Occupy Denver elects a leader

In a nod to the fact that some people just won’t take the Occupy movement seriously until the group has a leader, Occupy Denver has taken the unusual step of actually taking a vote and electing a leader.

Meet Shelby, the wonder dog.

“We of Occupy Denver hereby elect and recognize Shelby the border collie dog as our leader until such time that Occupy Denver, rescind or replace said role.

As such, under auspices including, but not limited to, the facts that she can bleed, breed, and show emotion, there by proving she is more of a “person” than a corporation, here by demand that Shelby not only be legally recognized by both State and Federal government as the leader of Occupy Denver, but also as a person.”

Ah, so there is something serious in this election after all. Occupiers insist that Shelby is more of a person than even–or especially–the largest of corporations can ever be.

To read more of the Shelby manifesto, visit OccupyDenver.org.

Of course, Occupy Denver is not alone in its quest to be taken more seriously. Occupy Wall Street has released the first in a series of television ads. Money for the ad was raised by crowdsourcing, where people could go online and pledge personal small and large contributions until enough money is raised to create and air the ads.

From Slate:

The 30-second spot, put together by director David Sauvage and composer Glenn Grossman, appears to be an attempt to debunk the conventional wisdom that the movement lacks coherent goals. With a cast of healthy, smiling, well-adjusted-looking activists, it also appears to challenge popular images of the protesters as dirty hippies or fringe characters.

Sauvage told MSNBC, “I want people to see it and say that the people that are protesting are real people with meaningful concerns that I can relate to. And hopefully, in a subtle way, the ad helps shift the conversation.”