Occupy Greensboro to send delegation to President Obama

[Kelvin Mace]

If you are going to demand change, start at the top.

Since the president is coming to town, we though we would pay him a visit.

Will it work? We don't know, but we will try.

He can:

1) Let the hotel be the bad guy and tell us to leave or be arrested, in which case we will decamp to the PUBLIC street and wait.

2) Send an aide to receive the petitions and we will say, "No thanks, we wish to deliver them to the president personally."

3) He can sneak out the back and avoid us, not very presidential.

4) He can actually meet with us.

Regardless, we will be collecting polite, cogent letters to hand him at:

[e-mail]

Did I mention that we are sending this letter to all the local press?

An Open Letter from the
Occupy Greensboro General Assembly
Festival Park
Greensboro, North Carolina

President Barack Obama
c/o Proximity Hotel
704 Green Valley Road
Greensboro, NC 27408

October 17, 2011

Dear Mr. President:

Greetings and welcome to Greensboro!

We trust that you are finding your stay in our city edifying and pleasant.

We are the General Assembly of Occupy Greensboro, a gathering of people meeting to show solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and the Occupy groups peacefully assembling across our nation.

As you might surmise, one of the most frequent discussions we are having (other than the depredations of Wall Street) involves the First Amendment and how it states, rather categorically, that we the people, collectively and individually, may speak freely and peaceably assemble to petition our Government for redress of grievances. Not only that, but that our Government is explicitly forbidden from abridging these rights.

So here we are, peaceably assembled, seeking to petition our Government for redress of grievances. Desiring to expedite this process, we thought it best to start at the top and invite you to visit with our Assembly and hear why the people gathered here are upset with our Government.

Of course, we are pragmatic enough to realize that such a visit would create security and logistical problems for you and your Secret Service detail, who would have to scramble to coordinate such a visit at the last minute. In order to avoid such a troublesome imposition on you and your staff, we will instead send a delegation to you, and await a convenient moment of your time.

The delegation will present to you the written grievances of the individual people currently assembled at Festival Park. We wish to clarify that these grievances represent the views of the people individually, and the delegation from Occupy Greensboro acts only as the messengers, not the message.


Respectfully yours,

The General Assembly
Occupy Greensboro
wwwOccupyGreensboro.org

[Swede]

1. Funny the teabaggers never tried that.

nt

[Kurska]

2. Every one of you is a hero.

I hope Obama meets with you.

[Kelvin Mace]

3. Thanks!

If we can keep this kicked for the morning readers, I hope to have a lot of submission.

But then, I should be careful what I wish for...

[EFerrari]

4. The effort is laudable but if you want to go to the top

shouldn't the delegation be going to Wall Street? Obama is not the top of this situation. You'd only be dealing with an emissary yourselves, imo.

[cui bono]

6. I get what you are saying but Obama could fight for us if he really wanted to.

Just because he took their money doesn't mean he has to do what they want. He took an awful lot of money from average citizens and he hasn't done what they want. And relatively speaking, each person gave a lot more than the corporations did.

Theoretically we're supposed to be able to make our elected "representatives" do what we want. We would be ridiculed if we went to the corporate heads.

If public pressure gets to be so great maybe, just maybe, someone, if not Obama (cuz I don't think he will do it, not with Wall Street sitting in the WH), will do something.

[EFerrari]

9. I think the point of Occupy Wall Street is well taken,

our government is useless and mired in corruption. We do need to go straight to the top and it ain't Obama. If that worked, we wouldn't need to be out on the Street.

It would be a better use of resources to organize church leaders in Greensboro to move their money. At least that has a chance in hell of mattering, of building to some larger impact.

I'm so done with petitioning middle management but that's just me.

[Kelvin Mace]

12. Actually,

we are on that issue to. We are working with people and getting lists of credit unions and small local banks.

[EFerrari]

18. That's great.

[cui bono]

13. But how is going to Wall Street execs going to make a difference?

They aren't going to willingly give anything up and we can't make them.

If we could get govt. to do their job properly then rules and regulations could be enacted.

But I am with you on the sentiment of what's the use? I guess I still see it as an avenue when we have such a loud voice out there now, finally. And I don't think OWS movement is saying govt is useless, I see it as forcing govt. to listen to us. And separating big money and politics.

My question is how to get money out of politics? Who is going to outlaw lobbying? Who is going to pass campaign finance reform? We need a big sweeping cleansing out of the old and in with people who really will do the will of the people but I don't know how that can happen until the changes are made, but the changes won't be made unless that happens. So what to do?

[loyalsister]

15. "Who is going to outlaw lobbying?"

Do you really want a law against writing members of congress? A little clarity on these issues would be useful.

[cui bono]

16. Is that really what you thought I meant?

I think you know what I mean, I mean the professional K Street lobbyists. That is what is commonly meant by lobbying in politics. If you really didn't understand that I apologize for thinking you were being snarky for whatever reason you would have to do so.

I also think other countries lobbying our government is wrong. What's wrong with the state heads having meetings?

[loyalsister]

17. I was actually pointing out a lack of focus

When hysteria over "earmarks" broke, a lot of valued local projects lost support. In my area, transportation and housing especially.

[EFerrari]

20. Divestment is one way to "got to" the Wall Street execs

via the real top, us. If we withdraw our money as a token of our consent, they have to move and so does the government.

[cui bono]

21. I agree with that. I moved my money from WAMU to a CU just before they got bought out.

I think we still need to take it to the politicians. We do need to pressure them into changing the laws and regulating these banks.

Push it in every way we can.

[Kelvin Mace]

23. All good questions

We try one tactics, then if that fails, move on to the next.

Refusing to try guarantees 100% failure.

People told me I would never beat Diebold Election Systems. They had too much money, legions of lawyers, and battalions of lobbyist. Today, I still live and do business in NC, Diebold does not.

Sometimes, if you fight hard enough, you do win.

[Kelvin Mace]

10. I think the OWS have that covered

we're just working on keeping the story alive.

[EFerrari]

19. That makes sense. n/t

[MindandSoul]

5. Great idea! Let's see what he does!

[eleny]

7. It's time for this

All good wishes and thoughts go out to you and all down there. I hope he and his handle it well.

[cui bono]

8. This should be done by a group at every single city/town that he visits.

Every damn time.

[Kelvin Mace]

11. Agreed, his next stop is Raleigh

then on to Virginia.

[gateley]

14. Wow - GREAT! Impressive, Greensboro! Go get him! nt

[Kelvin Mace]

22. Now if we can get some participation

Pass this link along with this text:

"This is your chance to tell the president your story about how the economy/health care system is hurting you. Please send us a 1-2 page letter (polite and respectful, please) and we will carry it to his hotel and do our best to present them to him personally."

Send your letters to: [e-mail]

[Birdiesmom]

24. I have sent you a letter, and forwarded a note to family and friends

My Mom sent a letter from SC. We have nothing to lose by trying. Best of all, we make history if we succeed.

Come on, folks. It doesn't take long to write down what the state of the economy and of the health care system is doing to you personally. That's what the President needs to hear. And anything else that might be troubling you -- say, the fact that we are still fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Guatanamo Bay is still open, and the "Patriot" Act is still in force -- you know, those sorts of things. Not to mention that our Congress is trying to gut Social Security and Medicare.

If no one is willing to make a little effort to write the letters, when the Occupy Greensboro representative is willing to stand outside a hotel all night... do we deserve to be heard?