I walked over to see Occupy Baltimore today. First I saw a large group of people doing jumping jacks. That turned out to be Health City. Then I got to McKeldin Square, at the corner of Pratt and Light Streets in view of Inner Harbor. There were maybe fifty people, including a dozen journalists and half a dozen police (poh-leece), three of them on motorcycles. A few dozen onlookers stood around the edges of the small plaza but it seemed clear that they weren't part of it.

No one was doing calisthenics, but a few casually-dressed people were on their knees writing signs on sheets. I felt like saying, "Please don't misspell morons." A camera-toting fellow was interviewing a fellow with a beard, who made it clear that he didn't speak for everyone, but who was the only one speaking. A fellow wearing a LaRouche breadboard was handing out flyers, and a few folk were holding copies of a thin Workers' Week paper. The bearded fellow invited anyone to make a sign.

I noticed a young man with bleached blond hair in front, tinted green in back. He was wearing a long, black, woven tunic with a gold arrow pointing up, and no pants. A bulge made me wonder if was wearing underwear. Naturally he was soon being interviewed. Kory said he was a native Baltimorean. I listened to his interview, then spoke to him for a few moments. He seemed to assume I'd be against the demonstration, and seemed relieved when I told him I supported the idea. He was joined by a fellow in a camo shirt, and they unveiled a largish, Occupy Baltimore sign.

WYPR was interviewing an unemployed carpenter named McGuire. He spoke very well about Occupy being a "nascent movement," and diplomatically answered questions about whether he expected any trouble. He said he didn't expect trouble, wasn't there to make trouble, and in fact the group had committed to a peaceful demonstration, but he was aware that in times of change, trouble sometimes happens anyway. (So I slugged him.)

He had a list of personal wishes, one of which that the government not build a $300 million dollar juvenile detention facility instead of improving schools. He said that the government looked at test scores to plan on how many kids would turn to crime. He said he'd given up two bus tickets to go to Occupy Wall Street for this, but would be there this weekend. When WYPR was finished, WBAL began interviewing him. (No, I didn't really hit him.)

By that time there were maybe a dozen signs being held: People Not Profit, Feed the Hungry, etc., but there was no discernable excitement and the journalists were getting antsy. The motorcycle cops vroomed away. I had to get back to work. It was a start.

Chez Pazienza blogged about Occupy Wall Street yesterday:

When "Occupy Wall Street" first started, it bugged the hell out of me. Anyone who's read this site long enough should immediately understand what my issues might be with a bunch of kids who seem pissed that they missed out on the 60s -- and to a lesser degree, that the summer Phish tour wrapped up -- storming Lower Manhattan to unleash a metric ton of inchoate, incoherent rage through drum circles and a whole lot of Guy Fawkes masks. For years now I've very publicly decried the old school model of left-wing protest for the simple reason that the rules have changed drastically and to pretend that they haven't will quickly render any form of push-back activism moot.

Chez doesn't have much patience with boomer, hippy wannabees, but he does pay attention and he sees something happening:

But admittedly, something has happened over the past week or so: A single, fundamental message of Occupy Wall Street has begun to coalesce, and a series of disorganized grievances has slowly started to dovetail into one, coherent movement. What's more, the outrage voiced by a few has lit a match to the anger felt by millions -- and the resulting fire is now spreading rapidly, with similar protests flaring up across the country. Occupy Wall Street may have started as a muddled gathering of occasionally conflicting ideas, but it was the spark that was needed to potentially create a conflagration. And it's damn well about time.

So I hope he's right and that Occupy Baltimore will grow from a rather quiet gathering to something that will be noticed.