Occupy Denver Picks Their Leader: Shelby The Dog

This is why it is often hard to take the Occupy movement seriously:

Members of Occupy Denver sent a news release to 7NEWS this week that said they have elected a leader: Shelby, a 3-year-old border collie.

The vote was a response to Denver Mayor Michael Hancock’s insistence that Occupy Denver choose leadership to deal with city and state officials, according to a news release from the Occupy Denver media committee.

“Shelby is closer to a person than any corporation: She can bleed, she can breed, and she can show emotion,” Occupy Denver quotes a Shelby supporter saying at the time of her election.

Occupy Denver said it reserves the right to alter its leadership status.

Shelby is expected to lead this Saturday’s Occupy Denver march. Occupy Denver said other “civic-minded dogs” (and their leash-holders) are invited to join the march.

Well, Border Collies are rather intelligent animals. And, I’ve often thought that we’d be better off being ruled by animals than the United States Congress. So maybe this isn’t as crazy as it sounds.

More seriously, though, is there any need to take people who do things like this seriously? I don’t see it.

H/T Under Construction

Photo via The Huffington Post

FILED UNDER: US Politics, , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. legion says:

    Doug, do you remember a few years back when Jon Stewart said “I’m not your monkey”? This is basically the same thing. This is OWS telling _you_ they don’t take _you_ seriously.

  2. @legion:

    That’s fine. If they’re going eschew actually trying to change things and just camp out in parks then I can ignore them and pay attention to more important matters.

  3. legion says:

    Oh, they _are_ trying to change things. They’re just able to multi-task and point out that conservatives have no sense of humor at the same time 🙂

  4. Herb says:

    @legion: No, it’s not. Mayor Hancock, who was just elected a few months ago, is trying to treat them like an organization of reasonable individuals and the OWS folks say “Hey, we’re just that not organized, nor are we very reasonable.”

  5. Well, since border collies were originally bred to herd sheep, Occupy protesters choosing one as their leader seems rather appropriate to me.

  6. michael reynolds says:

    They’re becoming enamored of their own lack of hierarchy and avoiding taking the next steps. I think that’s probably a crucial error. It’s a sign of insecurity, that they know if they narrow the definition they’ll lose some of the fringes. It’s all good this far but now is when they need to pivot, put forward some spokesmen, reach some decisions about goals. Anarchy is even dumber than libertarianism. It won’t work.

  7. Lomax says:

    This coverage of OWS is going way below the radar. Once the middle of October hit, everyone’s attention turned to Halloween activities. Now, Christmas is just around the corner and everybody is scrambling to figure out what to buy whom. And the NFL is in full swing. Attention spans these days are short. This is the age of fast food, “blazing” fast internet, and “fast passes” at amusement parks. The news media is on to other things: Penn State, Dr. Murray, and the CMA awards. That is the way it is today. Even Dr. King would have waned if he were here today.

  8. @Herb: Mayor Hancock is not treating the protesters with respect but has instead been sending his dogs to speak with pepper spray bullets and billy clubs. Shelby, unlike the Hancock dogs, is peaceful and does not act violently toward people so we elected her to speak with her actions. Colorado has a history of electing dogs and goats as honorary mayors so if the current mayor continues to act the way he has he may find himself replaced by Shelby or another honest politician.