OWS is great, but where were they in 2010? Or during the TeaBag Summer? Or during BirtherGate? And,

[RBInMaine]

Don't misinterpret. Great to have people marching to draw attention to corporate greed, vast income disparity, failure to create jobs, etc. All good. All for it. But where were they in 2010 when "progressives" were bitching about not having enough progressiveness in spite of a HUGE amount of damn progressive accomplishment (review Maddow if you need proof), stayed home in huge numbers, and thus helped elect TeaScumBags into office all around the country? Where were they? Where were they during the TeaBag Summer of '09 when the TeaBags were marching to the orders of their corporate masters and shouting and screaming at Town Halls, taking over Town Halls, having big rallies, and putting political clout into their movement?Where were they? Where were they while all this stupid "BirtherGate" shit was going on? Where were they?

Finally, can one person with an understanding of the American political process tell me how OWS plans to actually translate the marches and chants into the LAWS that must be passed by GOVERNMENT in order to get more corporate accountability, more investment in American jobs and education, fairer taxation, and corporate lobbying out of the government policymaking? Please. Explain to me just what their legislative agenda will be (which MUST be there or all is in complete and utter vain), and just how do they plan to get it implemented? Just marching, chanting, and raising issues won't amount to a piss hole in the snow without real legislative action.

Again, do not misinterpret. This couldn't be clearer. I SUPPORT OWS. Glad it's there now, but it would have been nice if it was there sooner and if they had been organized and been politically active when it was needed over the last two years. And it will go nowhere unless it becomes a real political force with real objectives and a plan to implement them into law either through electing new people to office, pressuring enough existing politicians (good luck with Boehner and Co.), or both. That is how the movements that ever got anywhere did it (i.e. abolition, suffrage, labor, and civil rights). And still, it took YEARS. These are fair questions. Hope to get some thoughtful answers.

[Nye Bevan]

1. Where were you? (nt)

[RBInMaine]

5. So glad you asked. I was writing LTE's, donating, phonebanking, organizing, and canvassing BIGTIME.

[Nye Bevan]

17. Many in OWS were probably doing the same things.

But we now belatedly realize that to really get people's attention we need to take to the streets.

[RBInMaine]

24. Thanks. And GLAD it is finally happening. But it is a lesson in timing. Needed earlier and WITH

LARGE political organization and action.

[salin]

26. or were just starting to get informed through things like lttes, phonecalls, etc.

Point is that many may have just been starting their info journey that led to being willing to take action now!

[Nye Bevan]

28. Point taken nt

[piratefish08]

57. did it work?

things fixed yet?

or can we try two things at once?

[bluestate10]

76. It worked partially. Some progressives and moderates were saved that would have

been defeated. I contributed to the campaigns of Boxer, Murray and several progressives that were defeated. But I participated. I could not vote in their states and given my professional responsibilities, I could not donate phone time or travel to those states to help, but I did what I could. I did what I could is a lot more than I can say about some of the most corrosive voices here on DU, the voices that buy into Nader's bullshit that there is no difference between the democratic and republican party. The events of the last year should stand as clear testament that Nader is a full of shit loser, there is a big fucking difference and the nation is now paying a big negative price as that difference plays out with republicans in control of the House.

[defendandprotect]

93. Where? ----- this is the LEFT which Obama threw under the bus --

And if they weren't in shock and awe by then --

they certainly were by the time Obama got to extending tax cuts on the rich --

and the "budget crisis" --

Made worse, btw, with our having to borrow $120 BILLION more to cover the tax cuts --

and at a 1/2% higher rate due to the downgrading!

You might also recall Obama putting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid "on the table" -- ?


We're at the end of the line with Obama -- and the LEFT is out in the streets making

that clear --

and they are certainly not moving to the RW GOP!

