The Occupation: The Sequel

 

You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.  

That's the message going to out to Occupy protesters all across the country,  and here in DC, as pressure mounts for public officials to put the kibosh on the public park protesters.  

But maybe now it's time for the rest of us to give these people some credit. First of all, they're still here.  Two months ago, I wrote these people off, figuring with no real demands and even less organization, by the first cold snap, these folks would occupying someone's basement.

I was wrong. And in a country with the attention span of a gnat, the Occupy movement is still finding ways to get in our face. So still the question: what do they want?  Well, in November one of their un-official spokesmen told me -- and I quote -- "The occupation in and of itself is a demand."

Back then, that didn't make much sense to me. I called the demonstrations little more than a temper tantrum. But now I'm thinking, a tantrum does tend to catch your eye, and in a nation where the meaning of the words "99 percent" have been forever changed, that is clearly worth something.

Here's something else: a new survey from the Pew Research Center says two thirds of Americans now believe there is a strong conflict between rich and poor in this country. That's up from less than half of us who felt that way two years ago. Does that mean the Occupy folks are fanning the flames of class warfare? Maybe...but I don't think they started it.