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It’s Columbus Day, which means many Americans, including students, have the day off-which means Occupy Wall Street is expecting a swell of numbers today. And after Paul Krugman’s awesome column in the Times yesterday, a must read, it’s not inconceivable that the crowds will contain a reader or two who wasn’t planning on heading to the protest before reading it.

Many noted over the weekend that the tide was turning for OWS, at least in the mainstream media… that publications which refused to acknowledge the movement at its start were now publishing several stories a day about it, and positive ones at that. Here’s a good example: CBS, that bastion of middle-of-the-roadness, has published an article on its website entitled “Occupy Wall Street’s Drumbeat Grows Louder”:

 From the streets of New York … to the nation’s capital … to the South (Mobile, Ala., Jacksonville, Fla.) and West (Portland, Ore.), Americans are frustrated and making their voices heard.

 “Wealthy individuals who own giant corporations have bought off our Congress and bought off our government and, you know, the people no longer have a voice anymore,” one protester told CBS News.

 The marchers come from all walks of life – young and old, male and female, hoping their lawmakers are listening.

 “I think the message is obvious,” said Jesse Lagreca, 38. “The wealthiest one percent is taking advantage of working class people. They’ve been selling us faulty financial products, they’ve been taking huge bonuses while depending on society to bail them out.”