[seabeyond]

2. like most of us, they gave the dems a chance to do what they were suppose to do.... nt

[abelenkpe]

3. +1000 nt

[RBInMaine]

11. The LARGEST amount of PROGRESSIVE legislation since LBJ if not FDR. Indisputable. Need a list?

[MNBrewer]

32. Depends on how you define "progressive" doesn't it?

and it doesn't change the fact that Obama is no progressive, and has at least as long a list of non-progressive accomplishments.

[defendandprotect]

91. +1000% ---

[Exilednight]

104. That's the truth. Obama has yet to pass a single piece of progressive legislation. Progressive

legislation is life changing legislation that effects the entire population for the betterment of humanity. Social Security, Medicare and civil rights are progressive legislation. Obama has yet to anything nearly as bold.

[seabeyond]

50. no i do not need a list. i am well informed. i like obama, and can easily vote again

there are things he did not do, that he needs the support of the people. we were not there for him, he was not able to acomplish. this will help him to be able to do some of it and other of it he will chose not to do.

legally go after the criminals of bushco was so important. he did not do it and won't.

regulations of wall street and banks. he could not accomplish as much as he needed. ground support may allow it.

corps sending jobs over seas is iffy. maybe with support he will be able to do something, maybe he will line with coprs.

maybe you ought to be more open instead of set in your objectives. there are real issues in this country.

but the hugest issue today i see is the money funneled by corps into elections. that was something new in 2010. the results of 2010 i believe was almost solely cause of that money. we ignore that money and the results. we the people have to demand that money is out

[Mr Deltoid]

67. More tax cuts than Bush

More wars

[bluestate10]

77. Tax cuts that were aimed at helping the middle class for once. At least get part of it right. nt

[Mr Deltoid]

100. Tax cuts have ruined the economy. I dont buy into Reaganomics.

[joshcryer]

80. No, teabaggers got out 9% more votes than we did, if we actually got the vote out...

...and controlled the House and Senate with a plurality, we wouldn't be in this mess.

[seabeyond]

83. they also got the ok from supreme court to put corporate funds into the election

i think that way out weighed the teabaggers

[joshcryer]

85. I would agree with that if the voter turnout in 2010 was a lot higher than 2006, but it wasn't.

The only way the teabaggers simultaneously get out 9% more votes and the total voter turnout is basically unchanged is if we didn't get out the vote.

[seabeyond]

86. or if the continual constant ad blitz of neg campaigned convinced a lot fo the regular voters

that had previously voted dem to vote for change, .... again.

when there is 10 ads to 1 pointed out one perspective, that affects the average voter that are not diehard dem voters not to mention discouraging the likely dem voter.

[Mr Deltoid]

101. The youth vote did not materialize as it did in 08

Now those youth are out in the streets

[joshcryer]

103. I don't think the ad campaigns did it, I think the youth sat home because progressives...

...didn't get out the vote.

I relate this story often, but in 2010 what I did actually mattered. I single handedly got hundreds of people to go to the polls, I spent the entire day, almost, getting people to vote. We won the state by a few thousand votes (Colorado). When I saw the numbers coming in in other states it was so underwhelming, so demoralizing, that we actually lost so many votes, at least 15% less than 2008. That's really a big deal, and activists are directly responsible for it.

[abelenkpe]

4. Personally I think their timing is perfect. Nt

[CarmanK]

I agree, in time for the 2012 election. We need to rally the troops!

The TBAGGERS surprised us all in 2010,but their candidates have failed to produce. They campaigned on jobs and reducing the deficit (fiscal responsibility).As usual the repugs have failed to deliver on their promises and their pledge to do nothing that will be deemed a success for Obama is now being underlined and discredited. The TPARTY NATION is not one, most of us want to live in and it is being exposed for what it is: the birth of an oligarchy in direct conflict with the US constitution. OWS has to translate into voter action. That is voter registration. The more people involved, the more people have a stake in what is happening the more people will participate in election day.

