VIENNA, VA, January 9, 2012 — The sea of blue plastic tents crawls like so many cerulean mushrooms across the dead ground of winter. Here and there pops up an orange or green one in the ranks of dwellings, where several hundred middle-aged people (and some younger ones) have taken up residence since October as a part of the “Occupy” protest which began in New York on Wall Street.
In this case, their “overseer” is the mounted statue of Brig. Gen. James Birdseye McPherson, a Union general killed at the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864. McPherson had graduated first in his West Point class of 1853 and was commissioned into the Corps of Engineers. His initial projects saw him making improvements to New York Harbor as well as building Fort Delaware. Probably his major accomplishment in the engineering field was the construction of fortifications on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.
McPherson had served both General Henry Halleck and as Chief Engineer for Ulysses S. Grant setting up the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson. He survived the battles of Corinth and Shiloh, but against CSA General John Bell Hood from Kentucky (who had replaced Gen. Joseph E. Johnston) and had been McPherson’s classmate, he met his fate at the hands of a line of Confederate skirmishers en route to a meeting with General William Sherman.
McPherson during Civil War
The equestrian rendition of McPherson, made from a Union cannon, rests on a large granite pedestal and was erected in 1876 by veterans of the Army of Tennessee.
Occupy’s Agenda
The Occupy DC folks have a large agenda, primarily to return the bulk of the country’s funds – one way or another – so that the alleged 1% of rich people pass on their undeserved largesse to the equally alleged 99% of those whose lives are woefully inadequate. Officially, their website lists the movement's goals as "separating money from politics and improving the country’s infrastructure to fix healthcare, education, environment and the economy," thereby shifting power from the wealthiest 1% of Americans to the underrepresented 99%”
While no one will contradict the inequities that exist in a democratic free society, this protest had its beginnings on Wall Street, where the enemies were the big bankers of that area. How that has been re-defined to apply to a small park in Washington, D.C. takes a lot of “splaining,” as Lucy would say.
Since the beleaguered little park is but two blocks from the Capitol, it has been the site for numerous protests through the years, with Occupy DC being only the latest and most obvious, thanks to a media starved for almost anything to dilute the uber-coverage of the Republican caucuses leading to the primaries.
A walk through McPherson’s Park on Sunday, with a slight wind blowing and temperature barely above 49 degrees, makes it obvious that the huddled masses were trying to keep warm any way possible. Still they were there to preach the word as they saw it; one sign was in Spanish though I didn’t see or talk to any non-English speaking people.
Many were anxious to explain their philosophy. A large man standing on a park bench had a sign proclaiming, “Exile the 5th Column of Zionists” and loudly decried the current events with the Palestinians. He informed me he was educated beyond his GED, saying that he was “articulate and I have a government ID,” and was concerned about the current governmental position on Palestine.
Two young men on break from college were manning a well-stocked library of political science books on all countries and governments, which had been donated to them. One, Justin Jacoby Smith, said that they had accomplished one thing: four months ago no one could talk about anything but the deficit, and now they are talking about inequalities in the country. His friend, Noah Phillips, felt that there was a benefit in bringing so many people together into one community where ideas could be exchanged. They were bright, polite, and looked like any of our college kids.
McPherson statue Occupied Image: author
While the protest has been labeled as one of young people, the median age on Sunday would probably have been people in their 40s. Few women were in evidence other than one well-dressed, nicely coiffed, young woman who kept struggling to get the attention of the others, who were not responding. She was identified as “one of the organizers,” and it would be difficult to imagine her sleeping in a cold tent.
The tents were inadequate to the cold weather, and the day’s NFL football game could be clearly heard from one tightly closed tent. Many of the participants were willing to talk, to state their ideas, and to be quoted, but most would only give a first name. There was a well put–together tepee, which attracted attention, although it appeared no one was home.
One middle-aged, very thin gentleman, wrapped in several sweaters and a hooded sweatshirt, sat on the ground typing on his laptop, the back of which was covered with stickers saying “Demand Peace” and “Hunger Hurts.”
And at the bottom of the steps leading up to McPherson’s statue, a longhaired blond kid sat reading a book. A policeman on duty remarked that he doubted the good general would have put up with this usage of the park.
An announcement was made that on the 17th, a major gathering of several thousand people was being planned. We’ll have to stop back then and report our findings.
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