March on Wall Street South to Begin in Charlotte for the Democratic National Convention

As of 12:30 PM, September 2, 2012, marchers will soon begin marching in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the March on Wall Street South. The march is scheduled to begin at 1:00 PM EST.

This is only the third Democratic National Convention to be in the Right-to-Work South since 1932.

Thousands Expected to March in Charlotte, NC in March on Wall Street South to Raise People’s Agenda for Jobs and Justice to the Banks and the DNC

Live Streaming of the March on Wall St South!

NPR, September 2, 2012Occupy Plans Resurgence At Democratic Convention, by COREY DADE

Charlotte, Huffington Post tells us in the last 24 hours, was the site of another ejection of an Occupy Wall Street encampment: "Finally, by late January, the city passed an ordinance banning camping on public property, and police razed the camp."

Note that the mayor and the city council, by an 8 to 3 majority, are Democratic.

The Secret of the Sauce: What Democrats Need to Know About North Carolina's Kick-Ass Populism: A native explains how the people of North Carolina have been giving hell to fatcats for over 300 years. Lynn Parramore, August 27, 2012

NY Times: Charlotte's Plans for Democratic Convention Security Draw Criticism, August 9, 2012

Students to monitor protesters, police when Democrats gather in Charlotte
The National Law JournalAugust 30, 2012

Hands Off Occupy Charlotte
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 9/1/2012

The Coalition to March on Wall Street South stands in solidarity with Occupy Charlotte and the occupation of Marshall Park and supports Occupy Charlotte’s statement, which follows:

“Occupy Charlotte, NC, is calling for support of our peaceful Occupation of Marshall Park in the Wall Street of the South. During the Democratic National Convention our voices will be heard. Hundreds from across the country are already here. Thousands are on their way. Come and join us! This is the hour! This is the moment!

Any repression of this Occupation would be a black eye on the City of Charlotte and the Democratic National Convention at a national and international level. This would be a greater embarrassment to the City and the DNC than an inconvenience to us. The whole world is watching.

www.OccupyClt.net“

Beschloss' cogent criticism of Hillary Clinton's speech

Tonight on the PBS pundit panel, house PBS historian Michael Beschloss gave a rather cogent criticism of Hillary Clinton's speech tonight at the Denver Democratic National Convention. He noted that Clinton's endorsement was unenthusiastic, and that it was generic. Paraphrasing Beschloss, it was the essentially the same kind of speech she would have given were Senator Chris Dodd the Democratic nominee.

She could have given a more pointed endorsement of Obama's platform, by selecting key points of his platform. She could have point by point assailed John McCain's platform. After this, she could have made a summation argument that underscored the profound differences between the opposing candidates. Instead, her endorsement was vague and general, not quite "tepid," but hardly enthusiastic.

Labor and our democratic party

Democratic --connoting the people-- Party ... how well is this party representing working people? To the point, how well is the party mobilizing on the issues relating to trade unions, as trade unions are the instruments of working people's democratic self-expression and self-defense on the job. There is plenty of talk about the diversity of the Democratic Party. Is the labor movement under the party's tent?

We should be looking to the Democratic Party's platform in the Denver convention this week. First, will the party put the new check-off party vote on the platform; and secondly, will the party put overall labor law reform on the platform?

More crucially, will Barack Obama campaign on these issues, even if they get into the platform? And will party candidates in general, campaign on these issues?

The first reform (check off) is needed to allow workers to join unions, unintimidated by owners and management.

We should remember that things that we take for granted, such as the 40 hour work week and worker's compensation, and the weekend, we owe to the hard labor of the organized labor movement of this country.

CORRECTION on: Clinton to Covention: don't nominate me

The New York "Daily News" and Raw Story report this morning that Senator Hillary Clinton (New York) will not submit the petition asking to be nominated for president at the Democratic National Convention in Denver later this month. Clinton has been urging her 1,886 delegates to support presumptive nominee Senator Barack Obama (Illinois).

Democratic Party rules require candidates to submit petitions, asking to be place in nomination. Observers are seeing Clinton's move as an indication of party unity with Obama. However, some Clinton insiders fear that an actual vote count on the floor might embarrass Clinton, as many Clinton delegates have announced their allegiance to Obama.

The Convention will be held from August 25 to August 28. Clinton is scheduled to speak on August 26.

CORRECTION:It is an open question, once again, as to whether Clinton will allow her name to be placed in nomination. Reports in the last hour on an online webchat that Clinton had today, Thursday, August 7, reinstate the mystery as to whether she might allow this her name to be placed in nomination, particularly this Associated Press report, "Obama rejects talk of trouble from Clinton backers."

Neither this article, nor others posted in the last hour address the question of a petition-to-be-nominated. Additionally, there are words of concern in the AP story on Clinton's role in the convention:

"As is true in all conventions, we're still working out the mechanics, the coordination," Obama said. One such issue is whether there will be a convention roll call on Clinton's nomination, he said.

"I'm letting our respective teams work out details," he said. Asked if that meant he wouldn't object to her name being placed in nomination and a vote taken, Obama said: "I didn't say that. I said that they're working it out."

And from Clinton, from the August 7 webchat:

In the Web chat, one person asked Clinton directly: "Are you truly supporting Sen. Obama and encouraging your supporters to do the same or are you just saying what you have to?" Clinton insisted she was sincerely behind Obama.

Another questioner wanted to know if there was "any possibility" her name would be placed in nomination, arguing that doing so "would at least give your supporters a voice in the choice for the party's nominee." She was noncommittal.