Meeting of the General Assembly

Hi, this is Doug again blogging about the meeting tonight.  It was the first meeting of the general assembly for Occupy Orange County, planning for the occupation of Santa Ana on the 22nd. 

Around 20 people showed up, several active in the Occupy Irvine movement occurring on the 15th.  We all agree that mutual support is vital so make sure to show up at the Irvine Financial district if you can.

Local press was there, a reporter for the OC register, that fine Republican rag, came out and seemed genuinely interested in getting our side of the story about the meeting with the Santa Ana city attorney and the members of the police department.

The enthusiasm level was high and there were great suggestions by the various members for ideas for bringing in entertainment and information.  After the meeting there were several people willing to be interviewed about what brings them to the Occupy OC movement and everyone gave thoughtful and articulate answers.  Look for them to be up on our youtube page very soon.  For those who say we don't know why we're here, everyone who showed up tonight had a good reason, and they all involved taking our government back from the Corporations who own our politicians. (Goldman Sachs, Big Pharma I'm talking to you here)

The reporter asked several of us, why are we protesting at the civic center in Santa Ana when the protest is against the financial institutions as in Occupy Wall Street.  I told him as I'm telling you, this isn't just about the financial institutions, they are a symptom of a government that is dominated by corporate lobbyists and the revolving door between big corporations and government officials and regulators.  Symptoms of a government
that caters to the top 1 percent, refusing to raise taxes on them or giving tax breaks while slashing important government services that keep the poor and marginalized alive!  We are gathering to say that is not OK!  That is not responsible government!  That we stand for a government that knows when unemployment is over ten percent in too many states the recession is not over!

Come to OccupyOC in Santa Ana on the 22nd and stand up and say NO to the idea of government of the
 corportations, by the corporations, for the corporations.