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OCCUPY Protesters Unfocused? My Ass!
by
Roy Batty | 10.10.2011
The OCCUPY protesters are expressing an emotional response, an appropriate emotional response. Their detractors who would paint them as bongo playing, naked hippies don't have much political memory.  Well the hell is unfocused about I can't afford a shirt? What are these young women supposed to be chanting? "The system works for the most part and I believe I'm only temporarily shirtless because I have faith that President Obama might get me a job at the post office?" The OCCUPY protesters around the nation express genuine frustration and anger at a political system that does not work for the 99 percent--that has never worked for the 99 percent without huge government intervention. Think Abolition. Think homesteading. Think anti-trust laws. Think public works projects. Think GI Bill. Think Civil Rights legislation. None of those interventions could have come to pass without anger, protest and violent repression. So it is disconcerting that even liberals like Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes (Note that I did not call them progressives, as nauseating a label as conservative, with about as much meaning. If Hillary Clinton can call herself a progressive than I can tell everyone that I'm the Secretary of State.), while tepidly supportive of the protests, still express mild dismay, "In this big picture, in this environment, frankly, some sort of inchoate, bottom-up, indefinite expression of anger at Wall Street, anger at their control over our lives and our country now, is probably a little overdue." A little overdue?! A little overdue like a Chicago Cubs World Series win. Note that Ms. Maddow still seems to think that the protesters somehow need to connect back to the political system that stole the shirts off their backs. "Is the message itself important that they are even trying or do they need to be offering something very concrete that will make a difference in people's lives in order to connect people back to the political system?" See video of Rachel and Chris pondering the effectiveness and future of Occupy Wall Street. Really Chris? "Barack Obama raises tons of money from Wall Street. And Nancy Pelosi, God bless her, who love, I think he`s a great politician and has great politics, also raises a lot of money from Wall Street. They all do. They all have to. That's the way the system works." Really? And you think that somehow the system can changed from the inside? The answer is clear. For now, the message--the frustration, the anger--is important in and of itself. It is important because it will eventually lead to the conclusion that the system cannot be fixed and that a new one must take its place. Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes are the good guys. Yet their cynicism is palpable. Yes they question it. Yes they're uncomfortable with it. But they still can't see a United States without Republicans and Democrats. Read more. |
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Comments
Something is in the wind
Submitted by RichardKanePA on Mon, 10/10/2011 - 12:31pmEver since Roosevelt the world progressive has meant less and less about economics and more and more about social issues like free speech and abortion.
Gradually important defining points like stopping the death penalty and gun control began fading as losing issues, and there is pressure to stop talking about funding public schools as well.
Something suddenly clicked in Pennsylvania anyway. A former public defender has a good chance to be elected judge,
http://www.padems.com/team/kathryn-boockvar-commonwealth-court-judge
And a former homeless person may become sheriff on a depression platform of refusing to evict people to the street,
http://www.cherihonkala.com/
During the depression neighbors put back the furniture the sheriff threw out and some communities even outlawed evictions.
More recently a Chicago sheriff refused to evict those who paid their rent but the landlord lost the property.
Change is suddenly the wind both in and out of the system.
Philly blogger Richard Kane
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