PHOTOS, PAGE 1

       Editor and prime reporter is Doug Terry, a veteran television and radio reporter in   Washington, DC, (details below)

           Can Occupy Wall Street turn into a movement for positive change in America? The short answer to the question is yes, but it will be a difficult and perhaps a long road. It might even take until next spring for the “Arab spring” to fully reach these American shores.

The path ahead is filled with difficulties. How do the protesters avoid a full face confrontation with police and still keep their movement going? In many cases around the world, police brutality helps to spur a movement for change and make it legitimate in the eyes of a nation. The arrest of more than 700 people crossing Brooklyn Bridge, was probably could have been avoided by the police, brought immediate national attention to the effort.

Face this fact: we are a nation where violence and struggle is noticed more than anything. Violence makes the news, peaceful protests cause people to snooze. Yet, should there be major violence. the Occupy movement could lose a massive amount of public support. When violence occurs, there is always the question of who caused it and the police and government officials are ready around the clock to blame the protesters, after which other forces that would like to see the effort repressed, like the Republicans and right wing radio, often swing into action. Before long, even the mothers of the protesters tend to think they started something.

Things are very different now with video cameras on most phones and the ability to show, not just talk about, what happened. The official story is not the only one heard by millions of people, yet those who want to believe the worst about any public demonstration hear what they want to hear and disregard the rest. So, to be successful, Occupy must develop the abilities of master propagandists, because that is what they are up against. What’s more, the officials who will give their version of events have complete command of the media, while any demonstrator might get a 14 second sound bite.

The movement needs to appear to keep growing to be successful, too, but we American’s often have short attention spans and other things do to. Of course, there are millions of people out of work, so there are a lot of people with time on their hands and not much to do.

Right now, I would put the odds at just over fifty-fifty in favor of the Occupy effort. The people who are doing it are working hard at it and trying to make a go of it. The deep grievances many people feel from being shoved aside by the economy and the forces of wealth and power are not going to go away over night. The major news media  commentators. even those who say they favor the demonstrations, are predicting that it will all blow away and not mean much at all. I wouldn’t say that. Far from it. These demonstrations have a very real chance to grow into a truly significant national movement.

Doug Terry, 10.11.11

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