Henican: Can't dismiss Wall St. protesters

Three weeks ago, it was easy to dismiss Occupy Wall Street.

A couple hundred scruffy protesters in a downtown park -- no clear leaders, no clear agenda, no clear strategy and no clear plan.

Now look.

The hundreds have grown to thousands. The New York encampment has spread to cities and towns across America, including Sag Harbor this weekend. And the clarity that seemed absent at the start is finally settling in at Zuccotti Park.

There's still no 12-point platform like a lot of movements have. But there is a number, and there's definitely a theme.

The number 99, for the percent of Americans the protesters say are excluded from the fat times being enjoyed by those at the very top.

And the theme? It's the notion, supported by some pretty solid statistics, that middle-class people really are being squeezed these days.

Now, that's an idea it doesn't take a scruffy protester to understand. Major social movements have started with less.

OCCUPY NEXT?

1. Bourbon Street

2. Sesame Street

3. Easy Street

4. Dream Street

5. Lover's Lane

ASKED AND UNANSWERED: Anyone else want to confess to cheating on the SAT? State hearing is set for Oct. 25 . . . How does the State Liquor Authority recruit underage volunteers to buy alcohol from Long Island stores? Do the investigators pick kids who look especially old for their age -- or especially young? . . . If State Sen. George Maziarz (R-Way Up There) really wants to "clip the extension cord" on cheap Niagara hydropower for Long Island, should we quit sending our convicted criminals to him? Isn't human warehousing about the only industry upstate has left? . . . Does mini-Madoff Nicholas Cosmo get a mini jail cell now? One thing the $400-million Ponzi schemer from Wantagh isn't getting is a mini sentence, unless 25 years sounds short to you . . . Massapequa mom accused of stabbing 24-year-old son in the knee with a dagger? A dagger? From where? The silverware drawer? . . . Why did Rudy Giuliani chose the Long Island Association to announce he isn't running for president again? And how many people in the room were surprised? . . . John Tavares: Slump over -- or is it just waiting in the penalty box?

THE NEWS IN SONG: Is there something happening here? Again? Buffalo Springfield, "For What It's Worth," tinyurl.com/buffspring

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