Well, I think your sensibilities and expectations are very similar to mine.  But I'm trying to stand back for now, watch, and see if something compelling emerges from it all.  Right now, it's hard for me to find anything tangible to grab onto or identify with.

That's truly a classic, Genghis. My God, what good writing. Descriptive, analytical, a pleasure to read, really. Please keep it going.

I just checked out the site you used. An ironic illustration of their problem has been

Posted Oct. 6, 2011, 11:48 a.m. EST by Occupywallst.org

How can they say another site has nothing to do with them when there is no one in charge? I would think everyone is welcome to put a site up representing them as long as they are members of "the 99%" and not one of those oligarchs.

Is it possible CNN negged your article because you became a participant, and not just an observer?  Helping them with their computers and the like? 

Wow, this is a great discussion.

Another Trope said: “One of the goals of the trip was to get their buy-in (no capitalist pun intended?) into working in our community to rally everyone around providing early childhood education opportunities”

I think this is great - and as the parent of two autistic kids who knows exactly how important early childhood education/intervention is, I appreciate those who work tirelessly in its regard. But we must also remember that all of the attention to providing “early childhood education” has to be followed through by ANOTHER activist/group, who is efforting to stabilize the ridiculous costs of higher education and make sure once that same group that benefited from early education, then doesn’t end up slamming up against a wall and being in debt for a few decades. Those kids you’re working on behalf of now, Another Trope, are the same kids who will benefit in the future by the continued activism in other areas.

So I think while one person might be focused on one area and its improvement, we need people in ALL areas, fighting the good fight - working on things they feel passionate about. We can’t expect to “reform” one area and ignore another. We all pick our thing to fight for so we cover all the bases. But it’s certainly not for anyone to say that their efforts will bear more fruit - or are more realistic - than someone else’s. (Not that I’m arguing that’s what your post intended, I’m just taking it a step further…)

I believe what Genghis said here is important to note:

“The Occupy Wall Street movement, in its current form, is an inchoate mass of people and opinions. It struggles to produce a cohesive and focused agenda because it has zealously rejected the need for a cohesive and focused organization.”

Donal: “People frustrated with the banksters could include all sorts of people that might not normally get along on other issues.”

Occupy Wall Street is a huge group of diverse people and political leanings ALL unhappy with something(s). What this tells me is that while everyone might not be unhappy with the same things, they’re all unhappy with the current state of the union and many of these “roads” all lead back to Wall Street - an area that was floundering before being bailed out by Americans, who are now floundering and wondering why they aren’t being bailed out through appropriate legislation.

Schools are losing teachers, bridges are falling down, unemployment is at a morbidly obscene rate, kids are now being forced to decide whether to bother with college if they will be in debt up to their ears for years to come, the wealthiest among us who have benefited from OUR COLLECTIVE American consumption (by the use of OUR roads that are now disintegrating, by OUR purchasing of their goods and services) aren’t paying their fair share of taxes - everyone is being affected in one way or another.

I have never understood why these same people don't understand that the further we sink from the middle class to collective poverty, the less we'll be able to stimulate the economy because we won't have anything to stimulate it with.

Then we watch the news and see horror stories about voter suppression leading up to the next election juxtaposed against some PT Barnum-like GOP debates and what’s happening is EVERYONE is getting freaked out. We don’t know what’s coming, but we can be sure it’s not good.

The “haves” continue to rape and pillage the country for their continued prosperity while the "have-nots" circle the train.

And then we have politicians who would rather remain stagnant and eschew any and all progress toward the collective good that might leave even a whiff success around the President prior to an election - even if that would mean success for the country. (God Forbid!) To some, an election must be won at all costs - and every American, Democrat and Republican is suffering because of it.

I won’t even get into the obscene amounts of money being raised for campaigns, which is basically a way for a select few rich people to get exactly what kind of results in any given area (legislation) that works best for them - and works against what works best for the American people.

I’m proud when I watch what’s happening down on Wall Street. It might not be as pulled-together as it could be, but what I see are people who want something done and at the very least, it shows people are paying attention ~ and that the next election is going to be very, very interesting.

Everyone holding a political position has been sufficiently put on notice. We’re watching and we’re listening, so you better be damn sure whatever it is you stand for has more substance than a talking point or sound byte because if we don’t like what you’re saying, you can expect us to take action at the ballot box.

To me, if OWS does nothing more than puts politicians on notice, that’s fine by me. But I tend to think there’s something powerful going on down there on Wall Street, and I look forward to finding out where it’s going.

(in re to rootman's comment above asking my thoughts on iconic pitchforks--too skinny to read upthread)

Oh, I think their attention is rapidly, finally, being gotten.  Just not at all sure scaring them with graphic images of violence is more helpful than not.  Sometimes less is more and leaving an adversary's imagination to do its own work rather than offering explicit images they might be able to seize on to foster blowback can be more effective.  

On iconic pitchforks...good question.  A year or two ago when fellow daggers were using it there was not much in the way of observable signs of emerging mass activity going on.  There was a desperate need for that to get started, somehow.  For me the pitchfork is nowhere near as explicit and problematic in that respect as pikes.  I don't recall having a particular problem with it a year or two ago when attention that desperately needed to be paid was not being paid.  IIRC, I think my reactions to the pitchfork icons were mostly dependent on my reactions to what the individual using it was writing at dag.

The situation now is that attention, finally, is being paid.  The questions now for me are less about how to get attention than about how might some useful and important changes that otherwise aren't going to happen be brought about in connection with the protest actions that have sprung up.