Occupy Movement must dump camps for mission and strategy

If you look at the latest stamina of President Obama’s rhetoric on issues you would have to agree that it is far more forceful than a year ago.  And it was just a little more than a year ago that the Occupy Movement started; Occupy Wall Street held its first demonstration on September 17, 2011.  At that time the Tea Party was going full blast and deciding much of what was going on in Congress. 

TPers still have their influence but it is waning, evidenced by recent GOP conciliations on the payroll tax cut.

Arlen Grossman, writing in OpEdNews, talks of how the President was willing to make all kinds of deals with the GOP on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the taxing of the rich back in early to mid-2011.  And then the Occupy Movement began to do their number in September and the American public suddenly realized there were several inequities in the system that needed to be fixed. 

It all centered around the 1% that controlled all the wealth, leaving the other 99% to fend for itself in an arena that was clearly weighted toward the 1%.

“Issues of class and economic fairness that had been swept under the rug for years suddenly became issues for discussion. Middle class Americans began to understand that corporations and the wealthy were paying a lower tax rate than they were,” says Grossman.  And Barack Obama became “bolder,” more resolute in where he stood on the issues he had had to appease Republicans on just a year ago.

Grossman adds: “I can't help but think that the Occupy movement has played a major role in reversing the focus of politics from last fall until now. If Occupy disappeared right now, they could get credit for accomplishing quite a bit in a short time.”

The New York Times says that although the Occupy camps are dismantling, it is “far from dissipating.”  They are only regrouping for the next thrust which will include larger marches and strikes coming up in the spring, designed to rebuild momentum, returning to the issues of inequality and corporate greed.  New York City is still the center of the movement but expansion nationwide, even worldwide, has proved the dedication of those involved.

William A. Galston, a senior fellow and an expert on political strategy at the Brookings Institution in Washington said, “They’ve gotten the people’s attention, and now they have to say something more specific.  Average Americans want solutions, not demonstrations, and their patience for the latter won’t last indefinitely.”  Demonstrators have been hearing this for months, but like any new movement, they had to wear through the emotionalism first.

An editorial from USA Today says the Occupy Movement is “…fading out in a whimper.”  The paper also says the movement hit a rich vein of dissent with Wall Street, “But after successfully tapping into this vein, the Occupiers chose a course best described as doing nothing.”  They may have a point that the demonstrators put too much stock in their physical presence in an encampment, but others might counter that they were simply taking time to reorganize.



Pew Research Report



One thing is very clear.  “Occupy must include minorities.” is an article from the Pasadena Sun that comments on the economic regression of the middle-class in America.  It goes on to say, “According to a 2011 Pew Center report, the median wealth of Hispanic households dropped by 66% between 2005 and 2009. That is a larger drop than experienced by black households, 53%, and far worse than the 16% experienced by whites.” 

In other words, who is more likely to be affected by the Occupy Movement that blacks and Hispanics?

The piece made another excellent point that in good times the U.S. favors immigration because of the work force available to do a number of jobs.  But in bad times immigrants are “scapegoats,” evidenced by the anti-immigration law SB-1070 enacted by Arizona.  With the surge in the Latino population, and in particular their recent enterprise toward activism, this should be one of Occupy’s top priorities.

The unemployment rate for black Americans is at 15 percent, compared to around 8 percent for whites.  But the majority of the movement is white as reported by A Fast Company survey recently that found that African Americans, who are 12.6 percent of the U.S. population, make up only 1.6 percent of

Occupy Wall Street

.  The Washington Post also said, “We can’t expect our civil rights organizations and political leaders to help blacks rage against the corporate machine when they are part of it.”

There is no other group of Americans more entrenched in activism for their rights than blacks and it will be a tragedy if they are not encouraged to fight for them alongside the Occupy Movement.

If blacks don’t back Occupy Movement will they back Democrats in November?

