Occupiers Head For Their “Valley Forge” Moment

29 Oct, 2011 by William Teach

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Now they are comparing themselves to George Washington and the Continental Army. Does that make Barack Obama the hated King George?

(CBS) Anti-Wall Street protesters around the U.S. who are vowing to stand their ground against the police and politicians are also digging in against a different kind of adversary: cold weather.

With the temperature dropping, they are stockpiling donated coats, blankets and scarves, trying to secure cots and military-grade tents, and getting survival tips from the homeless people who have joined their encampments.

“Everyone’s been calling it our Valley Forge moment,” said Michael McCarthy, a former Navy medic in Providence. “Everybody thought that George Washington couldn’t possibly survive in the Northeast.” Valley Forge in Pennsylvania was the site of the Continental Army’s winter camp during the Revolutionary War.

Let’s see: getting cold and wet. The ground is a mess. Disease running rampant. Cramped conditions. Similar. But, the Continental Army was suffering from a lack of food, modern appliances, modern tents and sleeping bags, malnutrition, and, oh, yeah, fighting an actual war. And around 2,500 died that winter.:  They also didn’t have to worry about rapes.

Meanwhile Security group member Brendan Burke, a tall bad-ass looking dude who has been volunteering at the park since the second week, told The New York Observer that there have been “three or four” incidents of sexual assault in Zuccotti Park. But since Security – now working with a group called Community Alliance – deals in mediation and conflict resolution and have no authority to check people’s tents or act as bouncers to the park – they have directed these women to file complaints with the NYPD.

Probably more like 10-20, and, if this occurred at a Tea Party rally, they would be calling it “rape,” not “sexual assault.”