Showdown on Wall Street

[LongTomH]

Michael Moore discussed this on Larry King Live:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x460053

A series of protests against Wall Street is already underway across the country, with the biggest one slated for Thursday in New York.

"The big banks and Wall Street got what they paid for " -- with the filibuster -- "but this week of actions and the ones that follow will show Congress that the American people are paying attention, have had enough, and will not allow their democracy to be hijacked," says Liz Ryan Murray, senior policy analyst at National People's Action, which together with SEIU, AFL-CIO, PICO National Network, and others is coordinating the demonstrations, which will culminate with the "Showdown on Wall Street!" protest in New York on Thursday.

Zephyr Teachout, activist and professor at Fordham Law School, believes the mobilizations can have a huge impact on how strong the financial reform bill will be. "These are the greenshoots of public anger, and they probably don't even represent the much steeper depth of public anger," she told AlterNet. "The financial industry had been counting on the public -- and Congress -- being intimidated by the complex nature of the reforms we need, but if the public gets involved there's the opportunity for extraordinary New Deal-level reordering of our system that makes it much more fair, reliable and stable."

<snip>

As the crowd of union members, community activists and angry bank consumers weaved its way from the Embarcadero up Market and California streets in downtown San Francisco, bankers in dark suits watched curiously as sidewalks that are normally financial arteries started to pulse with populist anger. The protesters followed an empty horse-led stagecoach, a real-life representation of the Wells Fargo logo. It was empty in order to symbolize the bankrupt morality of the bank, organizers said.

An AFSCME union member blew on a conch shell, startling a group of men on their lunch break outside Nomura, a Japanese investment bank. A Chase customer stopped the group in front of his bank's branch to tell his foreclosure story. He concluded with a rallying cry: "This is criminal and needs to stop."

Next question: How much attention will this get from the national media, compared with the Tea Party 'movement?' I expect Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow to cover; but, don't expect much from Corporate Noise Network except derision.

[fascisthunter]

1. KICK!!!! (nt)