We can thank the Tea Party for repeated accusations of racism that once again reminded us of Southern bigotry and the Ku Klux Klan.  The media accused it of being “racially exclusionary, if not…racist,” according to The Washington Examiner.  Well-known African American congresswoman Maxine Waters, a Democrat from California, said tea partiers can “go straight to hell.”  While perhaps not quite so contentious, progressives would like to see them just gone.



Tea Party parade



The Tea Party is predominantly white but 6 percent of its supporters are black compared to only 1.6 percent for Occupy Wall Street and a total in the U.S. population of 12.6 percent.  Further, blacks represent 25 percent of New York residents.  So where were they on the first Occupy Wall Street demonstration on September 17, and thereafter across the country?  One opinion was that blacks did not participate because they have been through this before and think it’s hopeless.

I did a post back in December, “Immigrants want a part of the Occupy Movement,” including the agreement that no one is more likely to be in the Occupy “99%” than Hispanics.  Of course, wouldn’t blacks fit the same criteria?  Currently 60.7 percent of black incomes are under $50,000, compared to 40.3 for whites.  Median income for whites is $63,404 compared to that of blacks which is $38,835.  U.S. median income is $58,924.

Although 3 years old, the video below is an good example of black voting history:



The Washington Post also wonders about black inactivity in the Occupy Movement, commenting that some well known blacks like Cornel West,

Russell Simmons, Kanye West and Rep. John Lewis, (D-GA) have participated but nothing like Latino moves to join in as a group.  There was an “Occupy the Hood” faction that attempted to get more people involved that has apparently made some inroads but nothing significant.

Based on a 2011 Washington Post survey, the conclusion was made, that, in spite of their economic standing, blacks feel more optimistic than whites.  This is hard to understand when black unemployment is at 16 percent, teenagers 50 percent, compared to 8.6 percent for whites.  The survey concluded that 24 percent of blacks were “very” or “somewhat satisfied” with the economy compared to only 12 percent of whites.  Go figure.  

And here we go again.  In a recent NBC poll a huge 73 percent of Americans considered the country to be on the wrong track compared to 19 percent who thought it was.  49 percent of blacks thought the U. S. was on the right track compared to 38 percent who didn’t.  Some say there is the Obama factor.  The figures show that 86 percent of blacks approve of the President compared to 57 percent overall.

Still unanswered is why blacks have not joined the Occupy Movement with more enthusiasm.  Larry Elder, author of The Washington Examiner article thinks that if they support Occupy it might appear that blacks don’t think Obama has done his job in Washington.  But since the substance of the Occupy Movement is inequality, along with the fact that blacks have been fighting this for years with limited results, I find their detachment confusing, even alarming.

In the end, Elder says it really isn’t why so few blacks are participating in the Occupy Movement; rather, “why so many blacks still belong to the Democratic party.”  I personally believe they still understand that the Dems., no matter how many mistakes they have made and will make re. minorities, that the least they do will be gargantuan over what the GOP would offer.

Bruce Springsteen’s latest studio album captures meaning of Occupy Movement

Apparently the Boss is angry again and his new album will vent some of this anger which closely parallels the emotions of the Occupy Movement.  Starting with Occupy Wall Street protests in New York, the crusade has literally moved all over the world.  But Springsteen remains grounded in his concern for the blue-collar group and liberal causes.  Although most of the album was written and recorded before the Occupy Movement started, it still reflects the sentiments of the fight for equality.

In an article where Princeton professor Cornel West describes the Occupy Movement as an “idea whose time has come,” Tea Party crackpot Michael Prell compares Occupy with the Berkeley Free Speech movement that took place in 1964-1965, “right down to the babbling incoherence of the participants.”  Now this takes the cake considering this man, who is a strategist for the TP Patriots, represents a bunch of blithering blockheads with double-digit IQs.



