Mood:
loudTopic: "Rules" (7)
Frodo often wishes that he could claim a certain statement as his own. Taking note of the OCCUPY posters on Wall Street, he was bemused by the one lad who carried the hand-written "We Were Expecting Cake" on his placard. Perhaps Frodo liked it so much because it seemed to strike at the purposeful center of these street protests which, in truth, have puzzled the Hobbit; that is, until a blind man showed him the way.
Former Governor David Patterson (D-NY) never impressed Frodo very much, so he paid the politician little in the way of homage. On Bill Maher's rather risque', and oftentimes boring, show Friday last, Patterson was one of the panel members responding to the comedians' calls for commentary on things happening. To the point of the OCCUPY activities, Patterson had fulfilled Frodo's low-bar expectations. Then, he actually said something that made the Hobbit stop-and-think (zounds!). Patterson said that we have to remember that it has been thirty years since there was any level of meaningful street demonstration in the US of A, and that those now so engaged are learning how to be relevant, and to attract the level of response which makes their effort worthwhile. He went so far as to predict that the message would coalesce for all the world to see in short time.
In all candor, Patterson is correct. Frodo remembers the futility felt by all who "shot the bird" at John Mitchell, or "mooned" H.R. Haldemann, knowing that they had lost their message, and that now all that they could do was to fuel the flames of disgust, and go home. Who remembers the "Million Man March" except for the fact that every fast-food joint in Washington D.C. was packed solid at lunchtime.? Frodo can't actually recall what the purpose was, or what was achieved, if anything. Beyond that, it has been a bunch of old farts holding hands and singing "We Shall Overcome."
It is beyond Frodo's point to discuss the reasons for the futility of three decades, but it is "right on" to note that what these folks are doing out there right now is pushing, and waiting for "pushback." They have touched a sore spot in our collective psyche.
Although the message remains a bit foggy, and the possibility of a nasty turn to satisfy the well-fed, the nearly dead, or the newly-wed, there are some pretty impressive signs to go alongside the young man looking for either chocolate or angel food.
