Occupy Nothing... comments on Occupy Seattle & Portland

Comments on the violence with "Occupy Portland" and other locs this weekend... I must state again that although I sympathize with the philosophical intent and plight of some of the protesters (I qualify this because most of the regulars that I have seen in these camps are homeless street-types and undesirables), I must emphatically say that I disagree with their methods... real and long lasting change in America can only occur through involvement with and through the political process itself- the key being the Vote! OK we all probably agree that the current economic situation here needs to change! But raging against the system, legislative apathy, violence and Anarchy are NOT the answers... Have you seen how people live in other parts of the world? It's not perfect here, but we are truly blessed by contrast in America... The answer is to be a responsible citizen... "Occupy the Voting Booth"!   :| 

Here's what bothers me about the Occupy Movement as seen through my personal first-hand experience with the "Occupy Seattle" group... And I realize that there may be differences in the both demographic and idealogical makeup of these "camps" in different regions of the country all which make drawing sweeping generalizations difficult... but it seems to me that there are more similarities than differences in the shared "Occupy" experience that transcends regional boundaries... effective today "Occupy Pacific Northwest"- if I may call it that- effectively died. Less than three weeks ago Occupy Seattle put their tails between their legs and voluntarily de-occupied Westlake Park. And today the police forcibly ran the Occupy Portland out of town... What we have left here now is essentially "Occupy Nothing"! It's over peeps... From a military standpoint, they have failed to hold their ground and- although there may be a few more skirmishes- the battlefield is lost... at least in this part of the country. 

So what happened? I was there peeps from the beginning watching the running commentary in the GA's and it was obvious that things were crumbling before they even got started. Within days the movement polarized into two camps. One that wanted peaceful protest and one that wanted violent confrontation. The facilitators lacked sufficient experience or direction to hold the two polarized groups together. And after about three weeks on constant police pressure one fateful night the movement fractured. I was there peeps... half the movement got up in disgust and in the middle of GA walked out. They were the half that advocated violence and open confrontation with the police- many went with them... Those that were left who preached peaceful non-violent protest were badgered with resolution after resolution to give up the fight and retreat to the community college campus- they finally gave in and it was over in Seattle. Those that advocated violence and aggressive confrontation with the police got themselves arrested on purpose for publicity and some found their ways to Portland to start a new camp... In GA these same facilitators started to openly recruit volunteers whose purpose was to confront the police, to do violent things to get media attention and to put themselves to be arrested. I stood by and watched as the movement deteriorated quickly... And that led to the only outcome possible... forcible eviction from Portland. The Occupy Movement in my opinion is fatally flawed and the media is directly responsible for overstating and hyping their activities for commercial purposes... here are the youth voting stats in America and I hope they illustrate the misguided apathy of our youth involved with this movement:

Voters ages 18-29 were 21% of the electorate (41.9 million) in 2006, but comprised only 9% of Voters in Midterm Elections in 2008 [source: CBS]...