So what was wrong with the Berkeley demonstrations that resulted in the University backing off and allowing academic freedom with open political activity on the campus, with the Sproul Hall sit-ins eventually creating a place of open discussion?  Liberal, yes, and perhaps contrary to a conservative approach that hides its ideology behind the dogmas of religion and worship of big business.  Berkeley has gone on to represent a progressive attitude that has become a solid foundation of the left.

Sidney Tarrow, a visiting professor at Cornell Law School, believes the Occupy Movement will emerge as a “more potent national force” after cities get past the “encampment” issue.  And this may be the real connection between the Berkeley Sproul Hall sit-ins where you have to take a physical position to make your point.  Tarrow calls it the creation of a “communal basis for future social movement.”  So where do the “Occupiers” go and how do they make their voice heard without the bivouac?  Tarrow says they should “Move on” and “march to Washington.”

Bryan Boydston in The Humanist wants to know, “What Exactly Does the Occupy Movement Want?” when he refers to the Lennon/McCartney song, “Revolution.”  He also refers to the ideology “rebel without a cause” when commenting on the disorganization of the movement so far.  Boydston quotes Naomi Wolf in the Guardian asking the same question, receiving numerous responses she capsuled into the following three:

1.    Reverse the Citizens United decision of the Supreme Court further allowing the influence of money in U.S. elections.

2.    The movement wants fraud and manipulation taken out of the U.S financial system.

3.    Prevent politicians from using their positions in Congress to benefit corporations they have invested in.

In addition to Wolf’s three Boydston has three of his own which he thinks may be more directly focused on what occupiers want:

1. Reversing Citizens United is good but he thinks the Movement is more about the total economic inequality that exists in the U.S.
2. He questions regulation as the “fix-all” for the financial community and thinks more of it would not have prevented the recession.
3. With little evidence of insider trading by Congress and because they are already prohibited from passing laws that impact companies in which they hold any significant interest, this problem is probably already covered.

So one might assume from all this exposition that you can boil down what the Occupy Movement wants into one simple phrase: Balance the inequity of the economic system so that a more equitable arrangement exists for all.

I’ll leave you with Boydston’s quote from the Lennon/McCartney song, “Revolution,” which is actually appropriate for the Occupy Movement.

You say you want a revolution?
Well, you know, we all want to change the world.
…You say you got a real solution?
Well, you know, we’d all love to see the plan.

Obama up with Hispanics, down with youth

It was both the youth vote and Latinos that helped get President Barack Obama elected in 2008.  One is still hanging in there and the other has real reservations over what he has done for them.  Even though Hispanics are concerned that the President hasn’t done enough for their people, they still support him.  Considering the way the GOP looks down on this group, that’s a wise choice.  The younger vote is something else, and unless Obama puts them back to work soon, they may just skip the elections.

Only 55.3 percent of Americans age 16 to 29 have jobs.  According to Brad Chase, Barack Obama missed the boat on two issues.  Rather than create jobs for the young unemployed, he talked about it in community forums.  Rather then really providing a bailout on the huge burden of college loans, he only reduced rates by a pathetic 0.5 percent.  This has led to an approval rate by the 18 to 29 age group of less than 50 percent.

But the Prez just may have his sights on the burgeoning Latino voting population to carry him through in 2012.  Combining this with running against a Republican Congress that has done everything they can to defeat anything he proposes, but has done nothing of their own in the last three years may be a winning combination.  At the end of the year, Hispanics favored the President over GOP front-runner Mitt Romney by a margin of over 2 to 1.



According to a Pew survey, two-thirds of Latino registered voters supported Democrats where only 20 percent were for Republicans.  However, Obama’s deportations are an issue where 77 percent who knew of this disapproved of the administration’s policy.  But in a recent proposed change in migrant policy where immigrants closely related to U.S. Citizens would not have to leave the country to apply for legal status, the President got their attention again.

