PORTLAND -- "Occupy Portland" demonstrators gave a rousing welcome Monday afternoon to popular provocateur Michael Moore.
"This movement is only six weeks old and it has spread like wildfire across the country. This is happening everywhere," Moore told a crowd at Portland's Terry Schrunk Plaza. "And it can’t be stopped. The American people have had it."
Moore observed that it took years to turn against Vietnam, and years to rally for women’s rights, and that this battle is far from over.
"They are counting on you and me to go away," he said. "They think this is just the latest fad."
Moore told the demonstrators it was the largest "Occupy" rally he had seen and protesters in Portland were clearly serious about fighting for their cause.
"I see tents set up here," he said. "I know it rains a lot here, but you are clearly in for the long haul."
Moore asked the crowd how the police were treating them and the general response was, 'pretty good.'
"Take heart," he said. "Know that there are literally millions that wish they could be here with you in this park."
"Everybody has a part to play in this," he continued. "So what you’re doing here is absolutely incredible, and appreciated by so many people."
Moore said he had been to "Occupy Wall Street" a dozen times in the past six weeks, participating as just one of many in the General Assembly.
"The reason why this has spread is specifically because it is 'disorganized',” he said. "The reason this has spread is because it doesn’t have a 'leader.' I don’t want politicians to co-opt this in any way. We’ll tell them what to do, not the other way around."
The Oscar-winning filmmaker and bestselling author dropped by the "Occupy Portland" encampment just before 5 p.m.
Moore was in Portland to do a book-signing at Powell’s Books at 6 p.m. for Here Comes Trouble, his latest book, described as an “anti-memoir that blends “personal reminiscences, history, and politics.”
Moore was also scheduled to host a last-minute Halloween bash and benefit for nonprofit RevolutionTruth, an organization dedicated to “increasing transparency and integrity in our institutions, to defending access to accurate information, and to ensuring legitimate democracies.”
Moore is renowned for taking on corporations and powerful institutions. His breakout movie was "Roger & Me," in which the Flint, Michigan native sets out on a quest to interview Roger Smith, chairman of General Motors, and ask him about the corporate decisions that left Flint nearly a ghost town.
Courtesy KGW.com