[defendandprotect]

90. "Don’t Mistake Occupy Wall Street for Team Obama - Occupation up, Obama Down" --

Don’t Mistake Occupy Wall Street for Team Obama

Occupation Up, Obama Down

Published on Sunday, October 9, 2011 by the Toronto Star/Canada

NEW YORK—The mushrooming Occupy Wall Street protests, now on the verge of spreading to more than 1,000 cities and towns across the U.S. and beyond, may have come of age this week.

Protesters fill Washington Square during an "Occupy Wall Street" rally in New York October 8, 2011. Billionaire New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg accused anti-Wall Street protesters on Friday of trying to destroy jobs in the city. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi But the second most interesting number (apart from the anger-tracking figures updated at OccupyTogether.org) is 38 per cent — President Barack Obama’s approval rating, according to the latest Gallup survey.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/...



This is the LEFT out in the streets --

Remember the LEFT that Obama administration tossed under the bus -- ?

They find Obama too far to the right -- and they certainly aren't moving to the GOP -- !!

If we want to continue to delude ourselves, se'll ignore the message coming in loudly

and clearly re Obama.

[defendandprotect]

89. +1000% ---

[Harmony Blue]

6. Democrats showed up in 2010

The problem is the Democratic parties strategy of playing the center to woo Independents did not work. What these protests show is most people regardless of political affiliation are upset with the corporate status quo, where the corporations are colluding a massive capital strike in the hopes of bargaining for more power.

Independents, like progressive Democrats, respond to a message that is coherent and consistent. If the Obama Administration continues to flounder in the murky center it is very risky.

[bluestate10]

78. I agree. Independents want people that will fight.

I am a strong Obama supporter, but his preference for compromise sickened even me at times. I WANTED him to let tax cuts expire last december then slay republicans in the streets over their unwillingness to extent unemployment benefits. But Obama compromised to keep unemployment benefits, while I understand his heart, he should have eliminated the tax cuts, then cut republican's throats and got the UE benefits extended. I hope the fighting message that Obama is using now presage how he will fight the election next year and how he will explain to americans that the absolute worst thing they can do is elect republicans to office.

[Exilednight]

106. The problem is that Obama had the chance to fight, and he chose not to. During the last

presidential election he spoke with anger, passion and determination, but once he took office - all those things disappeared. Many progressives are feeling that he said what he needed to say to win their vote, but once elected he tossed away their concerns.

The past year and a half, the only thing his supporters can hang their hat on is statements like "the absolute worst thing they can do is elect republicans to office." It's the fear card, plain and simple, and it's being dealt from the bottom of the deck.

[joshcryer]

84. That's not true, the teabaggers got out 9% more votes than we did. If you take that into account...

...the progressive / left / democratic turnout was pitiful at best, because it was nearly tied for the 2006 voter turnout, we arguably got out something like 15% less votes than 2006. Let that sink in a bit, OK? We didn't even fucking try. If we tried like we did in 2006 we would've at least had a 10% more voter turnout and it would've rivaled the turnouts in the 70s.

[treestar]

7. Doesn't matter

They are going to have zero effect. They are not campaigning for any candidates, and will have no effect on who gets elected.

Those elected already will pay them no attention.

It's trying to find an easy way around the electoral system.

[Harmony Blue]

38. Then you don't understand that protests are part of a democracy

Ideally, voting and protesting is something all citizens should strive for. But to dismiss it as not working is just as foolish to believe that a single vote can't make a difference.

Do NOT box yourself into believing YOU can't make a difference.

Demokratia!

Power of the PEOPLE.

[treestar]

42. Standing around in the street will do nothing

The politicians will look at the polls. Those who don't demonstrate may vote.

[Harmony Blue]

59. I highly recommend you pick up a history

book.

[leveymg]

8. Where were you, RB? Indeed, where are you today that you'd have to ask?

Like you, most of us still hoped that Obama and the other Dem leaders might actually succeed, and the system would be with the huge electoral mandate for change (and enough bitching by us) self-correcting. Not to be, so people are taking to the streets.