There is a group up for grabs, the Millenials, in their early 20s, and Brad Chase says they have a short memory, but they have experienced hard times in Obama’s last three years.  They aren’t yet leaning to the right, but neither are they enthused with the left.  They are currently in the middle, and The Center for the Study of the American Electorate says they can be had by a candidate that focuses on answers to their issues.

Chase says the President or a presidential candidate might do or talk about doing three things for the youth vote.  First, create a limited student debt forgiveness program for those over $30,000.  Second, Place control on “Predatory lender/services” where servicers like American Education Services (AES) resort to bullying tactics with parents.  Third, allow the discharge of a student loan in bankruptcy.

With two-thirds of registered Hispanic voters favoring the Democratic Party, there is good reason to believe this could translate into more Democrats elected to the U.S. Senate and House, as well as state legislatures.  This will be more prominent in border-states like Arizona, New Mexico and Texas that have hefty Latino populations.  Once this trend gets rolling it will be hard to stop considering the boom in the growth of Hispanics throughout the U.S.

One thing is certain, with a 9 percent favor rating of Congress, which is primarily focused on the GOP, and early signs that these yahoos aren’t about to change their tactics—specifically because the Tea Party won’t let them—progressives in the next few months leading up to November must emphasize this to the public.  If we, starting with President Obama, don’t take full advantage of this golden opportunity, it will be a loss that goes down in history.

Canada grades the U.S. for its 2011 politics

Do you care?  If you don’t, I wouldn’t bother reading this article.  But I think it is important to know what our neighbors to the north think about us since they are more progressive in their approach to issues like gun control, consumer rights and health care than we are.  Considering just those aspects of Canada’s government, you would be right if you assume their attitude toward American politics is that 2011 was, as they describe it, a year of “lowlights.”

Gabby Giffords

The article from the Montreal Gazette starts with the assassination attempt on Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, which one year holiday will pass this coming Sunday.  As the paper put it, the year began with good intentions by President Obama in his State of the Union Address but basically ended there.  If there was ever a time in recent history where a reevaluation of gun control was called for, and just might have been demanded by the American public, it was then.

It was soon after that a Republican controlled House decided that it would block anything the Obama administration did just for the purpose of insuring that he wouldn’t be a two-term president.  The dysfunction commenced and lasted right down to the last day of December, 2011.  GOP House Speaker John Boehner was quickly reigned in by the radicals of the Tea Party, led by Rep. Eric Cantor, House Majority Leader, and remained under their thumb until the end of the year.



The Keystone XL pipeline from Canada produced a flip-flop on the part of Obama, just when environmentalists thought they had won a major battle.  The President decided to allow earlier consideration of the project when the GOP became obsessed with its approval because of their claim it would create jobs.  Critics think Republicans did harm to its eventual passage by their insistence that it be included in the tax relief bill.

And then there was the birther controversy over whether Obama’s birth certificate was valid.  Canadians considered Donald Trump the “crackpot” he is when using the issue to discredit the President.  Even today there are still two fruitcakes pursuing this stupid theory after the President already provided evidence of his birth in Hawaii.  There was also Rep. Anthony Weiner’s tweeting photos of his genital to a woman.  A Democrat from New York, he first denied, then admitted what he had done, and the resigned in disgrace. 

Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin was around for a while, goading her pathetic followers into thinking she would run for President, when she had no intention of giving up the lucrative speaking engagements these feeble-minded people pay dearly for.  Canadians saw the sadness in the ineptitude of the 112^th Congress to accomplish anything, including what they consider “one of the worst pieces of kitchen-sink legislation,” the 2-month payroll tax cut.

House Speaker John Boehner gets the nod as the “weakest political leader’ due his complete lack of control over the Tea Party in the GOP caucus.  He simply could not deliver the votes ending up in a loss of credibility with the White House, Democrats, even Republicans in the Senate.  It almost seemed at one time that Boehner wanted to work with President Obama on a range of issues, but then the Tea Party jerked him back to reality through moves by Eric Cantor.

