All of this begs the obvious question for Occupy Boston -- what next? Or, where next?
Well, assuming that Occupy Boston wants to continue its vigil against... whatever it is they're protesting... we suggest the following list of the top ten places around Boston where they could relocate their protest.
10. The State House - after all, nobody else hangs around here this time of year, anyway.
9. The Paul Revere House - with all of those new taxpayer-funded public bathrooms on the way, what better spot?
8. The Cambridge Courthouse - huge, vacant and ready for visitors. Also includes a jail in case things get out-of-hand.
7. Stage an Enchanted Village Occupation at the old Filene's Basement location in Downtown Crossing. This site could be vacant for years.
6. The Hynes Convention Center - plenty of room and tons of parking.
5. One of the Harbor Islands. We hear it's beautiful out there in mid-winter.
4. Protest big banks by squeezing everyone inside one ATM machine kiosk.
3. Kelly's Roast Beef in Allston - going out of business on Sunday, they could use the business.
2. Line up at the nearest WalMart and claim you're just preparing early for Black Friday 2012.
1. Return to headquarters and camp out on the front yard of Elizabeth Warren, the self-proclaimed inspiration for the movement.
OK, obviously we're just kidding. Don't relocate there, or anywhere else for that matter.
Actually, we think the best thing for Occupy Boston to do would be to fold-up tent and look for something constructive to do. Believe it or not, we actually think the Occupy movement raises some legitimate points, even though we disagree with a lot of it. But, we also think there are few more pointless ways for them to achieve any meaningful change than by trespassing on public property and staging sit-ins all over the place. Mayor Menino made a good point the other day in telling protesters they need to pick and choose an issue to focus on and take their message to Washington.