That we have to is an indictment of the entire political Establishment in both parties. You should know better than to have to ask why.

[RBInMaine]

18. Heading up local effort for upcoming elections to actually make some progress happen. You?

[leveymg]

30. Just yesterday planted a bunch of campaign signs for the local County Commissioner.

What happened in DC isn't her fault. But, what happened in DC has impacted her and the rest of the slate, right down to the local level, which is going to hurt America, a lot.

The mainstream Dem national leaders have a lot of leadership and policy failure to answer for, and precious few accomplishments.

[MadHound]

9. You support OWS

Yet you keep casting aspersions, keep trying to say the movement needs leaders, and the paternalistic hand of the Democratic party.

Bullshit. Your motives are as clear as that high blue sky I see outside. You are scared shitless of the OWS movement because they do not answer to the Democratic party, and are, in fact, rebuking the Democratic party and its leaders for their inaction and capitulation over the past three years. You are scared shitless that OWS will form a large, viable political movement that bypasses the Democratic party and leaves its useless ass in the dust.

Your motives are plain, your "concerns" are noted, and guess what, you are not needed by OWS.

Lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way.

[NightWatcher]

16. Back back back, that homerun ain't coming back. It's a grand slam outta the park

[flamingdem]

31. The fear I have about OWS is they'll discourage voting democratic

and we've seen those forces here on DU and know the relentless drone of attacking the system and how that nets the USA more REPUKE gains.

[Edweird]

40. The 'Dems' have no one but themselves to blame for electoral losses.

[SaveOurDemocracy]

60. Nailed it! n/t

[Zorra]

98. +1 This ain't our first DU rodeo.

We've seen this bull many times before.

[democracy1st]

10. dumb post worst of the month !

[RBInMaine]

14. The dumb are those who say something is dumb but can not offer a real answer.

[H2O Man]

12. which one?

[lunatica]

13. You don't seem to get that they are us. You, me and 99% of the people

It took this long to wake up because the politicians and the media have done their best to lull us asleep or scare us into submission.

You're either willfully stirring up shit to start a fight or you're ignorant.

[Odin2005]

15. People were too bamboozled by Obama's BS "hope-change" message and his charisma.

[Frances]

19. If these protestors had come out BEFORE

Fox news sponsored Tea Party events, Fox News and other outlets would have been more successful in branding the protestors anti-American.

Back in the 60s the Republicans scored victories at the ballot box by saying that the "silent majority" was patriotic while the people protesting the Vietnam War were Communists and hippies and unpatriotic.

So, look at the bright side. These protests have the potential to be more successful now than they would have been 2 years ago.

[WhiteTara]

20. Our letters and calls gave them courage to act now.

This is the natural outpouring of what didn't work in the past. Where were they? Growing, learning and getting prepared. This is the perfect moment.

[blogslut]

21. For someone that supports OWS, you sure create a lot of hand-wringing posts

[H2O Man]

23. True, that.

[Harmony Blue]

61. Actually

the opening post comes off more like a backhanded compliment. Nothing personal to the original poster, but I think you struck a nerve.

[MNBrewer]

22. It's pretty clear you DON'T support OWS

because you want it to be something other than what it is.

[RBInMaine]

33. Nice try but swung and missed. These are fair questions. Open-minded progressives should welcome the

discussion. Don't you agree? Isn't that Democratic? I am all for the protests. I agree with the sentiment. I've walked in plenty of marches over the years myself. It just would have been nice if they'd been there sooner, and they need a real political action plan or it won't mean much in the end. That's just plain reality. What's wrong with wanting some actual legislative accomplishment to come out of it?

[MNBrewer]

43. You DESPERATELY want it not to exist!

[defendandprotect]

94. The "action plan" is anti-corporate fascism .... which effects everything ---

The issue is politicians who are SELLING themselves to corporations --

and that effects everything ---

"Congress is controlled by oil and coal industries" -- Al Gore/Rolling Stone this summer

And you think some "legislation" will fix this?


