So what's the difference between this little piece of green fabric, and actually people think it's paper but it's actually fabric [$ bill], actually this one is green on this side....

And this big piece of green fabric? [a green tent]

Sure - one is a dollar bill - and you can buy stuff with it.

And this is a tent - and you can sleep in it.

But they're both made from cotton at their core, actually our dollar bills are.

And - they are completely different. This is a dollar bill, that's a tent.

But according to our courts - there's another difference between this little piece of green fabric known as a dollar - and this giant piece of green fabric known as a tent - that you might not be aware of.

And that is...according to 5 men on our Supreme Court... this [$ bill] represents free speech - and this [tent], at least so far, doesn't.

Right now - Occupy L.A. is trying to stop a looming police crackdown against its encampment - the largest and oldest surviving one in the nation.

And the movement is reaching out to the courts to help - arguing that if the police evict them - it will be an “unconstitutional deprivation of access to [the] traditional public forum…for first amendment activity.”

As in, occupying - or camping out for political purposes - is - or should be considered - a form of protected free speech.

We don't know how the courts in L.A. will rule - but going off a court decision in New York a couple of weeks ago - it doesn't look good for the Occupy movement.

After Mayor Bloomberg's midnight raid on Zuccotti Park - NYPD officers prevented occupiers from bringing any camping gear back into the park - no sleeping bags, no tents, no tarps - nothing.

Occupy Wall Street took that decision to court - with a lawyer for the movement arguing that the tents and tarps are a form of free speech noting:

The power of this symbolic speech is that it’s a 24-hour occupation. This conveys a special message.

But Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Michael Stallman did not agree.

He ruled in favor of Bloomberg - upholding the ban on camping gear - claiming that Occupy Wall Street had failed to make a case that tents are a form of free speech - case closed.

But let's rewind back to 1976 - the case of Buckley versus Valeo - when the High Court ruled that money - those little green pieces of mostly cotton fabric - that money IS a form of free speech protected under the First Amendment.

The court said:

Discussion of public issues and debate...are integral to the operation of the system of government established by our Constitution. The First Amendment affords the broadest possible protection to such political expression in order to assure unfettered exchange of ideas for the bringing about of political and social changes desired by the people.

Under the "broadest possible protection" of political expression - according to the court - this is speech, money is speech.

That decision was upheld and expanded when the Supreme Court just last year in its Citizens United decision ruled that money is speech - and even "certain speakers" - a phrase from the ruling - like corporations can use this [$ bill] to make political statements:

There, Justice Kennedy wrote:

The creative dynamic inherent in the concept of free expression - counsels against upholding a law that restricts political speech in certain media or by certain speakers.”

So why is it - going off the decision by the high court in Buckley versus Valeo - that when political expression is given the "broadest possible protection" - this piece of paper is protected, this piece of cotton, but a tent is not?

And why is it - when recognizing the CREATIVE dynamic of free expression - that again - money is protected, but tents are not?

I think the answer is actually fairly obvious - corporations have a lot of these, a lot of money...and not a lot of tents.

The ironic thing is - Occupy Wall Street is demonstrating - in large part - against these two court cases - Buckley and Citizens United - against the idea that money is speech.

So in essence - rulings that big green pieces of fabric are NOT a form of free speech - that's just fine...just as long as the court is consistent and rules that little green pieces of fabric are not speech either.

But until that happens - until the court treats all fabric in the same way - then Occupy Wall Street needs to keep camping out.

And my tip to the movement is simple - start building your tents out of stitched-together dollar bills.

That's The Big Picture.