YouTube is not short on footage of the ongoing Occupy Seattle protests, which has, to those observing from a distance, become bogged down in a wonderfully Seattle way in argument over the process of protest. You can read all about it on the Slog, whose writers have taken up alternately cheering and deriding the protest.

Confronted by a mayor who welcomed them to City Hall, the protesters have had to weigh the significance of their presence in Westlake Park, even though nothing of any significance has ever and will ever happen in Westlake Park. Even when the protesters bring traffic on Pine to a standstill, they’ve simply managed to revert the park to its ’90s-era pedestrian-only self.

There is also the knotty issue of putting up tents as an act of civil disobedience–again, playing right into the city’s hands.

Still, this feels like a moment with import, just as the Tea Party’s early “days of racist rage” did. That’s not to assert some kind of equivalence, just to note that you don’t have to be coherent or plausible to have a political impact. It’s not necessary, as protesters, to have a 100-point plan or unified leadership.

You just need to be willing to gum up the works while hoping yours is a righteous cause that will draw support. In a democracy, sheer numbers often reframe the debate better than reframing the debate. All Occupy Seattle needs is a few nice days, a band to headline an impromptu concert, and some stiltwalkers.