Regardless of what Canada thinks of U.S. politics, the important thing is what do Americans think of their political situation.  With Congress at its lowest favorability rating ever, 9 percent, that seems painfully obvious.  Andrea Mitchell of NBC News said it best: she commented that only the military has a favorable rating in government.

Americans favor the IRS and communism over the present Republican Congress

Yes, I said Republican Congress.  It is less popular than the dreaded tax folks and the political ideology that is a direct opposite to democracy.  In this CBS rating, the IRS comes in at a colossal 40 percent, communism at 11 percent, the lowly Congress at 9 percent.  Only Fidel Castro ranks lower at 5 percent.  These ratings are taken by major polling services like Gallup and Rasmussen, and reflect the growing feeling that the people in Washington must be replaced in 2012.

In a release from CBS of the approval rating, it is clear that the GOP is continuing to block everything that would help jump-start the economy because they want the President to fail.  It is a blockade Barack Obama has been up against since his inauguration, conceived by a deranged Tea Party and implemented by fanatics like Eric Cantor, (R-VA) House Majority Leader with help from House Speaker, Rep. John Boehner and Sen. Minority leader, Rep. Mitch McConnell.

Communist symbol

According to the Addicting Info site, this is what the Republican Congress has done: “…spent their time passing anti-women bills, bills against birth control and contraceptives, anti-abortion bills, bills declaring pizza a vegetable, bills re-affirming ‘In God We Trust,’ as the national motto, anti-tax bills, anti-environmental bills.”  There is more but just as ludicrous. 

This gang of brainless GOP bullies has frittered away three years trying to convince the American public to hate President Obama and vote him out of office next November.  What they have accomplished is raising the ire of a majority of the voting public, including many Republicans and a number of Independents.  The country is fed up with their shenanigans and they’re not going to take it anymore.  The question is how to make sure voters remember this subterfuge on November 6, 2012.



Maybe it would help to illustrate more cases where the unfavorable is favored over the Republican Congress.  The airlines, which have raised rates and curtailed benefits for several years now comes in at 29 percent.  Keep in mind now Congress is at 9 percent.  Banks, one of the most hated institutions and the target of the Occupy movement rank 23 percent.  The oil and gas industry, often accused of raising the price of gasoline just to improve their bottom line, 20 percent.  And Hugo Chavez, Pres. of Venezuela, ties Congress at 9 percent.

The GOP Congress has done absolutely nothing to create jobs, improve the foreclosure crisis, and they want to repeal the health care bill that has already helped many needy Americans.  Stephen Foster of Addicting Info says, “Hell, Republicans have turned Congress into such a joke that even King George III was more popular during the Revolutionary War.”  He was the British monarch during the American Revolution, his favorability coming in between 15 and 20 percent.

I cannot remember a time in my life where the hallowed halls of Congress have been looked on with such contempt for the people who are supposed to be running our country but yet have let a small group of wacko radicals dictate their actions.  I would be talking about the Tea Party, of course, and until the GOP breaks the umbilical cord with these certifiable maniacs, there will be no breakthrough in Washington.

Tea Party massacred on payroll tax decision

Senate majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) has brought the Tea Party to its knees once again.  He beat Sharon Angle, a TP favorite, for his Senate seat in Nevada just a year ago, and now he backed House Speaker John Boehner, backed by radical TPers, into a corner on the payroll tax bill until they had to lose face and give in to what had been the right thing to do all along.  The only upside to this whole bizarre episode is that the American public is finally seeing the real color of these right wing fanatics.

President Barack Obama signed the two-month extension of the payroll tax cut this past Friday, a victory for himself over a Tea Party that has targeted the President since its inception and his inauguration.  Independents and moderate Republicans should view this as an example of how Democrats and progressives in general can champion tax cuts.  Also included in the bill are a continuation in jobless benefits and a delay in decreased Medicare payments to doctors that could seriously affect Seniors.

