What's The Point? Are You Kidding Me!?

Several people have asked my wife and me, "what's the point?" concerning the Occupy Denver movement. One of them a woman whose husband had to declare bancruptcy for his construction business. He hasn't been able to find a job for over a year since that time. He's in his fifties.

Another is in debt to credit card companies for over twenty thousand dollars. He has a mortgage that's "under water". He fails to understand what the point of getting arrested in non-violent civil disobedience accomplishes. He thinks our main problem is government is too big. He buys into all the rhetoric of the Tea Party and dear ol' Rush.

Others look at the mainstream press reports and think Occupy Denver is groups of anarchists, trouble-makers or dope smokers. How many of the middle aged or older folks holding jobs and struggling in this economy are we seeing on the 5pm or 10pm newscasts? How many older veterans like myself are reported to be in the movement? How many moms and dads with their kids are we seeing in the mainstream press reports? I've seen plenty in the past month. I've also seen elderly folks well past their 60s walking in the marches.

No, what the mainstream press wants is blood, gas,pepper spray and arrests. They want to ignore the peaceful activists of the movement as irrelevant despite the peaceful being the great majority. They prefer to show cops "protecting" themselves against unarmed young people acting out enough to get arrested. They prefer to show cops in mass formations dressed in their Ninja Turtle riot gear. And the average person who hasn't gotten up off the couch to speak out but is quite willing to go to a Halloween gig downtown or to a football game at the stadium thinks the Occupy movement is just another bunch of those freaking liberals who support big government.

What's the point? The point is the Occupy movement around the world is putting a spotlight on things that will affect future generations. They are demanding accountability for the mass fraud of the biggest banks in the world.They are demanding accountability for the unethical and destructive practices of the Wall Street brokers who all hide behind the lies they are the job makers. They've been outed by the Occupy movement as destroying the economies of this nation and several other nations.

What's the point? The point is the Occupy movement has connected the dots of the 3 billion dollars spent each week just to support the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. They've shown how big corporations have profited off the blood of the poor in war zones, whether they be Americans or innocent civilians. They've shown the betrayal of the returning veterans in getting timely medical or mental health care.

The movement has demonstrated to spotlight the injustices of wealth distribution throughout the world. They've shown the myth of the richest 1% paying 35 % taxes. The recent CBO clearly shows this to be a lie when it reports the largest corporations in the world based in the U.S. not only don't pay taxes, they manage to get huge rebates through tax loopholes.

The movement has brought attention to the sieve know as the Federal Reserve. The Fed has secretively distributed taxpayer dollars in the trillions to the wealthiest corporations and individuals without oversight. Not only did the American government bail out the banks through the Congress, they've been continuously bailing them and other fat cats out without any accountability. More money has gone to them via the backdoor than through the Congress.

What's the point?The Occupy movement has brought attention to the environmental destruction posed by a pipeline from Canada to the Gulf that runs through some of the largest aquifers of drinking water in the middle part of this nation. They've shown there is no such thing as "clean coal" or safe nuclear power. They'e shown fracking is yet another danger to clean potable water and pristine forests and grasslands.

What's the point? The occupy movement has shown education and all social programs in this nation are under attack by the greedy 1%. They've shown the attack on collective bargaining by the 1%. It may seem to many this is good but they fail to understand the places where collective bargaining and unionization are free from attack are the places where workers historically have higher wages and better benefits. All workers. Not just union workers.

What's the point? The occupy movement has shown the fear of the oligarchy that the truth get out. They have ordered their police forces to squash the movement. The longer it stays around, the more the truth will be revealed. The police have obliged all across the U.S.. In Oakland Scott Olsen's skull was fractured by an "errant" projectile fired into the crowd by the riot squad. When others in the Occupy movement attempted to come to Olsen's aid a concussive cannister was thrown near Olsen's prone body as his rescuers came to his side. Olsen remains hospitalized and unable to speak. Scott Olsen is a Marine combat veteran with a job and a place to live. He was deployed twice to Iraq.

Really?? A combat veteran or any other activist violating an order that at best would bring misdemeanor charges deserves violent assault by police? Why is it the public cries out in anger when groups of activists simply try to put up food tents and sleeping tents in public parks but still think nothing of two wars killing Americans and innocent ciivilians? Why do the governors and mayors throughout the nation send out riot squads to gas, pepper spray and beat Occupy movement participants trying to camp out in the parks near the center of the local governments? And yet, these are the only Americans willing to demonstrate and speak out in the streets against the theft of millions of American pensions by the fraud of banks and Wall Street.

It is clear authorities don't want to be embarassed for their complicity in a bought and paid for government for the rich and by the rich. It has become overtly clear our own governor, John Hickenlooper, and the mayor of Denver, Michael Hancock, are colluding with the business world that funded their elections. The 1% control the wealth which means they control the media, they control the lobbyists and they control the governments all the way down to city governments. This is the point of the Occupy movement - to expose the fraud and demand regulations on campaign spending. To demand regulation on banking practices. To demand regulation on practices of stock brokerage firms. To demand the government get out of the corporate bed and govern the way it is intended.

What's the point? The claim the Occupy movement really doesn't have a focused message is absurd. The message is clear if people think about all the problems they have in living their lives free of worrying about food, shelter and healthcare. The message is clear if people think about being able to have a living wage, being able to pay their debts and being able to help their children go to college. The message is clear if students think about the debt they've incurred going to a university for their degree. The message is clear to the 47 million Americans who are without healthcare benefits. They don't think they should have to die because they are uninsured. The message is clear to parents who have buried sons or daughters who died in combat for the oil fields in Iraq. The message is clear to the mother who can't afford to get prenatal care and has a premature baby. The message is clear to the incarcerated young black or brown man who sit in prisons for crimes of possessing small amounts of street drugs. And yet, the greatest source of substance abuse is legal in forms of alcohol and tobacco.

What's the point? The point is the Occupy Denver, Occupy Oakland, Occupy Wall Street and all the other occupation sites are struggling for justice and equality. They struggle for cops who are short staffed and facing more and more budget cuts. They struggle for teachers to keep the right for collective bargaining and to be able to actually teach instead of administer inane achievement tests that fail to measure the true knowledge of each child. They struggle for all of us whether we ask them or not. And they pay the price with constant police harassment. They pay the price with the determination to stay despite weather, fatigue, adequate shelter or facilities. They pay the price with fractured skulls and welts from rubber bullets and pepper spray pellets fired into their bodies at close range.

Attempts to discredit them are intense. Infiltrators who scream and shout to incite violence are constantly appearing. Provocateurs who try to incite property damage or engage in profanity and inciteful dialogue with cops and others have come and gone. The mainstream press feed on the failures of the immature to remain calm and peaceful. They don't give a damn if you're peaceful. Their jobs are to find something "juicy" about the movement so they can claim they've done investigative reporting. Even the true journalists will find their words and visuals distorted by the editors.

What's the point? The point is this movement may be the last chance to overcome the oppressive control of the richest 1% of the world. It may be the last chance for our children and grandchildren. If you don't get that .....then wake up!!