gandhi, Lincoln, Alice Paul, Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez, etc., and all the faceless nameless people that ever engaged in direct action tactics on behalf of a sincere struggle to bring about equality and justice for themselves and others.

All that said, after further reflection, I recognize now that your post was genuine and sincere, and meant as positive constructive criticism.

I was out of line with my post, and I so totally sincerely apologize for this and for my thoughtlessness as well.

[No Elephants]

21. The general public clings to the status quo, no matter how lousy it is.

For what OWS has been going through, trying to shake things up and get ACTUAL change, traffic (or re-routing) is nothing.

[CBHagman]

29. "If you don't win over the public, none of it will matter anyway."

Bingo. It has to be translated into votes, into a shift in public opinion.

By the way, the Occupy DC people have for the most part lived in harmony, at least as far as I can tell, with the regulars in the neighborhood, including the homeless. I seem to recall the Occupy DC encampment at Freedom Plaza even moved at one point to accommodate another event.

The Park Police too have generally taken a low-key approach. Anything that shifts things into a combative relationship with the people just going about their business (including the homeless and the police) would be a mistake, in my view. You want to effect change, not just put an elbow in someone's face.

[chervilant]

12. Unreal

What level of disconnect is required for someone to complain about TRAFFIC when our entire species is experiencing a significant cultural crisis, and #Occupy is the initial salvo in our efforts to rescue ourselves?!

[wordpix]

13. "initial salvo?" Sigh..I guess you're young...some of us have been fighting this or similar battles

for decades, e.g. environmental, anti-nuke, poverty, drug war, education, health care, prejudice, and yes, the economic divide.

[chervilant]

15. Thanks, I suppose,

for thinking me young. I am 55, started my activism as a teen.

By initial salvo, I meant that--at long last--We the People, GLOBALLY, are working for an end to radical income inequity.

[No Elephants]

22. And you found a way to fight all those things for decades with no disruption of anyone?

So, how's that been working?

We don't have decades anymore.

And I don't recall any "battles" specially about the economic divide, either. "Give the poor more" is a very different issue from "our society has been rigged to enrich 1% of us at the expense of 99% of us."

Ageism is not necessary, either.

[No Elephants]

23. +1

[No Elephants]

20. +1

[Arctic Dave]

14. That would suck to miss your TV show.

LOL, Yours has to be the saddest comment I've seen against OWS.

[No Elephants]

19. Please see Reply 18.

[No Elephants]

18. Demonstrations so rarely occur on deserted streets.

The 99% are, by definition, the vast majority of Americans. They are going to be the majority of people using any street that is a likely site for a demonstration.

Apparently, some alleged "supporters" of OWS have found reasons to be "alienated" from the jump.

And that, too, is typical of any demonstration.

Change is hard and the status quo is lousy, yet some people don't want it shaken up anyway. Go figure.

[AikidoSoul]

26. Alienating supporters? Just the opposite is true

Much of the public shares the same concerns as OWS and is glad to see apathy take a back seat.

If anything, it's inspiring to see them willing to go out there and be harassed, beaten, pepper sprayed, arrested, etc., etc.

Our country is now fascist, and tell me please what else you have in mind to change it to something more reasonably organized for the public good? :patriot:

People screaming in the streets is just what we need. And those signs! What wonderful signs there have been that really say what the concerns are. They're theirs. They're ours.

A little traffic jam now and again is nothing. Fascism on the other hand, is a very big fist in our faces every single day.

[SoapBox]

3. Me too, Me too...Recommend!

[CBHagman]

5. Not if you are a cubicle rat on your way to work.

I have a bus pass (No car, never a car) and commute into DC five to six days each week, most of the time disembarking on K Street. Believe me, nothing is less likely to help promote economic justice than blocking streets and stopping people from going to work, for their mammogram (K Street has a lot of medical offices), etc.

By all means target lobbyists but don't set out to make life harder for average workers and then crow about doing a great job winning economic justice. Blocking K Street won't even win you hearts and minds, let alone economic justice.

[elleng]

8. Thanks

:thumbsup:

[No Elephants]

24. Fundamental change in society allegedly desired. Traffic, versus 3 months of tenting.

[wordpix]

10. suggest ODC learn exactly where the bigwig lobbyists are and occupy those offices

instead of the streets where the 99% must travel to/from work, metro stations, medical offices...

It would be more productive to shut the actual lobbyists' offices down, rather than a major street which, BTW, also contains offices of non-profits doing very good work.

[elleng]

11. Right. Thanks

:thumbsup:

[plumbob]

17. Thanks to those on the ground actually doing things!

Now if only K Street could actually be shut down permanently and turned into a nice park....

[No Elephants]

25. Much as DINOs sicken me, faux supporters of OWS sicken me.

[femrap]

27. K and R

Shut down K Street.

[patrice]

28. K&R