Apparently Boehner, who was originally in favor of passing the two-month deal worked out by Senate Democrats and Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, caved to the TP lunatics led by head maniac Eric Cantor (R-VA) House Majority Leader.  Some have even questioned whether it is Cantor or Boehner leading the House, and if it’s Cantor, then, up until last Friday the Tea Party had definitely been in control. 

Political analysts view this defeat and turmoil leading up to the showdown as significantly hurting the GOP in their backbone Republican philosophy of tax cuts at any cost.  It clearly shows that when it comes to the wealthy, there is absolutely no concession on taxes, but they are willing to sacrifice the middle-class and lower income groups on the basis of demanding a year’s extension over the two-months that was finally passed.



Jon Summers, who was instrumental in Reid’s win over Angle, thinks that things will go much the same way at the end of the two-month extension as it did last Friday.  Democrats are on a roll and they will get what they want in February of 2012.  Harry Reid has already predicted that the Tea Party, spawned in hard times, will just fade away as the economy improves.  In the second phase of the payroll tax cut fight, even more damage could be done to the GOP by TPers that place extreme right ideology over their country.

If you want to know who to blame, you can take a look at the list of Tea Party caucus members here, led by presidential hopeful (?) Michele Bachmann, along with some other good info on the group by Wikipedia.  The list is a blueprint of House representatives and Senate members, some of which are running for office in 2012, that we progressives want to give the boot.  This is also the gang

that is apparently enraged at John Boehner after caving to Democrats last Friday.

When Congress reconvenes in January and the fireworks start, it will be interesting to see who is on the offensive and who is on the defensive.  If the Democrats and all progressives alike don’t take advantage of their current momentum to slay the ultra conservative dragon, the elections of 2012 could well be a complete toss up.

What the Occupy Movement is all about

Fifty percent of American workers earned under $26,364 in 2010.  Those making $1 million-plus skyrocketed more than 18 percent from 2009.  These are figures from the Social Security Administration, and the reason why people have taken to the streets to protest this economic inequity.  The Occupy Movement focuses on the individual, as compared to the Tea Party, which, although individually inspired, makes its case for less government, thus less regulation, thus more corporate greed.

Some of those TPers on TV don’t look like fat-cats to me so you might wonder if they are following a cause, or just have a radical conservative ring in their nose.  I vote for the latter.  When a movement openly admits it would rather shut down the government than give any ground in negotiation, that’s clearly a bunch of nutcase renegades that are out of control and anti-American.  Do these twits know that compensation for the CEOs of the country’s largest corporations is up 28 percent in 2011, while those at the bottom still struggle desperately?

The Economist says that the rage of the populists against government surpasses that toward Wall Street.  With the infrastructure of American business and government crumbling like it is, it almost mirrors the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.  In studying the Occupy Movement, the magazine says: “Populist anger, especially if it has no coherent agenda, can go anywhere in times of want.”  It mentions the 1930s as one example, but most recently, the Tea Party.

The number of Americans with jobs fell again last year with 5.2 million less jobs than in 2007 when the deep recession began.  According to the Census Bureau, 5 percent of national income has moved from the middle class to the most-wealthy households.  Who can blame the Occupiers if all they want is to balance the act by simply getting a job, having something to eat, and providing a roof over their heads.  This isn’t anarchy, this is survival. 

Forbes magazine says the Occupy protesters are at the wrong place.  Instead of Wall Street, where not one “bankster” is in the top ten paid CEOs, they should be camped outside companies like health-care systems provider McKesson or others sure to benefit from health reform like ExpressScripts and United Health Group.  Their CEOs are expected to earn $131 million, $51.5 million and $48.8 million respectively.

