Army of One

By Lauri Apple in News on Oct 10, 2008 3:00PM

Yesterday we were walking around Daley Plaza, looking to get a little photo-artistic during our lunch break, when we came across this guy exercising his First Amendment right the old-fashioned, analog way. His name is Paul, and his Website, advertised on his placard, attempts to expose "the lies, manipulation and counterfeiting on Wall Street." Let's hope he's got enough bandwidth! ROMS features, among other things, links to bailout coverage, YouTubes of news interviews, and other stuff related to naked short selling and other financial things we don't understand (because we don't have any investments...or own any money, come to think of it).

Though quiet when we met him, Paul offers up some tangy words on his Website. We'll skip over the part where he calls for the feds to start "breaking down doors and arresting people," because that part makes us really nervous, and instead jump to this: "If we sit idly by while Wall Street steals our money dollar by dollar, then maybe we deserve to be shafted. Still not convinced that you should do something about it? Then ask yourself: 'Am I OK with the fact that Wall Street is screwing me on a daily basis?'" Given how many plaza people were ignoring him to examine produce at the farmer's market, the winning answer might be "yes." (Or maybe everyone were just breaking for a local economy-boosting lunch after a long morning of cursing The Man. Probably not, though.)