Where is the legislation which re-regulated capitalism?

Where is the will of the people being acknowledged?

80% of the public want an end to the wars --

74% and more of the public want government-run health care -- MEDICARE4ALL --

On every issue the public is being ignored --


And that's not by accident!

Jonathan Cowan, Pres. Third Way which nows runs the Dem Party made clear on C-span

last week that their policy is that "the base of the party is to be ignored" -- !!

Also that populism and populist discussions/debates are not to be part of any

future Democratic Party campaigns as "they are the equivalent of Karl Rove propaganda

of extremism" -- !!!


Seems to make clear that those running the party are looking to dismantle it!

[PETRUS]

25. The issue-oriented protests of the last 40 years...

...are not the best point of comparison. OWS more closely resembles the activism of the 1930's, which as we all know helped to produce the New Deal. In other words, this is way, way better than what some people - bound by recent experience - might tend to believe, or this is effective.

Rather than sending people to the library, here's one recent article/interview that discusses that to some extent:


But in developing a historical perspective, it may be useful to alter the frame we use to analyze the present moment by asking these questions: Did past insurgent movements happen in unexpected ways and at unexpected moments? Did they take established structures by surprise? And were those established structures slow to adapt, resist or incorporate these insurgent movements? I think the answer to those questions is yes.

Q: For example?

A: If we think about the major labor insurgency of the 1930s, there are a couple things that are interesting in terms of today’s events. First, the Great Depression began in 1929, and it was not until 1933 that serious labor protest began. That four-year interval tracks the interval between the crash of 2008 and today. This moment, like the previous moment, was characterized by a kind of quiescence on the left.

http://politics.salon.com/2011/10/08/occupy_wall_street_a_historical_perspective/singleton/

More at the link.

[loyalsister]

79. The last 2 paragraphs are important

The turbulence that this movement created in 1933 and 1934 led to a landslide election for left-leaning congressmen in 1934. It created an opportunity for the left that resembles the opportunity generated by the Tea Party for the right in 2010. Suddenly Franklin Roosevelt had a much more militant Congress to deal with, and, for the sake of his reelection, he moved left. Out of that move came a reorientation of American politics: major national legislation giving workers the right to organize, generating jobs programs that put millions of Americans to work, establishing Social Security and the welfare state, and raising tax rates on the wealthiest Americans.

If Obama is going to be the president to leave a similarly lasting mark, he’s going to need a popular movement that impels him to pivot more to the left. We don’t know yet whether Occupy Wall Street — in conjunction with what happened in Wisconsin and drawing energy from events abroad and from a deepening capitalist crisis — will be that movement. But we do know that past insurgencies that became very important and transformative began in very fragmented, unexpected and surprising ways.

Speaking of picking up a book.
In order to know where this actually could go, it should be compared accurately. This is nothing like any civil rights movement. The civil rights movements were extremely organized. Rosa Parks did not come out of nowhere. There were other people who resisted bus segregation. She was chosen to be front and center, because of her presentation as an "upstanding woman."

Who has heard of Claudette Colvin?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudette_Colvin

Then there was Elizabeth Jennings Graham.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Jennings_Graham

who was represented by eventual president Chester Arthur in an 1854 lawsuit that would desegregate NY streetcars.

The students who resisted segregated lunch counters were dressed in their sunday best. Representatives were chosen based on their demeanor and appearance.
The Freedom Rides were also carefully organized.
MLK met with legislators and other governmental representatives.

It would be useful to use a clear and accurate historical model to refer to when describing this movement. Hooverville and the 1930s labor movements seem to me to be more accurate.
Knowing these historical successful references (including the tea party- whose goal was to be disruptive and damaging to President Obama), dismissing the role an allied government could play is a mistake.