 

Then there’s Ralph Lauren of Polo at $66.7 million, Michael Fascitelli from Vornado Realty at $64.4 million and Bob Iger of Walt Disney raking in $53.3 million.  One you might have expected to be in the highest ranks of paid executives in the world actually came in at basement bargain rates.  That’s Big Oil chief Rex Tillerson who heads ExxonMobile who makes a paltry $13.9 million.  So what we find here is more economic inequity, even within the ranks of the millionaires.  Poor baby.

In European countries like Britain and France the Social Democrats have found bashing the banker and the wealthy too good to resist, according to The Economist.  They’re looking at tariffs and a supertax on the rich the magazine questions as possibly making things worse.  President Obama’s current situation is given as an example.

And if austerity always goes along with protest as TE states, are we in for yet more tightening of government purse strings and economic inequity?  Or is this all simply a part of the far-right conservatives’ plan to eliminate government control completely and set up an autocratic system?  Should that happen, will all the Occupy demonstrators simply go home or are we in for something much worse?

One progressive’s take on the “Occupy” movement



Tea Party Protest



There is one thing that is clear to me after looking at videos and still shots from both the Occupy movement and the Tea Party.  There is no comparison between the participants, with Occupy standing head and shoulders above the pathetic TPers.  I was prompted to look into this after reading an article exclaiming Occupy Wall Street could be the left’s Tea Party.  I am sure the Occupy movement wants to distance itself as far as possible away from the Tea Party.

Now, when it comes to developing a cause that would oppose the Tea Party, that is where comparisons are meaningful.  There is talk of how the Occupy protests will affect the way democracy is consummated in the future, not just in the U.S., but all over the world.  Most of what the Tea Party stands for is cutting taxes, drastically limiting government, and getting rid of President Obama.  It is simply a new conservative twist, although more radical, of the George W. Bush policies that didn’t work and put us in the current economic situation.

Robert Borosage, Co-founder of Campaign for America's Future, said, “I think this {Occupy} is a classic progressive, independent grassroots movement that will both build its own independent force, its own agenda and moral voice. And then you'll see that try to find expression and accrue champions of that in the electoral arena.”  The key to Occupy is getting out the vote in 2012, both the protesters and those apathetic progressives that have been sitting out elections.

Comments heard on the (Wall) street: Shane Stoops… Q. “How long will you stay here?”  A. “I’m definitely committed until we are either arrested or beaten to death.”  Sade Adona…Q. “What would be mission accomplished?”  A. “The acknowledgement is good enough for me…” 

Jon Reiner…Q. “What do you hope this movement becomes?” A. “My hope would be that, like all great social movements, that it gets so large in number and influence that it fundamentally changes the priorities of our elected officials so that they believe then that it’s their obligation to serve individuals and not corporations."

Violent Arnold, who heads Company Works, a multicultural leadership development firm in St. Paul, Minn. Says, “…the group likely has more leadership than meets the eyes.”  She adds that every group that comes together has some form of leadership, “But the current leadership of top-bottom is not working, and that’s why they’re protesting.”  Actually the leaders are there, you just won’t be able to identify them.

Dr. Alan Manevitz, New York clinical psychiatrist, says, “Psychologically speaking, these protests are mentally healthy -- whether they accomplish anything or not.”  They have already accomplished a great deal.  The Occupy movement has gotten the attention of President Obama, and he would do well to pay more attention and provide more support.  The GOP is furious over the fact that Occupy has gained more media attention in a month than the Tea Party has since its inception.  And the Democrats, well, they are just standing around and praying the whole thing will last through 2012.

Is “Occupy Wall Street” making its point?

The Occupy Wall Street movement has moved out of New York and has reportedly spread to as many as 1,500 cities worldwide that have either already started demonstrations or are in the planning stages.  In the U.S. they have now reached Denver, Seattle, San Diego, Washington, Orlando, Atlanta, Detroit and Phoenix, as well as others.  What is not encouraging is the fact that several people have been arrested in the process.  I also just watched a video from New York showing possible police brutality. 

