I just got an email from MoveOn. (I sent them some money like 15 years ago, and they never let go.) It says:
Today, May Day, is celebrated around the world as International Workers' Day. This year, people all over the country are participating in hundreds of protests, marches, and direct actions to confront the 1% and stand up for justice.
People from every corner of our movement--including many from Occupy, labor, and immigrants' rights groups--are joining in for an amazing breadth of actions. May Day is shaping up to be the biggest day of protest so far this year, and a wave of direct action for the 99% is building in America. You can still get involved. It isn't too late to join actions planned by hundreds of organizations today, and over the coming weeks.
You can find actions happening today and upcoming events from across our movement at the 99% Spring action hub:
What this MoveOn email seems to be implying is that the May Day protests are put on by "our movement" and merely "include" some Occupiers, along with members of labor unions and other old-line progressive groups. But that's exactly the reverse of what's really happening.
It then goes on to talk about "a wave of direct action for the 99%" -- again carefully using language to suggest that their own 99% Spring is "the movement" and Occupy is just joining in.
This is why the Occupiers are so suspicious. It would be one thing if MoveOn and their pals came along and said humbly, "We haven't been doing so well at promoting progressive causes, but you've caught the popular imagination in a way we never did and we'd like to be part of that." But instead, their message is more like, "We're running this show and you're just one small corner of it."
And that's the problem.
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