I just got back from the Ralph Nader "Wall Street rally" in front of Federal Hall, across from the NYSE.
It started at noon under a slate gray sky, and among the gigantic, inflated props at the corner of Broad and Wall were a yellow mock-up of a 55-gallon drum of oil; a station wagon length gray shark with an unexplained large ball in its mouth; and a bright pink pig the size of a detached garage. Phil Donahue was the master of ceremonies. A few hundred people gathered (200, 300?), among them NYSE floor brokers and other financial district workers on their lunch break.
I didn't stay long enough to hear Nader speak, but as for the other speakers, it's what I'd have expected: a mostly blase' cornucopia of regurgitated soundbites (greed/fat cats/Main Street) with the commensurate swell of audience approval every thirty seconds or so.
If they'd really wanted to do some good, they'd have held their rally about 400 miles south of here. But, being as they didn't, I'm nothing short of thrilled to have seen so many of the sign-wavers and button/t-shirt wearing protestors spending money locally on lunch and souvenirs.
:-)
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