When the company owning the property on which the protests are being held decided to “clean up the park,” they were flooded with threats from NY city officials who wanted them to wait.  In the process, announcements were made of the plan to remove the crowd.  This led to chaos.  Mayor Bloomberg is investigating the situation.  From pictures of the demonstrations I have seen so far, the group seems to be neat, which is an endorsement of their organization.



Some have compared the “Occupy” movement with the Tea Party, which I abhor.  One TP wacko commented that “Occupy is no Tea Party,” primarily referring to the size of crowds.  Of course there are less people at this stage.  With the TPers’ mentality, many at a double-digit level, all Glenn Beck has to say is follow me to Washington, and he is immediately connected to the hook in their noses.  The Occupy folks are able to think for themselves, naturally putting more thought into their participation.

But seasoned activists say there is a “difference between an emotional outcry and a movement.”  Andrew Young who worked with Martin Luther King commented that the difference is organization and articulation.  I can see why Young would see the departure from articulation due to the number of demands being made by the protesters with no apparent central theme like integration.  But you have to be at least somewhat organized to achieve coverage of at least some 1,500 cities in a movement barely over a month old.

Others adding their input were Rev. Al Sharpton who thinks the Occupy group does have a central theme and it is economic inequity.  The Rev. Jessie Jackson said, “…the protest was a growing success,” adding the, “…protest could become a powerful movement if it remains disciplined, focused and nonviolent — and turns some of their pain into voting power." 

Turning out the vote will be a key measure of the accomplishments of Occupy.  That applies to both the former young non-voters and the apathetic progressives.

U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn of South Carolina is the third-highest ranking Democrat in the House and he firmly believes the movement will produce political change.  He also disagrees there is no meaningful theme and likened the Occupy protests with the civil rights era where he commented, "They all knew something was wrong."  It’s hard to put into words your frustrations, Clyburn remarked, which seems to have been mirrored by the look on many faces seen in pictures of the Occupy demonstrations.  But most feel that time will galvanize this into the progressive revolt that is necessary to rid Washington of an incompetent Congress and clean up the corporate world.

Is “Occupy Wall Street” the real revolution for the real people?

The “Occupy” movement has been called the progressives’ answer to the Tea Party.  There is no comparison between the two factions, obviously in philosophy, but also in substance and intellect.  From some of the TP videos I have witnessed, those poor clods are definitely dealing with double-digit IQs. 

Look at the Wall Street folks and then look at the gun totin’, dimwitted, racist bigots that have been captured on You Tube of the Tea Party demonstrations.  Although not universally representative, this bloc has not been officially rebuked by the organization.  The young, and older, people at Liberty Plaza in New York would make TPers look like boneheads. 

So now that we have this dissimilarity established, what do these people want?  They aren’t quite sure yet but then, the movement is only around a month old.  The one thing they are sure of is they want the power of Wall Street and the financial community diluted.  Some signs screamed "Less is More" and "Capitalism is evil."  Sounds like candidates for a Social Democracy.

But there is a clear-drawn comparison here, and it is with Independent voters.  Not in philosophy but rather in the momentum of the movement.  Independents don’t lay down a partisan creed, but rather stand for a multitude of ideologies.  Today they represent 40 percent of the voting population and they are growing on a daily basis with crossovers from Republicans and Democrats. 

“The group's lack of specificity serves a purpose because it invites outrage over a full spectrum of societal grievances,” says Bill Dobbs, another activist from the 2004 Republican National Convention demonstrations.  But “Occupy’s” thrust is without question directed at the greed of Wall Street and corporations and their accountability.  And they are willing to put their freedom on the line: 700 people were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge.

Some did voice their specific concerns.  One said it was “corporate influence in politics;” another wants the money to be spent on “meeting people’s needs.”  Similar demonstrations have already been planned or carried out in Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston.  During the day Sunday, I heard one news report that shows the “Occupy” concept has gone worldwide.  It will be very hard to contain this movement if the White House and Congress don’t act quickly.