[defendandprotect]

97. Unfortunately .....

Obama is no FDR and never will be --

[defendandprotect]

96. Agree -- and to suggest that predatory capitalism and corporate/fascism create ONE problem ....

is ridiculous --

From homelessness in America to 66 million Americans living in poverty --

to 45 million needing food stamps to survive -- and 50 million without health care --

the immense destructiveneess and reality of predatory capitalism is being made clear --


And Obama has only continued to pull more pro-corporate decisions out of his hat --

yet ever more revealing he is not the candidate we thought we were voting for --

the mask is off -- it's over.


Great post --

:hi:

[OHdem10]

27. As with any serious movement, the Left had to kicked over and

over while already down.

They are here now and that is all that matters.

[LeftyMom]

29. Another conservative dem concern trolling Occupy. Did a memo go out last night?

Y'all are transparent.

[TBF]

35. They sure are ...

where were you before?
what are your demands?

blah blah blah

[Odin2005]

75. DU is INFESTED with DLC trolls. One certain one with one-liner OPs, especially, pisses me off.

[dkf]

34. They aren't progressives at heart but progressives by circumstances.

The circumstances being the crappy economy. If they had jobs and okay lives they wouldn't be out there.

I doubt their natural affinity is in fighting poverty for example.

[girl gone mad]

71. Bullshit.

[Rabblevox]

36. FAIL. That's like asking where the revolutionaries were in 1773. Or where the Egyptians were in...

1998. Things reach a boiling point when they do. (or a "tipping point" to use more modern jargon)

We have reached ours. Your questions are neither "fair" nor logical.

[elocs]

37. If you have to admonish DUers not to misinterpret your OP, then remind them again later,

the odds are very, very high what you wrote will be misinterpreted and given the responses it has been.

The questions may be fair, but what is the point of asking them now in the midst of it all. You're not really going to get the thoughtful answers for which you are looking, but far more likely to just piss off people.

Like it or not, fair or not, things happen when they happen. There really is no point in getting all introspective about why they are happening now and didn't happen sooner while it is going on.

[TBF]

39. You can help us or you can get the hell out of the way - your choice. nt

[mmonk]

41. Fighting off foreclosure or working 3 jobs maybe?

The students were probably trying to find work to work off their student loans.

[Name removed]

44. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Wind Dancer]

45. Oh brother!

:eyes:

[pecwae]

46. There's no point to this question

other than cast blame in a general way for no reason. Who cares where people were? They're here now and that's what matters.

[Riley18]

47. If not now, when? It is enough that we, the 99%, are united now.

[Name removed]

48. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[nadinbrzezinski]

49. Organic movements emerge when you least expect them

astro turf movements emerge when convenient.

This is one major difference between this and the Americans for Prosperity child, aka the tea party.

[Tippy]

51. Everyone has an opinion

Yes it could have started earlier, yes the could have for the lack of a better term A PLAN....but the way this is spreading...it might be even better, in the long run...their message is broad and thats good...And for one thing it is much better than the Civil War, I invisioned...I am proud of all who are doing their part...

[Warren Stupidity]

52. "Again, do not misinterpret. This couldn't be clearer. I SUPPORT OWS. "

um no you don't.

[lunatica]

53. Telling OWS that they have to do it your way isn't supporting.

[KG]

54. too funny.

[piratefish08]

55. OWS doesn't claim to represent progressives, leftys, rightys or anyone else.

they are the 99% we are the 99%

now is the time. then wasn't. you could have started OWS in 2010. you didn't. they didn't i didn't. now someone did. do it. did it . done. npw, never, ever forever....... fucking whatever.....

don't fucking overanalyze. just let it grow. right now it needs numbers and roots.......



GROW BABY GROW!

[Marr]

56. You seem to have them confused with an Obama fanclub. n/t

[Paladin]

58. How Many Other Threads Do You Intend On Starting, Shitting On OWS?

Not enough leadership and structure to suit you, too-little-too-late timing that has you upset. Why don't you give it a rest? Or better yet, spend more time participating at the nearest demonstration?

