I realize that Occupy Seattle is imperfect.

Some of its members are weird. Sometimes they disagree amongst themselves. Sometimes I disagree with them. Sometimes they get drunk (like me).

However, I would like to be clear: The Occupy movement, including Occupy Seattle, has shifted the political discussion in ways I completely support and have been encouraging, from my armchair, for years.

And they are sleeping out there in the freezing cold while I am sleeping in my warm bed. They are being pepper-sprayed. They are having meetings in which they figure out how to do things without a leader, together. Of course it is messy.

Meanwhile, the increasingly privatized SCCC is going to characterize Occupy Seattle as a bunch of crazy assholes and kick them out.

I just want to cut through the nitpicking and be really clear: I support Occupy Seattle. There is nothing that Occupy Seattle has done that I believe fundamentally betrays its goals, or makes it moot. I forgive Occupy for its mistakes, also, because it's doing what I'm not.

In other words, at least part of the fault of Occupy Seattle is with me—with those of us who aren't out there day and night, who can't be. How do we get represented?

Start by reading Lawrence Weschler's loan strike piece in this week's paper, maybe.

And what if we also started taking a forgiveness approach to Occupy Seattle's faults, weaknesses, and mess? After all, Occupy Seattle is not a monolith. If you're like me, I know there's something in there that you support. Why not focus on that thing, and give it some love.