Tag Archives: Occupy Wall Street

PLEASANT FLOWS AMID OMINOUS CURRENTS

Conservatives complain about the main stream media, and rightly so.  But there is another main stream and it’s a good one.  It’s main stream America.  Stray too far from it and you will find yourself in a vulnerable spot.  The left has strayed too far from it and main stream America is finally taking notice.

A recent survey found 60% of Americans now declare themselves to be conservatives.  That’s a substantial increase from prior estimates.  It would be reasonable to presume that the shift is largely due to the left’s having moved too far from the middle for the comfort of independents.  How many moderates are happy supporters of the Occupy Wall Street campers, for instance?

The 2010 election results, the popularity of libertarian Ron Paul and the even stranger popularity of Donald Trump, momentary though it was, indicate the people have had enough.  They have listened to enough platitudes and compromising language; strong talk is what they want to hear now.

FOX News has more viewers than all the other cable networks combined.  The blogosphere has evolved from a pajama game to become a genuine threat to the New York Times.  And let’s not forget the Tea Party, a true grass roots phenomenon that rose from the right.  The Tea Party is healthy and strong four years after its birth precisely because the Tea Party is main stream America.  The Occupy movement failed badly after only a few months because it is not.  Just a few weeks ago, the Supreme Court threw out voting district maps drawn to favor the Democratic Party by a liberal judge.  The decision was unanimous.

The Right is exerting itself in many ways.  Nevertheless, the Left still grows stronger.  Obama announces a cut in the size of the armed forces, military men and women who pledge their allegiance to the Constitution.  And then the President promises to create a domestic police force larger and more powerful than the U.S. Army.  Presumably such a force would be beholden to the President, not to the Constitution.

Recently a Bill was introduced in Congress that would lay the foundation for cybercensorship.  Both sides initially supported it because the advantages were obvious and the disadvantages of no concern as long as you could trust government.  This one really was a step too far.  No one trusts government; no one ever should.  That’s why we have three branches and the separation of powers.  Congress never passed the Bill, but Obama made it law anyhow.

Not long ago we only had to contend with lunacies like Paul Krugman’s idea that of getting out of debt by accelerate spending.  The Obama administration is much farther from mainstream America than that.  All that Krugman’s ideas would do is send us into bankruptcy and he would wonder why.  Obama would take away our liberty, our way of life and send us into bankruptcy.

USELESS IDIOTS

Saul Alinsky is dead.  So is Occupy Wall Street.  Or if it’s not dead it is in the throes of dying.  Alinsky taught revolution as a three act play.  Act I is to gain respect.  That does not happen by defecating on police cars and shutting down subway stations at rush hour.

In the first couple of weeks of OWS, the movement was seen as counterpoint to the Tea Party.  It may have even been intended as such by its founders, whomever they may be.  There were people with honest gripes about the lack of jobs, crony capitalism, ill conceived bailouts, and stimulus that didn’t stimulate.  However, given the obsession of the OWS leadership with democracy and endless “General Assemblies” the movement never found a unified direction.  You can’t steer a ship with a hundred rudders in the hands of a hundred helmsmen each with a different idea of which direction forward is.

Gradually the cross section of ordinary Americans who really did want jobs and better government withdrew.  They left the tent cities to the shower-less and the anarchists whose idea of social justice is – why make it if you can just take it?  This is exactly the type of behavior Saul Alinsky sought to correct.  Without effective leadership they are proving to be no more than a band of useless idiots.

SMORE OCCUPIES

Occupy Chicago is looking like Occupy Lite.  A majority of the Chicago protesters appear to be people who have done an honest days work.  No serious mob behavior here.  Chicago being Chicago, whooda thunk?  Nurses are in the fore and the signs actually relate to their complaints.  The movement’s various factions certainly are diverse.

Then there is Occupy Oakland where it has already gone violent.  The video needs no words.

The Occupations know no limit.  Occupies and occupiers are everywhere.  How about this one?  Occupy Everything.  The “About” message put forth by this group on their website explains why it would be a better world if they could only occupy everything.:

Occupy Everything is an anti-capitalist initiative—established in 2009—dedicated to militant research, critical pedagogy and public practices that include mediatic intervention, feminism and the anti-enclosure movement. OE is collectively-operated and dedicated to building an open access culture of resistance. Please send your contributions to…

I could support the mediatic intervention in their agenda but I am diametrically opposed to the pedagogy and pubic practices  espoused by this particular occupation faction.  And I’m more or less unanimous about that.  

So there you have it.  From the sublime to the ridiculous, you can choose your group.  You can march to overthrow the government and end the free market system or march just to plead for a job.  You can even donate to a scam artist.  Be careful.  It can be dangerous out there.

OCCUPY ATLANTA Part II

We have our answer to the question of whether or not Occupy Atlanta is a Marxist movement.  Here is second video from the same event where John Lewis was turned away. This is the essence of what the facilitator tells the demonstrators.

We say to those of you who are with us, you may disagree with us and you may leave us.  But you should know that if you leave us you will be joining those who want to kill us.  Remember when the battle comes, you will be on the other side.

Then quoting verbatim:

“I’ll say one more thing, as a Marxist student what I am saying here is not out of my own head.  It is out of the history of the revolutionary movement international”.

For some reason the video would not embed. To play it click on this link.

Now the question becomes, is Occupy Wall Street a Marxist operation like Atlanta?  At this point, it appears they are not.  The Atlanta operation is frightening but less dangerous than it appears.  Their methods are too extreme to gain a wide following.

Now the question becomes, is Occupy Wall Street a Marxist operation like Atlanta?  At this point, it appears they are not. The Atlanta operation is frightening but less dangerous than it appears.  Their methods are too extreme to gain a wide following.