Last night on Current TV's <em>Countdown </em>with Keith Olbermann, Keith discussed the latest smear campaign aimed at Occupy Wall Street demonstrations by Fox News with former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer.
November 1, 2011

Last night on Current TV's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Keith discussed the latest smear campaign aimed at Occupy Wall Street demonstrations by Fox News with former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

Spitzer has some excellent ideas on where the movement can go next. Of the crackdown on Occupy Wall Street, he said that it "shouldn't be happening in New York," and that Governor Cuomo should be called "Governor 1 percent."

Sound as if former Gov. Spitzer might have made a fine activist.

Partial transcript follows:

SPITZER: "This is almost exclusively a peaceful, well-thought-out protest by people who care: that's why the public is with them."

OLBERMANN: "And you have written now, many people had made points similar to this, but I think you made it more strongly than others and I want to know why in particular, that they have, that there is already a victory to declare..."

SPITZER: "Oh, absolutely."

OLBERMANN: "...changing the dialogue. How do you sustain that when temperatures are not sustainable. It's a symbol that makes it sustainable, but the symbol involves people staying there."

SPITZER: "Well, well, look, first of all, the frustration at these so-called pundits, and thoughtful people, on major editorial pages saying all they're doing is showing up. Wait a minute, they, being the Occupy Wall Street folks, have done more to change what we're talking about, then all the politicians in Washington who pretend to be progressives or liberal - all of them put together, maybe except Elizabeth Warren.

They've done nothing that comes close to what this group of students and thoughtful young kids has done. So, that's why my hat goes off to them.

Now, what next? It is hard. It's going to be cold. So here are a couple of simple things. One: Every college kid in America goes home over Thanksgiving. Announce the day before Thanksgiving, when kids are getting home, huge rallies. Show the support on college campuses, which, from my sort-of experiential information, is huge. Get big-name musicians. Think back to the '60s, hate to say, you and I can do that, Pete Seeger, get Bruce out there. Get them to say in every spot the day before Thanksgiving, huge rallies to make our, sort of, opening statement as we go into the next chapter.

The other thing I would do, you know what, maybe we are going to take two weeks off, but during that time, get the Robert Reiches, the Joe Stieglitzes, the Paul Krugman, the really thoughtful, smart folks, come up with a couple of ideas.

Now, here is what I think is the clincher. Come January, every governor, every mayor, gives a State of the State, State of the City - leverage off them. The entire media is at every state capitol, at every city hall. Have a rally with 10,000 folks. Go to Albany, where we have a governor, hate to say it, in New York, who is opposing the billionaire's tax. Say 'Gov. 1 %, we're showing up and we're going to steal your story. You can be inside the chamber giving a typical speech, we're going to be there talking about real people. Have a 100,000 people in Washington the day of the State of the Union. Make those markers when we supposedly define the agenda. Mass huge numbers with musicians, with smart people...

And let me just add, they don't need advice from me. They have done an amazing job."

OLBERMANN: "You will recall, perhaps, the name Henry Ruth, who was one of the assistant prosecutors when they eliminated the special prosecutor during Watergate, and the recollections of the night that they fired Archibald Cox, was of his office being flooded by telegrams most of which said 'Stay in your office!' And it didn't mean he could do anything staying in his office, but the presence, the symbol, can't be overrated here, can it?"

SPITZER: "That's right, absolutely not. And you NEED a symbol like that. That's why Zucotti Park, Liberty Park, has become so powerful, especially - I mean, let's face it - what the NYPD and others are doing, we need to dig deeper and find out what's going on, certainly, hate to say it, has helped Occupy Wall Street. It has made every person say 'Hey, wait a minute, these are basically good individuals who are peaceful, who are doing what they think is important for our country, and we agree with them. Why are they being arrested?'

OLBERMANN: "Right, and having been governor, you would know, what governor would ever allow rubber bullets to be used on unarmed protesters."

SPITZER: "Or the governor of New York trying to kick them out of state parks. Just shouldn't be happening in New York."

OLBERMAN: "Not good PR."

SPITZER: "No."

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