In an exclusive interview with an Occupy DC activist this morning from the McPherson Square encampment area, Big Government has learned that at high noon today,–hundreds of activists drawing from a collective of leftist coalitions including union support–will descend upon the Conservative Political Action Conference event taking place at the Woodley Park based Marriott Wardman hotel.
“It’s a coalition of different organizations including Occupy DC,” said James, an occupy protestor who joined the movement in late September from Orlando, Florida and emigrated to Occupy DC. “I think lots of organizations will be there too.”
James said the following of the Occupy CPAC plan:
The plan is for non-violent civil disobedience. We want to disrupt the conference and have our voices heard, have our message of the 99% against the 1% and have that voice take precedence. Things like CPAC have dog and pony shows, media circuses and it’s embarrassing. We’re supposed to be the most advanced democracy in the world and it’s embarrassing to have our political process look like a reality TV show.
It’s hard to say how many people will show up, but I think there will be a couple of hundred occupiers at least, and I heard at least three hundred people representing some unions, so my guess will be three to five hundred people. I hope it happens.
James also said that he hopes that Republicans will join their cause and said that during his time in Occupy Orlando there were “a couple” of Tea Party members and Republicans who occupied with them in Florida.
He added of the CPAC attendees:
I hope they realize we don’t take them seriously. They’re time is up–they just don’t know it yet. They are paper tigers and we are a scorching world fires, and by saying we, I mean the American people.
I would love it if people from CPAC came out and spoke to us as long as they were prepared to talk about the things we agree on and not the things we disagree on. We can agree to disagree on a lot of common issues, but when it comes to simple, common issues such as six banks running the country. I think we can find a whole lot of things to agree on with Republicans and libertarians. I’d like to see a non-violent, incremental revolution happen in this country. Something well thought out and move slowly.
Whether you’re on the right or the left, there’s so much posturing now. The Republicans know they’re not going to overturn Roe v. Wade in my lifetime so let’s get together and talk about reducing unwanted and teen pregnancies.
People ask what are you going to for the occupation? So, I ask well what are YOU going to do to change things because sitting at home and watching Dancing at the Stars and buying things online from IKEA? That’s not going to lead to a better future for your children.
- Occupy DC protestors invited Big Government into their library at McPherson Square which includes a collection of historical and political biographies and texts. Under the American flag a piece of Occupy artwork hangs with Lady Justice’s scales of justice – a dollar sign outweighs an infinity sign suggesting in America money outweighs everything else.
In it’s exclusive interview with James, Big Government tried to get a sense of what some of the general feelings were about the various CPAC speakers as well as President Obama. James said that he can only speak for himself on these issues, but explained he “could almost stomach” former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney when he was in office, but was now disappointed, and felt even greater disappointment with the other candidates:
ON RICK SANTORUM: “That’s just an embarrassment to our country that this guy is leading the Republican primary. He’s an intellectual lightweight. I’m not an elitist but even if you aspire to public service you should have a level of service and passion and be deeply informed on the issues.”
ON MITT ROMNEY: “On Mitt, it’s hard to say. I spent some time in Boston when he was governor there and that Mitt Romney I could almost stomach him. He was more of a centrist, he was balanced and reasonable, and now… why do we believe these things that politicians say? He was once reasonably pro-choice and believed in at least in some compromise on universal health care and led of the most liberal state in the country and now he’s indistinguishable from Sarah Palin or Rick Santorum.
WHY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IS NOT COMMITTING TO ROMNEY: “The right-wing Christian base is looking for a reason, any reason to demonize him because he’s a Mormon. They’re showing their true colors, they’re wholly owned by radical, fundamentalist Christians and that cannot be good for the United States of America.”
ON NEWT GINGRICH: “Gingrich. Smart guy, really, really smart guy but I don’t agree with almost any of his political positions, and there was a time when he showed intellectual prowess, but his personal foibles are such that he shows he’s not suited for political office. Three wives? Come on. I’m the most open minded person in the world when it comes to social issues, but you want someone with strength and convictions, and he doesn’t. He’s lived his life like a drunken frat-boy.”
ON RON PAUL: “Ron Paul is the crazy uncle at both CPAC and Occupy DC. He has supporters on all sides of the spectrum. He’s personally good for the process because he does have very few common sense ideas but when you look at his intellectual underpinnings, he’s a little crazy. He’s unforgiving on certain social issues and it’s amazing how many people support him. You can’t be an Objectivist and a Christian at the same time.”
ON PRESIDENT OBAMA: “Obama sickens me, he’s the biggest disappointment of my life. I’m an anarchist but I vote because I still have to live in this system. On election-day, I felt sick, but I voted for him because he did seem like a different kind of politician. He gained his Senate seat just as a launching pad, but I believed him. I believed he was going to be a new politician, a new type of president, but he’s now just a big war criminal as George W. Bush as far as I’m concerned. When he appointed Geithner I was like, really? You’re going to get former Goldman Saks people? Obama had the opportunity with his force and personality as the first black president and really riding into office on a wave of hope and goodwill, there were a lot of slightly left Republicans even, but he’s never taken advantage of the bully pulpit he was given.”
ON THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT: “I think the most important thing about the occupation is that we are horizontal. We truly don’t have leadership. We represent such a broad sect of society we only agree on a few things and those things will come up to our general assembly process and sometimes they become part of the official position of Occupy. If you’re an occupier you’re not just encouraged but required to do the best thing for the occupation. As long as you’re not talking about violently hurting another human being, I may not join you, but I’ll stand in solidarity with what you do. I think what the occupation will achieve is not change but rather space for a chance. By hitting the 1 percent from every angle we are going to disrupt it and create that space for chance.”
James concluded the one hour interview by saying that he actually “pine(s) for the days of William F. Buckley, when there were intelligent people who would debate the issues with convictions.” He concluded, “There was a generation of conservatives. Many of them were well spoken, their arguments were well reasoned and they came from personal conviction and by and large you could, the American public could carry on a conversation that mattered without it devolving Jersey Shore.”
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