[Douglas Carpenter]

62. where was the Democratic Party between Jan 2009 and Oct 2010?

You know, right after they were elected following a near total economic meltdown and had an overwhelming mandate for change and had very solid majorities in both houses of Congress.

It is highly implausible that the Democratic Party will be in such a strong position again at least for another generation as they had following the overwhelming victory of 2008.

It is patently ludicrous to imagine that the Democratic Party is going to perform any better in the future as they did when they were in such a strong position following the 2008 landslide. They couldn't if they wanted to because they simply are not going to be in a position that strong again with such a mandate for at least a number of more decades to come. Unless, unless, unless... people take to the streets and the rank and file rises up and forces them to - against their will.

[Fire Walk With Me]

63. This and other OPs do not sound like you're supporting #OWS. To each their own.

[SaveOurDemocracy]

64. "I SUPPORT OWS." hmmmmm...

[Desertrose]

65. If you have to ask...you just don't get it. nt

[ohheckyeah]

66. Where were they in 1972?

Or 1980? Or 1999? What the hell kind of question is that? Why didn't you organize the protest back in 2010?

[whatchamacallit]

68. OWS = Obama dilemma = feigned support with "concerns"

If I've learned anything from the Obama administration, it's that voting in a captured political system doesn't translate into the kind of legislation we need either. I hope they chant loud enough that it can be heard from the Oval Office.

[defendandprotect]

99. There's a difference ....

between hearing something and ignoring it --


80% of the public want an end to the wars --

74% and more of the public want government-run health care -- MEDICARE4ALL --

On every issue the public is being ignored --


And that's not by accident!

Jonathan Cowan, Pres. Third Way which nows runs the Dem Party made clear on C-span

last week that their policy is that "the base of the party is to be ignored" -- !!

Also that populism and populist discussions/debates are not to be part of any

future Democratic Party campaigns as "they are the equivalent of Karl Rove propaganda

of extremism" -- !!!


Seems to make clear that those running the party are looking to dismantle it!

[zalinda]

69. Most of them thought Obama was going to lead the charge.

They were wrong, so they did it themselves.

zalinda

[monicamonix32]

70. They thought congress and the president had it covered, probably.

Our education system sux so they probably forgot that historically the government only takes care of you in response to a strong movement.

[FrenchieCat]

72. 2010 and what's happened since told folks that progress wouldn't come

to those who wait.

So they are no longer waiting, they realize that the "We" in Yes We Can"
meant exactly what it said.

[tama]

74. "to those who wait"

Words of the Hopi Elders i was made aware of in the beginning of September by a fellow DUer:

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

[tama]

73. Time was ripe

After Arab spring, indignados May 15 in Europe inspired Addbusters to make the call for OWS on 17. September with good poster to which Anonymous mystique soon joined. It started small and slow but grew quickly bigger that Addbusters could have ever imagined.

Progressives in US have been mostly captives to the leadership cult, expecting that Obama would do what only people themselves can do.

[joshcryer]

81. In high school still?

Give these kids a break, they're a very new generation, gen W or something.

[dameocrat67]

82. I was trying to pass a public option

then obama bailed on it.

[JesterCS]

87. i think alot of it has to do with Arab Spring

Americans saw on the news how the people finally have had enough and take the streets. And it worked.

[Union Scribe]

88. Yeah, you totally sound like you're full of support.

By the way, isn't what you're complaining about (why not sooner) the same thing you're complaining about progressives complaining about (when they were saying why not more/sooner)?

[defendandprotect]

92. dupe

[paulk]

95. LOL

:eyes:

[theophilus]

102. Great OP

to unrecommend. I wish I could do it many more times. Thanks, that was fun.

[Exilednight]

105. OWS doesn't care about stuff like TeaBag summer or BirtherGate. Those were Obama's fights, not OWS.

[bettyellen]

107. you call these threads "support"? bullshit!