The National Memo: Why Occupy Wall Street Should Scare Republicans

[rasputin1952]

There is a lot in this piece by Johnathan Alter, but i found it pretty well rounded and it brings forth some pretty good points...

<snip>

Like the Tea Party on the Republican side, Occupy Wall Street makes the party establishment nervous. It's not just that Democratic candidates have done well fundraising on Wall Street in recent years. The bigger problem is getting the activists to draw a distinction between bringing specific greedheads to justice and mocking those parts of Wall Street that are blameless in the 2008 crash and do plenty to invest in the future of the country.

<snip>

The arguments I heard from the often-articulate protesters in the park were economic, not partisan. None of the posters depicted Romney, House Speaker John Boehner, or any other Republicans. Instead they said things like "Top 1% Want Everything," "Listen to the Drumming of the 99% Revolution," "Stop Off-Shore Tax Evasion," and "Protect Medicare, Not Billionaires."

It's easy to denigrate the movement for simplistic sentiments that lack a clear agenda. But as the Tea Party demonstrations showed in 2009, that very shapelessness is a huge asset (to use the Wall Street term). If "We're the 99 percenters" catches on, and the crazies can be marginalized, then the challenge will be to move from the streets to the ballot box, as the Tea Party did in 2010.

<snip>

To make something lasting of this movement, the left must move from legitimate moral outrage to a disciplined approach for electing candidates who want to make Wall Street more answerable for the mess we're in. Even as they're outspent by the Koch brothers and their corporate ilk, the 99 percenters will make 2012 a helluva lot more compelling.


More at: http://www.nationalmemo.com/content/why-occupy-wall-street-should-scare-republicans

[Orrex]

1. On NPR yesterday, David Brooks said that OWS is a short-term phenomenon with limited impact

Surely he wouldn't have any reason to lie about such a thing, would he?

[rasputin1952]

2. I wondered about the staying lower of this...

but after my initial doubts, and when the NYPD made several disastrous PR moves, I figure this is here to stay until changes come down the pike.

SEIU Local 1199, w/44,000 members in Boston alone and 1000+ students marching from Boston Common on Monday, I know OccupyBoston is pretty well in the loop and has staying power.

Only time will tell, but I think this has real staying power.

[JHB]

3. Considering it's David Brooks, I don't think he's lying.

He never had to lie to be wrong before, and he has a lot of practice at it.

No reason to think he'd need to change things just to be wrong about this too.

#DUWallStreet
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[mother earth]

4. OWS is open display of how the 99% have reached the tipping

point...this isn't just HERE to stay, it is global. I'm glad that people are waking up & finally saying enough is enough. They don't yet understand that this is not about political parties, this is the nation's middle class and poor, the 99% waking up to their collective power and unity. They simply cannot match that & they are fearful, they know it is powerful. It is not only powerful beyond anything we've known before, it is transforming and we are only now beginning to open that door.

Remember when there was a flag waving over every door after 911? It's the only time comparable to what is happening. We are waving the flag of unity of purpose, life for all of us must be better and we will make it so, join us and add to this movement or get out of our way, you are no longer relevant. This is the end of 1% rule, the beginning of collective purpose & it is transforming.:kick: