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OWS Opponents, silver foot in the mouth variety

By Joyce Arnold on 24 October 2011

Joyce L. Arnold, Liberally Independent, Queer Talk, equality activist, writer.

Participation in Occupy, on the streets or otherwise, by “names” doesn’t automatically mean “co-optation.” It can mean support; recognition; OWS successfully getting the message out; and allies for the fight. Yes, you have to be cautious. But you know, Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie, among others, probably “get” what’s happening as well as anyone, and better than many, walking with NYC Occupiers singing, “This little 99, we’re gonna let it shine.” See video here.

Support from people like Alice Walker at Occupy Writers, and Adrienne Rich and Michael McClure at Occupy Wall Street Poetry adds energy. As does that of Willie and Annie Nelson reading their poem “We are the ones with the 99”.

And notice the emergence of Occupy Marines and Occupy Police. And the number of Meetup cites, via Occupy Together , is at 2135 — that’s a correction from an earlier number, and as of about 8:30 this evening. As many have noted, there is now some “occupation” happening on every continent.

The growing movement also comes with more and more “names” in the commentary and analysis world – media, academic, think tank and more – writing “we have to take this movement seriously” pieces. A lot of them are playing catch-up, but that’s not unusual, and a natural part of a movement process.

Of course, the Occupy movement also comes with critics, some thoughtful, some not, also nothing unusual. Among the latter, and at least for me, the worst are adults and almost adults who present themselves in juvenile displays of arrogance. That’s what I see in the photo above (via AlterNet) of the Wall Street 1% hopefuls taking their glasses of champagne out on the balcony as they literally look down on OWS protestors, and in the accompanying photo (via an article at Think Progress) of some of the Wharton School for Business at the University of Pennsylvania’s next generation, again literally looking down on Occupiers. Further revealing their disdain for the little people below them, these guys included taunts of the predictable “Get a job,” and a sign that read: “Get in our bracket.”

All of which reminds me of Ann Richards’ well-known keynote address to the 1988 Democratic National Convention when George H.W. Bush was the Republican nominee: “Poor George. He can’t help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.” Of course, “poor George” went on to become a one termer.

But what’s really interesting about Richards’ remarks, in light of all that’s happened since and in particular, in light of what Occupy is revealing, are both differences and similarities to today, as well as a helpful bit of context toward understanding something about the current Democratic / Republican duopoloy, and our political e/de-volving in general. (all emphasis mine)

… Twelve years ago Barbara Jordan, another Texas woman, Barbara made the keynote address to this convention, and two women in a hundred and sixty years is about par for the course. …
I got a letter last week from a young mother in Lorena, Texas, and I wanna read part of it to you. She writes,
‘Our worries go from pay day to pay day, just like millions of others. And we have two fairly decent incomes, but I worry how I’m going to pay the rising car insurance and food. …
Please don’t think me ungrateful. We have jobs and a nice place to live, and we’re healthy. … we plod along trying to make it better for ourselves and our children and our parents. We aren’t vocal any more. I think maybe we’re too tired. I believe that people like us are forgotten in America.’
Well of course you believe you’re forgotten, because you have been.
This Republican Administration (has) … tried to put us into compartments and separate us from each other. Their political theory is ‘divide and conquer.’ …
No wonder we feel isolated and confused. We want answers and their answer is that ‘something is wrong with you.’ …
Now we Democrats believe that America is still the country of fair play …

In 1988, Richards’ convictions that the Democratic Party still believed in “fair play” was defensible. The Bush / Cheney administration made it possible for lots of people to believe, or at least have “hope,” that all we needed in 2008 was a new, charismatic guy in the White House, and we’d stop being treated like “something is wrong with” us.

I don’t pretend to know what Ann Richards would say today, but I’m fairly certain she’d be much closer in agreement with Alice and Pete and Arlo and Willie, and more importantly, with the grassroots Occupiers “beneath” the tiny but powerful “bracket” above them.

Tomorrow I promise to return to more actual updates, because a great deal continues to happen. Today I just felt the need to give the champagne sipping, upper bracket, silver foot in their mouths group an airing. Until then, a few links:

From the Press Herald: “Chemical bomb tossed into Occupy Maine encampment.” Thankfully, no injuries.

Last night, from OWS: “Occupy Chicago Being Dispersed / Arrested By Police Presently.” Later reports indicate about 130 people were arrested.

Remember the Occupy the Boardroom action? Read “9 Angry, Heart-Breaking Messages to Wall Street’s Elites From the 99%,” at AlterNet.

And from the “this shouldn’t surprise me, but still …” category, via TPM: “Gary Bauer: Jared Lee Loughner ‘Would Fit In Well’ With Occupy Wall Street.’”

By the way, if any of you have additional “silver foot in mouth” examples of Occupy critics, please share. For some reason, David Brooks is coming to mind …

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From Antarctica to Madam Butterfly, Occupy is everywhere

By Joyce Arnold on 20 October 2011

Joyce L. Arnold, Liberally Independent, Queer Talk, equality activist, writer.

The photo today is via a Facebook post by ErikaMorningstar. Occupy Antarctica – this really is a global movement.

Another way to take a global view is a recently added resource at Occupy Together, a Directory, which includes Occupation name, state / country, city, website and twitter addresses when available.

You can read a report released yesterday by OWS “70% of #OWS Supporters are Politically Independent: (all emphasis mine)

Two weeks ago we conducted an anonymous poll on this website to learn more about our visitors. We asked Héctor R. Cordero-Guzmán Ph.D, sociologist of the City University of New York to look at the data, which he analyzed to create an original academic paper titled ‘Mainstream Support for a Mainstream Movement’.
His analysis shows that the Occupy Wall Street movement is heavily supported by a diverse group of individuals and that ‘the 99% movement comes from and looks like the 99%.’ Among the most telling of his findings is that 70.3% of respondents identified as politically independent.
Dr. Cordero-Guzmán’s findings strongly reinforce what we’ve known all along: Occupy Wall Street is a post-political movement representing something far greater than failed party politics. We are a movement of people empowerment, a collective realization that we ourselves have the power to create change from the bottom-up, because we don’t need Wall Street and we don’t need politicians.

Are you listening, Democratic Party? Second term seeker Obama? Progressive organizations with very close ties to the DNC?

Some recent Occupy news:

At OWS this morning, one of the glamorous pieces of the life of an activist:

On Thursday, October 20th, at ten in the morning we will be reorganizing the square. Sanitation, and Town Planning are calling for #OWS to come out, grab a broom, a mop, and work to make the Square beautiful.

Another “this is what activism looks like” story, via AlterNet:

Tarps, Not Spirits, Sag as Storm Soaks Liberty Square
… Now in its second month, the Occupy Wall Street movement has been tested by the police, the mayor and the mainstream media … and it has thus far prevailed. Now it’s facing its toughest test yet, a harbinger of worse weather to come as a northeastern winter approaches. …
Despite the downpour, the women and men of Occupy Wall Street were fed and the kitchen remained afloat.

Nothing to do but figure out ways to deal with water falling from above, whether courtesy of Mother Nature or Denver Parks and Recreation. From The Denver Post:

Protesters with Occupy Denver got a wet wake-up call early Wednesday when the Civic Center lawn sprinklers kicked on at about 2:30 a.m. …
The low temperature in the city this morning … was 27 degrees at 4:13 a.m., according to the National Weather Service.
Angela Casias, a spokeswoman with Denver Parks and Recreation, said 2:30 a.m. is a typical time for park lawns — which are on automated timers — to be watered, because the parks are usually empty.

I guess the Parks people just forgot about the Occupy Denver people, who’ve been highly visible in the news for a while now.

Occupy New Hampshire provides news of “MPD Eviction at Veterans Park”:

14 + Summons and 5 plus arrests
Women patted down and arrested for jay walking.
Conditions of Bail is you can not Occupy any more… until you go to court.

I always enjoy reading something by George Lakoff, who writes that he was “asked weeks ago by some in the … OWS … movement to make suggestions for how to frame the movement.” Not surprisingly, Lakoff’s essay is thoughtful, but he stays within the existing two party framework. You can read “Framing Occupy Wall Street” at TruthOut.

Finally, a focus on how the media is covering OWS. As with everything else, there is a lot being written about this. My decision to focus on NPR is simply because of two stories from today.

First, Bill Chappell at NPR provides a “Timeline: Tracking Occupy Wall Street’s Growth,” beginning at July 13 when

Adbusters publishes a blog post calling for ‘a shift in revolutionary tactics’ and urging tens of thousands of people to converge on lower Manhattan.

Further down the time line we find this:

Oct. 1: More than 700 demonstrators are arrested during a march across the Brooklyn Bridge. Police officials say they targeted only those protesters who clogged traffic lanes instead of taking the pedestrian walkway. …

No information about what “those protesters” said about these arrests, or what video showed, and it’s a very different story.

More broadly, it would be interesting to see an accompanying time line of NPR / MSM’s coverage at each of these dates. NPR’s efforts to maintain its ‘An NPR mind in a FOX world’ progressive bona fides, while simultaneously and strongly attempting to please the Right, is a good example of the same general lean-to-the-Right balancing act seen in other media, as well as in some in “progressive” organizations and Democratic Party.

Then there’s this story from Think Progress, out today: “Radio Show Distributed By NPR Fires Host After She Takes Part In Protests.” Zaid Jilani writes:

On Tuesday, Roll Call ran a story noting that Lisa Simeone — a radio personality who hosts the shows World of Opera and Soundprint — has been taking part in and serving as an informal spokeswoman for anti-war protests in Washington, DC known as October 2011 … . The Daily Caller and Fox News soon picked up on the story, attempting to stir a controversy.

The attempts were successful. Simeone does not work for NPR, but hosts a show produced by WDAV, which NPR distributes to other NPR stations. And yet …

… NPR reacted sharply to pressure from conservative media outlets, sending out an e-mail to its staffers noting that it was ‘in conversations’ with radio station WDAV … (about) ‘how to handle this. We of course take this issue very seriously.’ And late last night, WDAV caved to pressure from NPR and fired Simeone from her job hosting Soundpoint … .
In an interview with journalist David Swanson, Simeone noted … ‘I’m … not a news reporter. I don’t cover politics. I’ve never brought a whiff of my political activities into the work I’ve done for NPR World of Opera. What is NPR afraid I’ll do — insert a seditious comment into a synopsis of Madame Butterfly?

Well you know, you can’t put anything past those ungrateful, socialist, lazy, dirty hippie, opera loving radicals.

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“The 99 Percent Declaration” from “An OWS Working Group”

By Joyce Arnold on 19 October 2011

Joyce L. Arnold, Liberally Independent, Queer Talk, equality activist, writer.

Something a bit different today – the release from “An OWS Working Group Committed to Elect a Non-Partisan National General Assembly” is getting some attention, though based on the one thing I’ve seen at OWS, the “working group” isn’t mentioned by name. An OWS Snapshot post this afternoon included this:

Demands: A group claiming to be on the verge of issuing demands for #OWS has gotten the attention of a story hungry media. We are our demands. #OWS is conversation, organization, and action focused on ending the tyranny of the 1%.

And that seems to indicate the issuers of the Declaration are not directly tied to OWS. But of course, the whole “organic” process is, in part, about people being able to speak up. Decisions are generally worked out in the daily “General Assemblies,” but it’s possible some folks would decide to move on something like this “Declaration.” Regardless of any of that, it’s an interesting read, and one thing is clear: when it comes to direct, participatory democracy, there are people on Right and Left who get very, very nervous. Simply put, they fear losing control.

I’ll return to more updating tomorrow, but I see this as a basis for general conversation about Occupy. Via The99PercentDeclaration: (all emphasis mine)

WHEREAS THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION PROVIDES:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
BE IT RESOLVED THAT:
WE, THE NINETY-NINE PERCENT OF THE PEOPLE of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in order to form a more perfect Union, by, for and of the PEOPLE, shall elect and convene a NATIONAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY beginning on July 4, 2012 in the City Of Philadelphia.
I. Election of Delegates:
The People, consisting of all United States citizens who have reached the age of 18, regardless of party affiliation and voter registration status, shall elect Two Delegates, one male and one female, by direct vote, from each of the existing 435 Congressional Districts to represent the People at the NATIONAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY in Philadelphia. Said Assembly shall convene on July 4, 2012 in the city of Philadelphia.
II. Meeting of the National General Assembly and Deliberation:
At the NATIONAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY, the 870 Delegates shall set forth, consider and vote upon a PETITION OF GRIEVANCES to be submitted to all members of Congress, The Supreme Court and President and each of the political candidates running in the nationwide Congressional and Presidential election in November 2012. The Delegates of the National General Assembly shall vote upon and implement their own agenda … (with the) goal of presenting a PETITION OF GRIEVANCES from the 99% of Americans before the 2012 elections.
III. Proposed Petition for the Redress of Grievances:
The PETITION OF GRIEVANCES shall be non-partisan and address the critical issues now confronting the People of the United States. … Below is a suggested list of grievances respectfully submitted by the OWS Working Group on the 99% Declaration. The final version of the PETITION OF GRIEVANCES voted upon by the Delegates of the National General Assembly MAY or MAY NOT include the following suggested issues … .

What follows is a list of twenty “grievances,” which include:

1. Implementing an immediate ban on all private contributions of money and gifts, to all politicians in federal office … to be replaced by the fair and equal public financing of all federal political campaigns… .
5. A complete reformation of the United States Tax Code to require ALL citizens to pay a fair share of a progressive, graduated income tax … .
6. Medicare for all American citizens or another single-payer healthcare system, adjusted by a means test … .
9. Passage of a comprehensive job and job-training act … .
10. Student loan debt relief. …
11. Immediate passage of the Dream Act and comprehensive immigration and border security reform … .
16. Immediate reenactment of the Glass-Steagall Act and increased regulation of Wall Street and the financial industry … .
18. An immediate one year freeze on all foreclosures to be reviewed by an independent foreclosure task force … .
20. An immediate withdrawal of all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan … .

I selected as I did in an attempt to show the variety of “grievances,” not to indicate these are more important than others.

Here’s how they conclude The Declaration:

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that IF the PETITION OF GRIEVANCES approved by the 870 Delegates of the NATIONAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY in consultation with the PEOPLE, is not acted upon by Congress, the President, and Supreme Court, to the satisfaction of the Delegates of the NATIONAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY, said Delegates shall organize a THIRD, COMPLETELY NON-PARTISAN, INDEPENDENT POLITICAL PARTY to run candidates for every available Congressional seat in the mid-term election of 2014 and again in 2016 until all vestiges of the existing corrupt corporatocracy have been removed by the ballot box.

The Declaration efforts might be seen as one piece of the very much evolving process. Will it be helpful, divisive, irrelevant, a catalyst … or what? Participatory democracy playing out on a national, or rather international, stage.

(Photo via OWS)

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OWS sign: “The thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes rebellion”

By Joyce Arnold on 16 October 2011

Joyce L. Arnold, Liberally Independent, Queer Talk, equality activist, writer

That sign – “The thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes rebellion” – points to one reason people often don’t want to acknowledge why activists create movements. And the following may be one of the best / worst comments I’ve seen regarding the Occupy movement. It’s getting quite a bit of attention. An NYC visitor finds herself near the OWS marchers, and offers her opinion. Via Press Democrat:

Sandra Fox, 69, of Baton Rouge, La., stood, confused, on 46th Street with a ticket for ‘Anything Goes’ in her hand as riot police pushed a knot of about 200 shouting protesters toward her.
‘I think it’s horrible what they’re doing,’ she said of the protesters. ‘These people need to go get jobs.’

Label the protestors as something bad, and avoid seeing the realities they’re protesting. Nothing new, but still one powerful way to attempt to control, or just not deal with, a popular uprising. So if you don’t have a job, it must be because you don’t want one, or haven’t tried hard enough to get one. Or something bad about you. Because, that’s what “the news” and many Electeds tell us.

Or not. These tweets, via OWS are interesting:

sinkspout: Just checked the Sunday Morning Talking Heads… Yesterday Occupy the world did not happen. Fox is pushing the GOP Circus Clowns. & other networks drumming up war with IRAN.
EdNDeb4858 RT @ProgressivePam: Just came back from Europe where #OWS is getting 10x as much coverage as in the USA. The world is watching even if MSM isn’t.

In general, MSM actually is “watching” more now, of course. It just took them a while to catch up that something important is happening. How well, when and what they report varies greatly.

So, a few links to help you find out more, these directly from Occupy and related sites:

One headline today at OWS: “From Tahrir Square to Times Square: Protests Erupt in Over 1,500 Cities Worldwide.”

Via Occupy Together, as of about 3 PM EST, Occupy meetups in 1345 cities.

At People’s Library : “During our Library Working Group meeting today, we were thrilled to get a hand delivered letter from the Occupy Portland Library (Oregon).”

From the post We Invite You To Talk About the Issues in Freedom Plaza: “One of the beautiful aspects of the occupation is that it has brought people out into the open to talk about the issues.”

Another great set of photos, via Flickr.

And here’s another way to be an Occupier, even if you can’t physically join a group. Via Occupy the Board Room:

The 1% Have Addresses. The 99% have messages.
Life gets awfully lonely for those at the top. What can we do to let them know someone’s thinking of them? Maybe they need some new friends! We’ve thought of two ways we could help them with that.
Option 1: Pen Pals
Make your voice heard directly to the Wall Street elites who wrecked the economy and made the rest of us pay. Click on someone below and tell them a story that you think they should listen to. Just got a college degree and nothing to show for it? Just got evicted while your banker gets bonuses? Share your special story with someone who ought to know.
Option 2: Best Friends Forever
If you’re feeling even more generous, why not reach out to one of these folks in a more creative way? Click on a banker below, then read the instructions and examples to get inspired. Maybe your banker needs some kind words, or maybe an intervention. Most importantly, use your imagination! …

Before going any further, I want to add this from the Occupy Board Room folks:

We hope you become pals with [name of bank executive or board member you’ve selected] — but be sure to do it in a constructive manner that helps build the movement for a better world. DO NOT intimidate, harass or threaten anyone, no matter what you might think of them.* Think funny! The #OWS movement emphasizes peaceful, non-violent protesting.

Possible “pen pals” and “best friends” are from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Bank of America, JPMorgan, Chase and Wells Fargo.

Don’t forget the livestream at OWS. If you haven’t watched, including what goes on at the daily General Assemblies, I encourage you to check it out – democracy in action.

And now for one of the very best ways to listen in on the Occupation, a few words from the Twitter stream at OWS.

Video of #NYPD horses spooking and running into people. It is reckless to bring horses into a crowd this size. http://t.co/N2TFofQS #ows
CoveringDelta RT @LucyKafanov: Excellent #OWS video shot by @kstrel of Citibank customers arrested while trying to close accounts #OccupyWallStreet http://t.co/aPukAyJs39
CharlesBivona #Chicago || Police arrest 175 in Grant Park at #OccupyWallStreet #protest – http://t.co/oT6WCu0O #ows
OzzyBaxter RT @mtracey: At @OccupyPhoenix, police overrode the authority of the mayor – who had approved the occupation – and arrested 40+ http://t.co/l2n6ARko #OWS
Samology RT @OpWallStreet: Message to police worldwide – YOU CAN’T ARREST AN IDEA! Retweet #OWS #OccupyWallStreet
progressnow1 RT @YourAnonNews: In case you haven’t seen this video, it’s the most cut and dry case of #NYPD entrapment I’ve seen to date http://t.co/glWZeRM6 #ows2
mtlunasea RT @OccupyMedia: #OccupyMedia 20+ Arrested at Occupy Raleigh For NO REASON! http://t.co/oiOaW2dR #OWS

I’d love to have any information and links you have, especially to local Occupy events, along with your comments in general.

(Photo via Occupy Together)

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Occupy gears up for 15 October global day of action

By Joyce Arnold on 14 October 2011

Joyce L. Arnold, Liberally Independent, Queer Talk, equality activist, writer

No one knows if or when NYC might decide to try to use cleaning Zuccotti Park, or as OWS has renamed it, Liberty Plaza, as a way to end, or at least curtail and contain, the Occupy movement. After celebrating last night’s win, OWS turned back to getting ready for tomorrow, and their participation in the international 15th October “UNITED FOR #GLOBALCHANGE” events. At last look, 15th October reported 951 participating cities in 82 countries. And by the way, Occupy Together, as of 6 PM EST, listed 1561 Occupy cities with meetups.

From OWS:

Over 3,000 people gathered at Liberty Plaza in the pre-dawn hours this morning to defend the peaceful Occupation near Wall Street. The crowd cheered at the news that multinational real estate firm Brookfield Properties will postpone its so-called ‘cleanup’ of the park and that Mayor Bloomberg has told the NYPD to stand down on orders to remove protesters. On the eve of the October 15 global day of action against Wall Street greed, this development has emboldened the movement and sent a clear message that the power of the people has prevailed against Wall Street. …

On October 15th, Occupy Wall Street will demonstrate in concert over 951 cities in 82 countries and counting as people around the globe protest in an international day of solidarity against the greed and corruption of the 1%.

One happening tonight in NYC, via OWS:

Parents bring Children to #ows tonight
Families are joining the movement to reclaim our future from Wall Street tonight by joining a child-friendly camp out at Liberty Square. The presence of children and youth in the occupation highlights the threat Wall Street’s greed poses to future generations. …
Family Sleep Over @ Occupy Wall Street Press Conference When: Friday, Oct. 14, 8 p.m. Where: 60 Wall Street (public atrium)

Those darn radical, left-wing, socialist, dirty hippies – what will they think of next, bringing the innocent children to such a place? Of course, quite a few innocent children are living in poverty, so a sleep-over in the park might sound like a step up.

Via TruthOut, If a Republican Were President:

If a Republican were president, there would be millions of properly coiffed middle-class Democrats and independents at those Occupy Wall Street marches, and no questions asked as to what they really want. With 25 million Americans unable to find full-time work, 50 million whose homeownership dream has turned into the nightmare of foreclosure, and an all-time high of 46.2 million — including 22 percent of our children — living in poverty, the call to throw the bums out would be compelling. …
No doubt many reasonable Americans will view Obama as the lesser evil come election time, and for some, that will prove compelling. But I take the dreary choices to be one akin to a form of slow torture. Better to support the Occupy Wall Street protests as an inspiring alternative.

And what might the Obama administration be thinking about all of this? Tim Geithner was on CNBC today, and here’s an excerpt from a piece by David Dayen at FDR, Geithner on Wall Street Prosecutions: Just You Wait!:

Asked on CNBC about the Occupy Wall Street movement’s frustrations over the lack of criminal charges related to the financial crisis, Geithner said action is on the way.
‘You’ve seen very, very dramatic enforcement actions already by the enforcement authorities across the U.S. government, and I’m sure you’re going to see more to come. You should stay tuned for that,’ he said. …
And also, in response to the concerns of Occupy Wall Street protesters:
‘What you see is a general sense across the country of concern that the U.S. economy is not growing faster, you’re not seeing incomes rise more rapidly, and people want to make sure that the government, Washington, is acting to make things better now. As part of that, they want to see us deliver much stronger protections for consumers and investors as an economy as a whole,’ Geithner said … .
‘What we’re focused on is trying to make sure that we are doing everything to encourage Congress. … to take some steps now that can make growth stronger in the United States, and tie that to reforms to bring down our long-term deficits,’ he said. …
To the extent that there’s a disconnect between the protesters and liberal elites, I think Geithner just exemplified it.

Finally, I’ll close again with some tweets from the OWS site, simply because I think they provide a very important perspective.

zpro RT @BorowitzReport: Finally they’re arresting people on Wall Street, but it’s the wrong people. #OWS
PrivonG 1:40 RT @reason: Vid: #NYPD decks #OWS protester http://t.co/lwnSCbAU #Occupy #OccupyWallStreet #tlot #libertarian
EdNDeb4858 RT @RasMarcus: #occupysd video of Police Chief gone viral ‘in the 60’s we’d-a-gone wadeing into that with sticks and clubs’ #ows http://t.co/q30DYMuT
mcmillan9 Thank you San Antonio Park Police 4 allowing #occupysanantonio 2 peaceably assemble! Ur communication w/us is greatly appreciated. #ows
AJOKERONJACK RT @WATMAB: #OccupyTampa has been given two hours to CLEAR OUT of PUBLIC SPACE or face ARREST. Please Contact Mayor Buckhorn (813) 274-8251 #OWS

(Photo via 15th October)

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Liberally Independent: “Hopping mad” and “scared”

By Joyce Arnold on 14 October 2011

Joyce L. Arnold: Liberal, lesbian, Independent, equality activist, writer.

How do you change an entrenched system, one designed, funded, maintained by and for the benefit of a handful of the wealthiest of the wealthy, and by necessity, the benefit of the lesser (but still way above the majority of people’s incomes) class which directly serves them? Multiple ways and means, from electoral politics to Occupying your own world, creating spaces for conversation, analyses, options, experiments. New experiments, or at least, variations of the ongoing “experiment of democracy.” And we certainly need something new, which is what the Occupy movement is at least in part about.

But of course, the troubles within the Two Corporate Parties of our Corporate Nation have been visible, and growing, for a long time. Occupy is growing out of years, decades of a “rotten at the top” reality. What follows are excerpts from a few news and analysis pieces that are at least in part talking about our Two Party system. Even at the DC level, Electeds are acknowledging problems. As for the rest of us, we’re way past that point.

John Harwood, at the NY Times’ blog The Caucus:

Every poll shows it: Americans are hopping mad at Washington.
Well, Washington’s mad, too.
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, has had recent disagreements with a fellow Democrat, William M. Daley, the White House chief of staff, over the handling of recent legislative issues. …
Congressional Democrats are mad at Democrats in the White House over prerogatives, consultation and divergent interests.
Senior Republicans on Capitol Hill are mad at junior Republicans over the balance between ideological zeal and political pragmatism.
Workhorses in the House are mad at divas in the Senate over everything, because they always are.
Former advisers to President Obama are mad at current advisers over economic and political strategy.
The White House staff is mad at the White House press corps over how its battles with Republican adversaries are covered. …

You don’t hear much “My good friend from across the aisle” language any more.

As Brian Beutler, at TPM, puts it, “Congressional Dysfunction Begins To Spook Old Pros.”

Congress has always been Washington’s whipping boy, particularly near election time. The antics get sillier, the pace shifts from glacial to gridlock, and the frustrated public gets daily reminders that lawmakers are often too mired in politics to function in the national interest.
That’s not news.
What is news is that this time it’s starting to scare the pros.
The GOP’s hyper-partisan turn after Barack Obama’s victory in 2008 meant 112th Congress was destined to test the limits of dysfunctional governance. But it also happened to coincide with a moment in history when the country needed the government to do better than the bare minimum. Instead, it’s done less. And that’s shaken people who’ve spent their careers steering the ship of state.

Beutler then quotes former Def. Sec. Robert Gates as an example of a “pro” being “scared.”

‘I do believe that we are now in uncharted waters when it comes to the dysfunction in our political system … . It appears that as a result of several long-building, polarizing trends in American politics and culture, we have lost the ability to execute even the basic functions of government much less solve the most difficult and divisive problems facing the country. Thus, I am more concerned than I have ever been about the state of American governance.’

Krugman broadens the focus in Panic of the Plutocrats, an October 9 column.

It remains to be seen whether the Occupy Wall Street protests will change America’s direction. Yet the protests have already elicited a remarkably hysterical reaction from Wall Street, the super-rich in general, and politicians and pundits who reliably serve the interests of the wealthiest hundredth of a percent.
And this reaction tells you something important — namely, that the extremists threatening American values are what F.D.R. called ‘economic royalists,’ not the people camping in Zuccotti Park. …
The way to understand all of this is to realize that it’s part of a broader syndrome, in which wealthy Americans who benefit hugely from a system rigged in their favor react with hysteria to anyone who points out just how rigged the system is. …
This special treatment can’t bear close scrutiny — and therefore, as they see it, there must be no close scrutiny. Anyone who points out the obvious, no matter how calmly and moderately, must be demonized and driven from the stage.

There’s much more of this sort of analysis. Earlier this week Chris Hedges, at Truthdig, wrote Why the Elites Are in Trouble. On the same day Katrina vanden Heuvel, at WaPo, wrote Will Occupy Wall Street’s spark reshape our politics?.

Three weeks ago, Larry Pinkney’s “Notes on a developing revolution” appeared in the Intrepid Report.

There is, to be sure, a people’s revolution developing in the United States. …
This is a revolution that is in the making ITALICS in spite of ITALICS the corporate-stream media, not because of it.
Neither corporate-government subterfuge or the phony manipulative ping-pong rhetoric of Republicrat [i.e. Democrat & Republican party] politicians can stop this revolution for real systemic change. This is a bottom-up revolution that begins with critically thinking people of all colors and both genders. …

In a March 4, 2011, Intrepid piece, A manifesto for the impending second American revolution, Carmen Yarrusso begins:

The elite oligarchs are getting fabulously rich while a record 44,000,000 Americans live in poverty, a record 40,000,000 Americans rely on food stamps, 30,000,000 Americans are unemployed or underemployed, a record 6,000,000 Americans have given up looking for a job, millions of Americans have lost their homes to foreclosure by the same banksters bailed out by billions of our tax dollars, and, unlike our privileged ‘representatives’ in Washington, 51,000,000 Americans have no health insurance. America is ripe for revolution. …

He argues that the needed reform can’t come by way of a “deeply corrupt political system.”

The only thing our just-for-show elections change is which special interests get our tax dollars and how much they get. …
Quite simply, it’s either revolution or business as usual. Our political system is openly rigged to prevent any real reform. Besides, the elite oligarchs controlling our government would never give up their power … short of a revolt by the American people. …

Hopping mad. Dysfunction. Scared. Panic. In trouble. Deeply corrupt. All of that, describing our Two Party System. No wonder another word you hear is “revolution.”

( Photo via ThinkProgress )

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Liberally Independent: The Electeds are Getting Nervous

By Joyce Arnold on 13 October 2011

Joyce L. Arnold: Liberal, lesbian, Independent, equality activist, writer.

Joyce L. Arnold: Liberal, lesbian, Independent, equality activist, writer. At TaylorMarsh: Liberally Independent, including the Two Parties series, and Queer Talk

The rumors were there last night, that Bloomberg may choose to close down the Occupy Wall Street camp, due to “sanitation” reasons. This afternoon he followed through. See Taylor’s earlier post for details.

From OWS EMERGENCY CALL TO ACTION: Keep Bloomberg and Kelly From Evicting #OWS.

EMERGENCY #OWS EVICTION DEFENSE:
Prevent the forcible closure of Occupy Wall Street …
NEED MASS TURN-OUT, SHOW UP AT MIDNIGHT, NOT 6 A.M.
This is an emergency situation. Please take a minute to read this, and please take action and spread the word far and wide.
Occupy Wall Street is gaining momentum, with occupation actions now happening in cities across the world.
But last night Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD notified Occupy Wall Street participants about plans to “clean the park”—the site of the Wall Street protests—tomorrow starting at 7am. ‘Cleaning’ was used as a pretext to shut down ‘Bloombergville’ a few months back, and to shut down peaceful occupations elsewhere.
Bloomberg says that the park will be open for public usage following the cleaning, but with a notable caveat: Occupy Wall Street participants must follow the ‘rules’.
NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has said that they will move in to clear us and we will not be allowed to take sleeping bags, tarps, personal items or gear back into the park.
This is it – this is their attempt to shut down #OWS for good.

And this. Clearly they are not backing down. How To Hold Your Ground:

Basic Strategy: Sit down, link arms and do not let go! If the police drag you away, you can comply or go limp (both calmly and silently) which is arguably not resisting arrest. Please also respect a diversity of tactics.
For those of you who plan to stick around PAST MIDNIGHT—which we hope will be all of you—make sure you understand the possible consequences. Be prepared to not get much sleep. Be prepared for possible arrest. Make sure your items are together and ready to go (or already out of the park.) We are pursuing all possible strategies; this is a message of solidarity.

I wrote in yesterday’s Occupy post that, “The efforts from the Left seem to be morphing, predictably, into co-opting, with 2012 in mind. That is, and will continue to be, resisted, I think.” I also noted a recent piece from William Rivers Pitt, at Truthout, in which he concluded that, “distasteful as it may be,” the better choice by OWS is to accept the offer of support from the Dems.

Including the Democratic Party will raise the profile of the movement, and make it more difficult for it to be undermined.

My comment then, and now, is that “this way leads to co-optation.”

If you’re OWS, why should you trust the Democratic Party, and at least some of the progressive organizations with very close ties to that party, all of whom are looking with great concern at 2012? And none of whom have been particularly interested in you until you worked your way into the news cycle? Add this: would you maybe be tempted to do so if, say, Mayor Bloomberg said he was going to shut you down? Of course, there’s also the possibility that the Dems and some of those progressive organizations will be (behind the scenes) cheering Bloomberg’s steps … they can say they (finally) supported you, even that they’re really sorry it all had to end with the closing of the camp, but hey, why don’t all you OWS people join the Obama campaign, where professional organizers will show you how to get things done? Or, just go away.

Okay, pure speculation on my part, with a side of conspiracy theory. So I might as well add a couple of more pieces. First, this Saturday is the international “October 15” event, and Occupy, in NYC and many other places, have planned to participate with big action, and likely lots of participation. Maybe the largest so far. OCTOBER 15TH:

719 cities – 71 countries
OCTOBER 15TH
UNITED FOR #GLOBALCHANGE
On October 15th people from all over the world will take to the streets and squares.
From America to Asia, from Africa to Europe, people are rising up to claim their rights and demand a true democracy. Now it is time for all of us to join in a global non violent protest.

Second, this from The Denver Post Occupy Denver protesters hold meeting in preparation of expected nighttime eviction:

Protesters who have camped on a strip of state land in front of the Capitol held a meeting this afternoon to warn about an expected clash between police later tonight.
‘You have all heard the rumors. Something is going to be happening tonight. Things are going to get hairy,’ said Becca Chavez at the 3 p.m. ‘general assembly meeting’ among Occupy Denver protesters.
Chavez and a group of about 50 protesters were meeting in reaction to Gov. John Hickenlooper’s press conference this morning with Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, where the three ordered the protesters to disperse from the State Capitol Grounds Park after 11 p.m. or face arrest.

Occupy will keep up the fight. It could even be that this decision will end up providing even more energy and bringing more people to the Occupy movement.

( Photo via Alternet )

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Liberally Independent: Occupy Day 26 and ‘Tax Me’

By Joyce Arnold on 12 October 2011

Joyce L. Arnold: Liberal, lesbian, Independent, equality activist, writer. At TaylorMarsh: Liberally Independent, including the Two Parties series, and Queer Talk

As I’ve said a few times now, and no doubt will say again: OWS has created spaces for conversations outside the economic / political system, outside the Two Party Front for the Oligarchy. It isn’t that such conversation weren’t occurring before. They were; they have been, for decades. But now there are these very visible and hearable expressions of the many who are basically saying: No matter how many times the Two Parties and the MSM tell us differently, the emperor hasn’t a stitch of clothes on, and he’s in the same room with the elephant (and the donkey).

From the Right, the predictable responses continue – lots of negativity, though now with a bit of acknowledgement that there’s some sort of problem. For one example of the “not subtle and thoroughly skewed to the Right” response, you can follow the link in this tweet, which appears on the OWS feed:

yankeemom Where would you want your kid to be? #TeaParty vs Occupy Wall Street in pictures | http://t.co/jE7FqtN3 #tcot #ows #teamhobbit

It’s a series of photos, with “good” Tea Partiers on the left (which positioning I find kind of funny) opposed to “bad” Occupiers on the right. Naturally you’re suppose to want your kid (which you are presumed to have) to be a Tea Partier. Some of the Occupier photos aren’t exactly inspiring, but of course, that’s why they were used.

The efforts from the Left seem to be morphing, predictably, into co-opting, with 2012 in mind. That is, and will continue to be, resisted, I think. The ones with the money don’t always win. They often win, but not always. The use of “too big to fail,” as applied to the “99%”, points to the obvious fact that non-1%, or probably more accurately, non-10% to 20% people, are largely seen (if and when they are actually “seen”) as background and pieces to be used as needed.

A few links to check out for Occupy news coverage and analysis:

Via Journalism.org, “Occupy Wall Street Drives Economic Coverage”:

The economy reclaimed its perch at the top of the news agenda as the No. 1 story last week, largely driven by dramatically increasing media attention to the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations.

A first-hand account from Lynn Parramore, at Alternet, “Millionaire’s March: Protesters Hit the Streets in NY and Visit the 1 Percent at Their Homes”.

The photo above, via Buzzfeed, shows that there are people at the top who do “get” what’s happening. And shows the dangers of lumping individuals into one “category.”

Another direct account, this from Kristen Gwynne, also via Alternet, “Inside Occupy Wall Street: Journalist-Participant Describes What Life Is Really Like (Complicated and Inspiring) at Zuccotti Park”.

This one directly raises the question of what OWS should do with new-found Democratic Party “solidarity” – William Rivers Pitt, at TruthOut writes “A Delicate Moment for the Occupy Wall Street Movement”:

Another delicate moment looms for the movement, one you can file under ‘With Friends Like These…’ Yes, everyone can relax, because the Democratic Party is coming to the hoedown. The very politicians whose inactivity and collusion regarding Wall Street excesses made this movement necessary in the first place have licked their finger, put it to the wind, and decided it is safe to come out and play:
Prominent House Democrats are embracing the Occupy Wall Street protests as demonstrations are spreading across the country and gaining support from traditional progressive institutions. …
The co-chairs of the Progressive Caucus, Reps. Keith Ellison and Raul Grijalva, issued a joint statement to express ‘solidarity’ with the movement … .
Even Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, the second-ranking House Democrat, agreed that there were similarities between the protesters’ message and Democratic priorities. …
Howls of outrage and disgust from OWS activists and supporters could be heard all up and down the Eastern seaboard when word reached them of their new prospective allies. No, no, and hell no, went the refrain. These are the same politicians who line the pockets of the very people being protested, and now all of a sudden they want to join the struggle? The OWS movement is protesting the Democrats as much as it protesting against the rest of the crooked institutional theft machine that shattered the economy in the first place.

So, how to respond, welcome or not welcome the Dems? Pitt’s conclusion:

Personally, I incline to the latter choice, distasteful as it may be. Including the Democratic Party will raise the profile of the movement, and make it more difficult for it to be undermined. Time will tell if they are too undermined by their own participation in the economic collapse to be of any assistance, and it is certain that their inclusion will leave a bad taste in many mouths.

Personally, I’m inclined to think “this way leads to co-optation.”

A few links to check out for some OWS actions and comments:

OccupyTogether provides a link to livestream options, in NYC and elsewhere. It’s also the site where Occupy related meetups are registered. As of 2:00 PM EST, that number stood at 1381.

From “Best Comments Today” section at OWS:

sqrltyler …
The divide and conquer spin zone is in full effect, as The Republicans shun us, while The Democrats try to own the movement.
We need to continue to make it VERY clear. Neither party represents The American People. Both parties are owned and controlled by the elites who have destroyed our economy, and flushed our prosperity down the toilet. …
We are not Democrats. We are not Republicans. We are Americans.

A good way to close, with selected tweets, also from OWS:

occupySYDNEY RT @owsbot: City of Dallas requires that #OccupyDallas have $1,000,000 insurance policy to protest. Free assembly not a right. http://t.co/4EwL4uqb #ows
bfbarbie RT @ToneyBrooks: The #OWS movement’s about ‘change you can believe in.’ It has nothing, and wants nothing, to do with the US political axis of corruption.
awatsonphoto RT @Franke4Congress: Wow. RT @RANKIS Kentucky city commissioner: ‘I feel like going Taliban’ on Occupy protesters | The Raw Story: http://t.co/QlXAxAus #OWS #p2
sunami495 RT @anonyops_: The @NYCLU plans to deliver hundreds of water bottles with ‘know your rights’ labels to #occupywallstreet #ows tomorrow. #anonyops #Respect
setv Bob Marley – Get Up Stand Up Live In Dortmund, Germany http://t.co/q6oGDnnR #occupywallstreet #ows #occupydallas #occupychicago

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Liberally Independent: Occupy and “Class Warfare,” October 10

By Joyce Arnold on 10 October 2011

Joyce L. Arnold: Liberal, lesbian, Independent, equality activist, writer. At TaylorMarsh: Liberally Independent, including the Two Parties series, and Queer Talk

This daily update regarding Occupy, as I wrote in yesterday’s initial post, will provide links to new information and developments, as well as to analyses from various sources reflecting, or reflecting on, the grassroots side of things, mostly. The updates will by necessity be selective. There is a rapidly expanding amount of attention being given the whole Occupy movement (as some are now calling it), and of course, what’s coming from internal to Occupy is also growing. So what I can do here is cursory. Of course, I won’t be able to resist a bit of commentary and analysis along the way.

First, OccupyWallSt is the primary stop, as is Occupy Wall Street Press. One story is from someone who identifies as a former tea partier:

You may not believe me, but I want your movement to succeed. From a former tea partier to you, young new rebels, there’s some advice to prevent what happened to our now broken movement from happening to you. I don’t agree with everything your movement does, but I sympathize with your cause and agree on our common enemy.

I check Occupy Together out several times a day, to watch the numbers grow. As of about 4:00 PM EST, the total number of cities registered where Occupy related actions and meetups are happening was 1209.

At Truthout, William Rivers Pitt provides one take on how Occupy is being seen, in Bank On It: They’re Scared, citing an internal bank memo.

It’s a movement now.
And they’re scared.
… I know because a friend in San Francisco took the time to transcribe a document he was given by the major bank he works for. The document, titled ‘Protest Safety Handbook,’ explains what a bank employee should do when confronted with the horror and terror of an OWS protest.
I am leaving the name of the bank out of this to protect my friend. Some tidbits: …
‘These types of groups are reaching out to the disengaged and disenfranchised population of the United States for members, often encouraging the unemployed and homeless to join the movement. … While this group has not yet resorted to violence the possibility exists that they can.’

What follows is a rather lengthy “Safety Tips” list of what to do if you have to go anywhere near the “disengaged and disenfranchised” group, including avoiding poorly lit areas, avoiding wearing Bank ID in public, and keeping your cell phone with you, charged and pre-set with emergency numbers.

Which sounds kind of silly, but when you consider the “class warfare” language being used, it might become a bit less ridiculous. Sure, this is a scare tactic, but it’s also a classic Us and Them division. Maybe the DC Electeds are feeling neglected – the people are suppose to pay attention to them, not each other. Or maybe it’s just their continuing inability / unwillingness to understand what’s happening. Or maybe, they do “get” – if in top down kind of way – that what’s happening with Occupy and beyond actually is about “class” and a kind of “warfare.” And it scares them sillier than usual.

From Rob Kall at OpEdNews:

Herman Cain says Occupy Wall Street protests should go to the White House. Willy Geist on Morning Joe says ‘I’m glad to see it’s moving to Washington,’ referring to the frustration that’s being manifested on the streets. …
Cain and Geist don’t get the Occupy Wall Street movement because it is anything but about Washington. One thing that’s become clear to me … is that people no longer have faith in elected officials. … The members of the Occupy communities see the Occupy movement as an alternative, as an extra-legislative approach to making change happen. …
… it seems to me that the true power of the Occupy movement is not at the Wall Street Location, not at the Washington DC Freedom Plaza or McPherson Square locations. They are important, but the real power of the Occupy movement is in the burgeoning explosion of Occupy communities that are happening locally … not in the big cities where protests usually happen. …
There has been a class war going on, against the middle class, for at least a decade, probably more like 20 or 30 years. It’s a bi-partisan war that many Democrats are also enabling, as well as Republicans. …
When people like Eric Cantor suggest that Obama or Occupy Wall Street people are engaging in class warfare, he’s right. To suggest that they started it is totally dishonest. They are fighting back against the forces Cantor represents — corporatist forces.

A similar take from Al Jazeera’s Heather Parton, The class warfare the rich don’t understand, in which she writes about the build-up to the current Occupy moment:

It started early on in the crisis, when Jake de Santis an executive for the bailed out too big to fail insurance company AIG took to the pages of the New York Times to complain that he was being treated unfairly … .
Since then we have been treated to regular scoldings from the masters of the universe … . JP Morgan Chase chairman Jamie Dimon famously declared, ‘When I hear the constant vilification of corporate America, I personally don’t understand it.

Of course he doesn’t. He has no clue about the grassroots, real world experience of the “99%”. Parton cites the more recent class warfare charges specific to Occupy, then writes:

It’s easy to make light of all this – they are just that silly. But the truth is that in the age of Citizens United, these complaints carry a great deal of weight with both political parties.
It’s too soon to know if the nascent Occupy Wall Street movement will grow or if it will have staying power. … But the focus on Wall Street alone should be enough to make the 1 per cent take pause and question their assumptions. …
Is this a class war? Yes, probably. … in this latest battle, there’s little doubt who fired the first shot. When the financial crisis hit, the Masters of the Universe evaded responsibility and defiantly demanded more sacrifice from their victims. They enlisted their favoured politicians to hold the people hostage and then complained about being unloved despite their crimes. They have won all the early skirmishes – but the people are gathering their forces and starting to fight back.

One of the interesting, and helpful, things happening now is a lot more attention not just to the Occupiers, but to the analyses and commentaries and cries for attention and help that have been widely ignored for years. Or decades.

Assuming timing allows, tomorrow I’ll start looking at some of what’s happening in those 1207-and-growing cities and towns. If you know of local happenings, please jump in. We can have our own little version of Occupy.

( Photo via Common Dreams )

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Liberally Independent: It’s what Citigroup / Wall Street says about the economy, stupid

By Joyce Arnold on 07 October 2011

Joyce L. Arnold: Liberal, lesbian, Independent, equality activist, writer

This latest in the Two Parties, Too Few Choices series begins with the term used by Citigroup, back in 2005, to describe what they called “income and wealth inequality” – plutonomy.

But before looking at that, this provides some current context: From TPM:

President Obama tiptoed around a question on the Occupy Wall Street protests at his White House press conference on Thursday, telling reporters that he understood their ‘frustration’ without explicitly supporting or distancing himself from the movement.

As politicians and Electeds love to say, “Let me be clear” – things are well beyond “frustration.”

Now about Citigroup’s “plutonomy” – whatever terms you use to describe our economic and political realities, the bottom line is this: a tiny group of super wealthy are close to being in control of the international economy. That’s an “oligarchy,” (power held by a few), a “plutocracy” (power of wealth). That’s a description of how the vast majority of the world’s population is, to varying degrees, screwed, used, discarded or ignored by many of those at the top. That’s what Wall Street is happy with; what Citigroup calls the plutonomy, and anyone who doesn’t see the good of the plutocracy as good economics is just stupid. Or simply inconsequential.

You can check out the 2005 and 2006 Citigroup reports via Maximinlaw here and here. Reading it now, a few years after the releases, provides some more context for Occupy Wall Street, and the 2012 Two Corporate Parties’ version of democracy. From the second release, March 5, 2006, “Equity Strategy Revisiting Plutonomy: The Rich Getting Richer”: (all emphasis mine)

The latest Survey of Consumer Finances, for 2004, has been released by the Federal Reserve. It shows the rich continue to account for a disproportionately large share of income and wealth in the US economy : the richest 10% of Americans account for 43% of income, and 57% of net worth. … The rich are in great shape, financially. …
Asset booms, a rising profit share and favorable treatment by market-friendly governments have allowed the rich to prosper and become a greater share of the economy in the plutonomy countries.

Just a few more quotes, to be sure we have the peppy plutonomy pitch firmly in mind:

While the average consumer might not be feeling great, the important consumers – the richest 20%, who account, as we’ve shown, for 58% of income – are in good shape. …

What’s happening now, with Occupy Wall Street, with the October 2011 actions in DC, in cities and towns across the nation … these are challenges to the Two Party System, but more fundamentally yet, to the international “plutonomy.” Whether the challenge comes with the goal of making changes from within or without the system, the Democratic / Republican Duopoly remains the dominant means of control in our nation, having convinced many that challenges are futile. When the Challenged become annoyed enough to notice the Challengers, they have options in place, including: 1) ignore; 2) ridicule and/or condescendingly minimize and dismiss; 3) use the power of position, and the media, to misrepresent the activists; 4) apply pressure – by use of laws, codes, ordinances; by show of police force; by limiting internet access; 5) or maybe say you “understand,” but keep “doing something” vague, and possible only after the next election.

One of the most interesting things about Occupy Wall Street is watching how people – across the political spectrum – respond, both in terms of the amount of attention, and in terms of the interpretations applied. Watching the contortions to force OWS into a framework with which legacy parties and legacy media are comfortable is revealing, if unsurprising. Just as interesting is how people – Electeds, media and more – who only started paying attention two or three weeks into Occupy are now providing interpretations and critiques, including of the period when they weren’t paying attention.

I realize none of this is new information, in terms of the “plutonomy,” the economic system that exists with that top one to ten to twenty percent in mind. They’re the “important” people, the ones our two political parties exist to serve. Our assigned role is to vote for one or the other. It’s okay with those running the show if we question individual players, or level searing criticisms at one or both parties. Or at each other. It’s okay if we routinely flip the “majority.” All of that keeps us diverted. But they really, really don’t want us to question that Two Party System, and the “plutonomy” it serves.

One reason Occupy Wall Street is important is because people are finding ways to question by showing how our economic / political system is destroying lives. One place to hear what’s being said is an OWS related site, “We Are The 99 Percent”:

We are getting kicked out of our homes. … forced to choose between groceries and rent. … denied quality medical care. … suffering from environmental pollution. … working long hours for little pay and no rights, if we’re working at all. …

Follow OWS here, and check out Occupy Together for a regularly updated list of related actions around the world. As of late yesterday afternoon, 751 cities were listed.

From Political Ticker Dems attempt to harness anger at Wall Street.

From Common Dreams, How #OccupyWallStreet Is Evolving and Gaining Power.

From WaPO What does the economy look like where you live? Show us with your Instagram photos.

And for a new action, which began in DC yesterday, October 6, visit October 2011:

October 2011 is the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan and the beginning of the 2012 federal austerity budget. …
We call on people … who seek peace, economic justice, human rights and a healthy environment … to join together in Washington, D.C., beginning on Oct. 6, 2011, in nonviolent resistance similar to the Arab Spring and the Midwest awakening. …
We face ongoing wars and massive socio-economic and environmental destruction perpetrated by a corporate empire which is oppressing, occupying and exploiting the world. …

It’s unlikely to be a quick and dramatic success, but choices beyond the two options we’re suppose to accept are being created.

( Photo via ThinkProgress )

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Liberally Independent: Cain wins again, Perry playing defense again

By Joyce Arnold on 03 October 2011

Joyce L. Arnold: Liberal, lesbian, Independent, equality activist, writer.

(UPDATE at end )

Watching the GOP wannabe’s, and the voters they’re trying to win, remains a source of entertainment. Bachmann, and for that matter, Palin, seem mostly forgotten, at least at this point. Romney remains the “serious” candidate. Gingrich keeps trying to look serious, but no one seems to be listening. And the others just sort of trail along, to the next debate, or straw poll, or whatever.

Straw polls aren’t great measures of anything other than the, relatively speaking, few people who participate in them. But it’s still interesting that Herman Cain won another one. And Romney and Perry didn’t. This one was at last weekend’s National Federation of Republican Women’s Convention in Kansas City. According to an NBC poll, via The Hill:

Cain received 48.9 percent of the vote, well ahead of the second place finisher Texas Gov. Rick Perry at 14.1 percent.
Republican frontrunner former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney placed third in the poll with 13.3 percent. …
The win for Cain comes after his upset victory in last month’s Florida Presidency 5 Straw Poll. In that vote, Cain similarly won more votes than GOP frontrunners Perry and Romney combined.
Polls suggest Cain may be gaining from Perry’s missteps after a series of poor debate performances raised questions about the Texas governor’s candidacy.

A national Fox News’ poll last week showed Cain in third place with 17%, behind Romney and Perry.

In addition to debate problems, the expected increased national attention to Perry continues to raise questions. The most recent is around race. From David Muto at The Texas Tribune:

… on Sunday, a Washington Post report put the governor and his campaign back on the defensive over an uncomfortable issue for virtually any campaign: race.
The Post reported that Perry, early in his political career, had hosted friends and fellow lawmakers at a West Texas hunting camp known by a name that had been painted on a rock at the camp’s entrance: Niggerhead. Several sources said they had seen the name on the rock as recently as the 1990s. Another, a former ranch worker, claimed to have seen it in 2008.
Perry called the word an ‘offensive name that has no place in the modern world’ but said his mother and father had painted over the rock in the early 1980s, soon after Perry’s father had leased the land. …

Conflicting accounts of when the word was painted over – which action isn’t in doubt – continue to surface. Apparently at some point the rock was turned over. Cain, of course, picked up on this. From The Tribune:

On Sunday … Cain … seized on the story. ‘There isn’t a more vile, negative word than the N-word,’ Cain said on Fox News Sunday. ‘And for him to leave it there as long as he did before he painted over it, it’s just plain insensitive to a lot of black people in this country.’
The Perry camp disputed Cain’s – and the story’s – claims that the governor had been slow to remove the rock.
‘Mr. Cain is wrong about the Perry family’s quick action to eliminate the word on the rock, but is right the word written by others long ago is insensitive and offensive,’ said spokesman Ray Sullivan. ‘That is why the Perrys took quick action to cover and obscure it.’
As the Post, which has since defended the veracity of its reporting, notes, ‘How, when or whether he dealt with it when he was using the property is less clear and adds a dimension to the emerging biography of Perry.’

Adding “dimensions,” whatever extent based in reality, is just another fun factor of presidential campaign politics. Well, of political campaigns in general, but Perry and Cain are fairly new on the national scene, so the “dimensions” are more easily added.

UPDATE: Via TampaBay.com:

Fla poll: Romney 28%, Cain 24, Gingrich 10, Perry 9
… Cain is now running in second place in Florida now that his support surged nearly 19 percentage points after last month’s Republican Party of Florida’s Presidency 5 debate and straw poll, according to a survey of likely Florida voters conducted by Gainesville-based War Room Logistics, which typically polls for Republicans.
Meantime, Perry’s support plummeted nearly 16 percentage points.

(Photos via Herman Cain Campaign and Texas Tribune)

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Queer Talk: Unrest and 2012

By Joyce Arnold on 01 October 2011

Joyce L. Arnold: Liberal, lesbian, Independent, equality activist, writer.

Kerry Eleveld’s recent article, What Gay Rights Activists Can Teach the Left About Winning, is an important take on activism, LGBT and otherwise, in this 2012 election cycle. She begins:

Remember when you believed that if we just elected enough Democrats to Congress and took the White House, we could take this country back?

Actually, no, I don’t remember that, because I didn’t believe that. But the point she’s making is valid – there were legitimate expectations of “hope and change.” There were also those who don’t think electing any one person is ever going to mean the end of the need for activism and feet-holding-to-the-fire accountability. The 2008 election was one piece of a much bigger picture. And Obama was / is just one person in that same much bigger picture. An election win can, occasionally, be of the “life changing” variety, but our Two Party Corporate system isn’t seriously challenged by one or two or more election cycles.

That’s a part of what Eleveld’s piece is about. She mentions Keith Harrington, an environmental activist who volunteered many hours with the Obama 2008 campaign.

But his actions and those of his fellow activists embody a realization that many progressives have had: It wasn’t enough to elect historic Democratic majorities to Congress and place a Democrat in the Oval Office. …
… that’s why LGBT activists started handcuffing themselves to the fence that forms the perimeter around the White House, showing up at presidential events and sometimes shouting down Obama … .
After studying Obama as a member of the press corps for nearly four years, the only time I have seen the fire of true indignation flare in his eyes is when he feels as though the left is questioning the authenticity of his progressive ideals.

Eleveld notes that not all LGBT’s favor the criticisms of Obama. Writing at Bilreco, for example, Bil Browning says:

For all those who keep complaining as if Obama is the Worst. President. Evah. on LGBT issues, who would you rather have in the White House – one of those GOP fools who show such cavalier attitudes about basic respect for LGBT people or a President who shares your values?

The point, though, isn’t simply to compare Obama to the GOP field and conclude he’s better on LGBT issues than they are. The point, rather, is that he’s needed to be pushed to act on LGBT equality. That’s what LGBT activists have been doing, pushing the guy in the WH, not comparing him to the wannabe opposition.

And that “pushing” was noticed by other activists. As Eleveld talks about, immigration activist also went to the White House to protest, and some were arrested. They, too, have very good reasons to protest. Deportation rates under Obama exceed those under Bush. In a speech to La Raza, Obama used an argument familiar to LGBT’s, among others.

The day before the arrests, Obama had tried to explain … that he couldn’t change the laws by himself, he needed the help of Congress. But Obama’s words were met with a new twist on a familiar refrain. ‘Yes, you can! Yes, you can!’ they shouted at the president.

As Eleveld writes, it’s a “familiar conversation,” being told by the administration that they have no choice, that they must, for example, defend DOMA. Which they did, vigorously, for two years.

Eventually, they realized that there was a bigger political cost to defending the constitutionality of the law than there was to abandoning the effort.

The administration also saw the repeal of DADT get lots of praise and support, with very little downside.

So it wasn’t particularly surprising to some LGBT activists when the president and his advisors discovered that they did indeed have the ‘prosecutorial discretion’ to suspend deportations of immigrant youths who pose no threat to public safety.

The learning curve, we notice, became more obvious as 2012 came closer. Election years are opportunities that seasoned activists grab, well aware of its limitations, but also of the possibilities. In that always present Big Picture reality, you use the moments you’re given, or rather, you use the moments most often won by activists.

The Big Picture timing is, of course, one reason for the Keystone Pipeline actions, the Occupy Wall Street actions and the upcoming October 6 actions.

Eleveld concludes with this:

At the very moment that a promising politician gets elected, a true activist’s work has only just begun. …
It turns out the ‘change we can believe in’ must come from within. It starts, by necessity, as a yearning that gives rise to a voice, which gives way to disenchantment, and even to unrest, if unanswered.

“Even to unrest.” In the world of the activist, “unrest” is essential. It can be expressed in different ways, and it can happen in conjunction with, or at least at the same time as, Insider (think HRC) efforts. But expressed “unrest” (think GetEqual) is absolutely essential.

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Bogus, timid, political ploys

By Joyce Arnold on 30 September 2011

(The Liberally Independent ‘Two Parties, Too Few Choices Series)

Joyce L. Arnold: Liberal, lesbian, Independent, equality activist, writer.

This will be a bit different from earlier posts in this series, in that I’m mostly going to provide excerpts from a few recent articles and essays. Two reasons: one, real life responsibilities are requiring some extra time. And two, because I think it can be helpful, to consider the thoughts of a few of the many people writing about our two party system: it gives us an idea of the bigger context within which 2012 is unfolding.

A Washington Post, September 26 article by Greg Sargent has received a lot of attention. He writes “The bogus ‘third party’ dodge”:

Calling for a third party is a quick and easy way to get yourself booked for a round of cable TV appearances. But many of those calling for a third party are refusing to reckon with an inconvenient fact: One of the two parties already occupies the approximate ideological space that these commentators themselves are describing as the dream middle ground that allegedly can only be staked out by a third party.
That party is known as the ‘Democratic Party,’ and it already holds many of the positions these commentators want a third party to espouse.
I’m open to the claim that the Democratic Party has failed to do a few of the things these commentators would like to see a major party undertake. But I’d argue it’s still incumbent on them to at least acknowledge and reckon with the fact that Dems are far closer than the GOP to filling the fabled ideological middle – as they themselves define it – that supposedly necessitates the need for a brave third party candidate to articulate a third way.

Quick thought: straw man argument.

Next, a September 25 post from Matt Miller, also at the Washington Post, “Why we need a third party”:

So here’s where we are. Our president calls himself ‘a warrior for the middle class’ because he’s campaigning for a plan that might add 2 million new jobs next year at a time when 25 million Americans who want full-time work can’t find it.
If that’s war, what would surrender look like?
Meanwhile, Republican zealots apparently feel that if they can’t cut 0.04 percent of the budget in the next few days they’d rather shut down the government. The party’s presidential candidates boast that a 10-to-1 ratio of spending cuts to tax increases isn’t good enough on a long-term debt deal – even though we’re about to double the number of seniors on Social Security and Medicare.
Why should we have to choose between timid half-measures and anti-tax fanaticism? Why doesn’t the president propose measures equal to the scale of our challenges? Why can’t Republicans acknowledge demography or math?
Three reasons, mainly. First, both parties’ chief aim is to win elections, not solve problems. Second, both parties are prisoner to interest groups and ideological litmus tests that prevent them from blending the best of liberal and conservative thinking. Finally, neither party trusts us enough to lay out the facts and explain the steps we need to take to truly fix things.

Quick thought: he actually addresses the failures of both parties, the contributions each make to our current status quo system. He makes a similar point in a September 9 article, “The third-party stump speech we need”:

This is one columnist’s stab at what a candidate might sound like if he or she were trying to appeal to the majority of voters in the middle of the electorate who feel both parties are failing us.
My fellow alienated Americans: …
I’m running for president as an independent because we need to change the debate if we’re going to change the country. Neither of our two major parties has a strategy for solving our biggest problems; they have strategies for winning elections, which isn’t the same thing.

Finally, a non-third party focus, from David Atkins, in a Hullabaloo, September 26 post, “Rewarding Good Rhetoric”:

I’ve written before about the need for serious political activists to use reward-and-punishment models for the behavior of Democratic politicians … .
But the reality is that from now until November 2012, the President is not going to be able to accomplish much of anything in the legislative arena. The Republicans simply won’t allow him to claim any sort of legislative victory, no matter how small.
Which means that all the President really has at his disposal is rhetoric. And thankfully, that rhetoric has been far more aggressive as of late.
Is that a political ploy to win back the progressive base? Probably. But what of it? First of all, rhetoric matters. When the President speaks, the people listen. And if the President is telling the progressive story in an aggressive way, that itself constitutes action in its own way.
But more importantly, at this point, rhetoric is almost all we have to judge the President by. When it comes to direct action, the Republican House is essentially tying his hands.

Quick thought, or two: First. the “it’s the Republican’s fault” argument is getting very old. Yes, they’ve expended great efforts to make Obama a one-termer, and should be held accountable, but Obama’s decisions and strategies are his responsibility.

Second, the “wait until after this election” argument is getting even older. Tied to the “lesser evil” and “you have nowhere else to go” spins, it helps keep us where the Two Party Front for the Oligarchy, that tiny little group at the top and in charge, is most comfortable – at their mercy. Such as it is.

Your thoughts, quick or extended?

( Photo via ThinkProgress )

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Liberally Independent: Sizing up the Super Committee

By Joyce Arnold on 29 September 2011

Joyce L. Arnold: Liberal, lesbian, Independent, equality activist, writer.

The Super Committee is, as you’ll remember, a part of the debt-limit deal. Twelve members of Congress, six Democrats and six Republican, have until November 23 to draft a proposal that will provide at least $1.5 trillion in deficit-reduction measures, over ten years. Within a month of that date, the proposal will get an up or down vote.

The Super Committee, on the Right: Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.); Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio); Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.); Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas); Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.); Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.). On the Left: Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.); Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.); Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.); Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.); Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.); Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.); Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.).

According to a recent post by Brian Beutler, at TPM, Super Committee Dems Avoid Trap That Skewed Debt Limit Fight:

Democrats on the new deficit Super Committee are determined to be better negotiators than their predecessors in earlier deficit discussions leading up to the debt limit fight.
According to aides with knowledge of the discussions, they’re trying to keep the panel’s early focus on revenues, to avoid falling into a familiar trap of agreeing to a bunch of spending cuts only to have Republicans freeze up when they try to change the conversation to taxes.

That sounds like a rather easily identifiable “trap” to avoid, though “easily identifiable” hasn’t seemed to have been an active part of Democratic negotiating skills. And Beutler provides the background that reveals something about that.

… one of the reasons the debt limit deal included zero dollars in new tax revenue … traces back to the unfinished work of a bipartisan group of congressional negotiators, led by Vice President Joe Biden. Those discussions proceeded from the idea that Democrats and Republicans should begin talks on areas of agreement, then work their way outward to more contentious issues like safety net programs and taxes.

But once they got passed the semi-easy stuff, and Biden and company raised the question of taxes, “The Republicans in the room – House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) – bolted.” Obama and Boehner then talked “grand bargain,” which failed, and so the Biden group’s framework – all cuts, no revenue – as the basis for the debt limit deal.

Beutler writes that “Aides to Democratic committee members … are focused on making sure Republicans are truly willing to compromise when it comes to revenue and the tax code before any agreements are made on additional spending cuts.” Obama has threatened a veto, if “Super Committee legislation … doesn’t pair Medicare cuts with new tax revenues,” which Beutler says, “only strengthens the Democrats’ hand with this strategy.”

And this in the 2012 election cycle that has the Reps number one goal to make Obama a one-termer, and Obama the Campaigner re-emerging, determined to get a second term. Super partisan politics frames the work of the Super Committee. And of Congress who will vote, assuming a Super Proposal emerges; and who, along with Obama the Campaigner, will be responsible for what happens if the Super Committee’s Super Proposal doesn’t emerge or isn’t passed. Doesn’t all of this just make you feel, you know, super?

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Liberally Independent: “Personhood” at inception. Baby, you have a come a long way.

By Joyce Arnold on 29 September 2011

Joyce L. Arnold: Liberal, lesbian, Independent, equality activist, writer.

Here it is, 2012 campaign time, and “women’s rights” are still an issue for fairly large numbers. We’re way past the “You’ve come a long way, baby” because “you’ve got your own cigarette” blatant appropriation of “women’s liberation,” but maybe it’s because actual progress has been made that we still see a “woman’s right to choose” as a key issue for some. Along with other “issues,” like whether the “illegals” deserve human rights; whether the “homosexuals” deserve equal treatment; whether there might be something significant about the skewed-by-race incarceration rates.

For now, I want to take a look at three recent, or fairly recent, articles regarding women’s equality as related to abortion, and reproductive health in general. We all know that 2012 is very much about the economy, but of course, women’s rights (like those of everyone) are directly tied to the economy – if, for example, you have the money, you can get whatever health and medical services you need. Maybe money can’t buy you “rights,” but it can certainly buy the benefits of “rights.”

To begin, take a look at a piece from April of this year, by Lauren Kelly at AlterNet:

According to a recent report from the Guttmacher Institute, an astounding 916 anti-abortion measures were proposed in states around the country during the first quarter of 2011, and the bills that are being proposed are more radical than we have seen in the past:
As a whole, the proposals introduced this year are more hostile to abortion rights than in the past: 56% of the bills introduced so far this year seek to restrict abortion access, compared with 38% last year. Three topics-insurance coverage of abortion, restriction of abortion after a specific point in gestation and ultrasound requirements-are topping the agenda in several states. At the same time, legislators are proposing little in the way of proactive initiatives aimed at expanding access to reproductive health-related services … .

Things haven’t improved. From Sarah Seltzer, also at Alternet, earlier this week “Which State Is Winning the Race to the Bottom to Become the Worst Place for Women?” :

Every day, it becomes a little bit harder for women to get the health care they need in America, particularly if that health care has anything to do with sexual and reproductive health.
The ‘war on women’ began almost the moment that 2011’s new class of legislators took their oaths of office, and it’s still going on as we speak. Anti-choice groups have successfully created blueprint legislation for waiting periods, parental consent laws, mandatory ultrasounds, and targeted regulations of clinics. These kinds of laws have been passed in statehouse after statehouse. …

A few specific examples:

Leading the way are Ohio, Virginia, Kansas and South Dakota. Other states, like Indiana and Missouri, already have so many restrictions of various types in place that they’re going to be hard to catch up with … .
Ohio: A fetal heartbeat law that would outlaw abortion … after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is often as early as six weeks into the pregnancy.
Kansas and Virginia: … There’s another kind of threat at work in Kansas and Virginia. TRAP, or ‘targeted regulation of abortion provider’ laws, are burdensome restrictions that are designed to put abortion clinics out of business. And in Virginia, passing a new set of these laws has been deemed an ‘emergency.’

Earlier this week, Taylor had a piece up, “Meet Les Riley and the Extremes of Republicanism”, in which she cited a recent Mother Jone’s article, “The Most Radical Anti-Abortion Measure in America.” From that article:

In November, Mississippians will vote on an amendment to change the meaning of the word ‘person’ in the state constitution. Under the new language, human life would begin not at birth but at the moment of fertilization. If the amendment passes, it will outlaw abortion in the state entirely, even in cases of rape or incest. It might even leave some forms of contraception, and procedures such as in vitro fertilization, on life support.

Wow. “Personhood” at inception. Baby, you have a come a long way. Your mother, on the other hand …

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Queer Talk: Barbarians, Termites and Bathrooms

By Joyce Arnold on 03 July 2011

Joyce Arnold is a liberal Independent activist whose weekly column “Queer Talk” appears on Saturday.

Back in April I wrote about Dan Ramos, Bexar County, Texas, Democratic Party Chair, who compared “homosexuals” to termites — “white termites who have infiltrated the party much like termites infiltrate your house.” I said at the time that I didn’t think, as a lesbian, I’d ever been called a “termite” before. The more extreme anti-LGBT folks are often boringly predictable, but “termite,” that shows some kind of creativity. I thought about the Ramos and termite thing recently because of another label applied to Queerdom that I don’t recall ever hearing before, either: barbarian.

You’ve likely heard the story. Republican presidential candidate contender Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has said a lot of not-very-nice things about LGBTs. But it was her husband, Dr. Marcus Bachmann, who made the connection between “the homosexuals” and “barbarians.” Sarah Bufkin, guest blogging at Think Progress first reported the story on June 29. Here’s an excerpt:

When trying to figure out where presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) gets her stringent, anti-gay views, you only have to look as far as her husband. Dr. Marcus Bachmann, who has described himself as his wife’s ‘strategist,’ runs a Christian-based counseling center in Minnesota that has been rumored to offer reparative treatment for those looking to ‘ungay’ themselves.

Dr. Bachmann was offering advice to parents who think or know, and probably fear, that one of their children is gay or lesbian or bisexual or transgender.

We have to understand: barbarians need to be educated. They need to be disciplined. Just because someone feels it or thinks it doesn’t mean that we are supposed to go down that road. That’s what is called the sinful nature. We have a responsibility as parents and as authority figures not to encourage such thoughts and feelings from moving into the action steps …
And let’s face it: what is our culture, what is our public education system doing today? They are giving full, wide-open doors to children, not only giving encouragement to think it but to encourage action steps. That’s why when we understand what truly is the percentage of homosexuals in this country, it is small. But by these open doors, I can see and we are experiencing, that it is starting to increase.

This is a “where to start” kind of thing. First, “barbarian”? As in uncivilized or brutish? Or maybe Bachmann is thinking more of the foreigner or outsider meaning. I could certainly see him thinking “outsider,” and wanting to be the doorkeeper who maintains the purity of the “insider” space. There seems to be some hope offered the uncivilized outsider “homosexuals,” because Bachmann is talking about education and discipline. Maybe those speculations about his possible use of “reparative therapy” and unqueering are accurate. What such education and discipline looks like … well, I guess only the civilized and insiders are in a position to determine that.

One other comment by Bachmann leaps out at me, when he uses the familiar “be very afraid” tactic, by claiming that the “percentage of homosexuals in this country … is starting to increase.” Because, you know, the door to the inner sanctum of those who deserve equality isn’t being appropriately guarded. He doesn’t go to the “homosexuals have to recruit our innocent children” line explicitly, but the implication is certainly there. It’s an argument that the adamantly anti-LGBTs can’t afford to lose. They have to maintain the “it’s a choice” argument as foundational, even when some are willing to acknowledge there may be a “born with” trait that contributes to the “homosexual condition.” It’s still a “lifestyle choice,” see, because you can fight it. You can “leave” it, if you just pray hard enough, and position yourself so that your “natural” opposite-sex attraction can kick in. And if such positioning coincidentally includes some paid time at a “Christian counseling center” you and your wife happen to run …

As Cher tweets: (via JoeMyGod ) “omg! Is This true? He has a Christian clinic where he de-programs gay Boys & Girls! I’m gonna strangle him with my Boa!”

I doubt Cher could get close enough to the not-only-good-but-better-than-you-homosexual-barbarians doctor to make use of her “Boa”. His wife, after all, once ran screaming from a women’s bathroom when two women tried to talk with her. As reported last month by The Daily Beast, via The Advocate, “Rep. Michele Bachmann … had claimed in 2005 that she was almost abducted by two women in a bathroom,” a “lesbian and an ex-nun.” Bachmann had “refused to speak about gay rights at a constituent forum,” and the women in the bathroom “questioned her on the subject.”

Pamela Arnold, a 5-foot tall lesbian now in her 50’s, began a conversation with the then-senator, when Bachmann screamed out, ‘Help! I’m being held against my will!’
Arnold stepped aside and opened the door. Bachmann rushed to an SUV waiting outside and shortly after, filed a police report stating that she was ‘absolutely terrified … .’
No charges were filed in the case, as the Washington County attorney deemed the incident to be a simple conversation between a politician and her constituents.

Remember Bill Clinton saying, during his initial run for the WH, that with Hillary, voters would get a “two-fer”? Well, I’m wondering what a two-fer Bachmann presidency would look like. And then I think, maybe we homosexual barbarians would storm the White House. We could use the opportunity to release swarms of gay termites. And maybe hold both Bachmann’s hostage in an Oval Office bathroom.

I’d be happy to hear about any ideas you might have, even if you aren’t one us barbarians. We’re fairly civilized that way, wanting to include others.

(Photo of Marcus and Michele Bachmann via the LA Times)

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‘I’m Jon Huntsman and I’m humbled.’

By Taylor Marsh on 21 June 2011

**UPDATED**

jon2012 on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

…and he’s in.

“We are about to pass down to the next generation a country that is less powerful, less compassionate, less competitive and less confident than the one we got. This is totally unacceptable and totally un-American,” Huntsman is expected to say in his speech.
… “He assured us we could ‘make America great again,’ and under his leadership we did. I stand in his shadow as well as the shadow of this magnificent monument to our liberty,” Huntsman is also expected to say.
[...] “He and I have a difference of opinion on how to help the country we both love,” Huntsman will say according to his prepared remarks. “But the question each of us wants the voters to answer is who will be the better president; not who’s the better American.”

Saddest of all, Huntsman said, “we have lost faith in ourselves.” Painting a picture of America that is “less” than what our parents had, he said that we have the “character to astonish the world again.” Then in the next breath he lauded our inherent possibilities.

Mr. Huntsman’s first job is to get his name and persona on the map, as most Americans don’t know who the hell he is.

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Alaska Tea Party Candidate Leads, Credits Palin as ‘Pivotal’

By Taylor Marsh on 25 August 2010

CNN’s headline says it all: TRENDING: Palin also a big winner Tuesday. She’s pictured with once beleaguered John McCain, who won in a slow walk against wingnut J.D. Hayworth. Proving that Palin is strategic with her endorsements, but also loyal and willing to put slights aside for something greater. Because after the McCain teams handling of Sarah Palin in ’08, she doesn’t owe the Senator squat.

The huge news is out of Alaska, where the Tea Party-backed candidate Joe Miller gave credit to Sarah Palin for where he stands today. Absentee ballots and other provisional and questionable entries will decide the contest.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is battling for her political life this morning against Republican primary challenger Joe Miller, the Tea Party-backed candidate who had a slim lead as ballots continued to be counted overnight. Miller, a Fairbanks attorney, led from when the first returns came in Tuesday night, and was on the verge of pulling off one of the biggest election upsets ever in Alaska. With 84 percent of Alaska’s precincts reporting around 2 a.m., Miller had 45,188 votes to 42,633 for Murkowski.
Miller credited the support of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for his lead. “I’m absolutely certain that was pivotal,” he said.

Sarah understands the voters in Alaska, whether they like her or not. That Sen. Murkowski is in this close a battle, with Miller leading as of right now, is a stunner.

From Huffington Post:

With 98 percent of precincts counted, Murkowski trailed political newcomer Joe Miller by 1,960 votes out of more than 91,000 counted. As many as 16,000 absentee votes, as well as an undetermined number of provisional or questioned ballots, remain to be counted.

Miller had 45,909 votes, 51 percent, while Murkowski had 43,949 votes, 49 percent. Miller had maintained a lead throughout the night, but his lead fluctuated as ballots were counted.

Sarah Palin makes many people crazy, but she understands the mood if the country right now, especially on the right, and is fairly fearless about putting herself on the line, with the latest possibility of beating Lisa Murkowski no doubt particularly sweet. Taking on establishment Republicans is not always what Palin does, but it’s obviously what she loves best.

The other thing about Sarah Palin and what her Tea Party power and “mama grizzlies” are doing is riding a national wave of discontent by feeding into it however she can. It’s not about a long-term strategy at all. It’s all about winning in 2010, then taking it from there. It’s the smart play, because the moment is now and won’t last forever. But if Palin and the Tea Party make gains in Congress who knows what could happen down the line?

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Domestic Terror in Texas

By Taylor Marsh on 19 February 2010

Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years) and when it’s time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not hours? Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country’s leaders don’t see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies. Yet, the political “representatives” (thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the “terrible health care problem”. It’s clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don’t get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in.

And justice? You’ve got to be kidding!

Remarkable.

In his online rantings, Andrew Joseph Stack railed against the “exemptions,” Stack putting the word in quotes, “that make institutions like the vulgar, corrupt Catholic Church so incredibly wealthy.”

From the New York Times:

Leaving behind a rant against the government, big business and particularly the tax system, a computer engineer smashed a small aircraft into an office building where nearly 200 employees of the Internal Revenue Service were starting their workday Thursday morning, the authorities said. [...]
But in recent weeks Mrs. Stack complained to her parents of an increasingly frightening anger in her husband, straining the marriage, Mr. Cook said. On Wednesday night, Mrs. Stack took her 12-year-old daughter, Margaux, to a hotel to get away from her husband.
They returned on Thursday morning to find their house ablaze, their belongings destroyed. Officials said the house fire was deliberately set, casting Mr. Stack as the primary suspect. But by that point he was gone, airborne. …

Somebody needs to explain why the feds are not calling this domestic terrorism.

As the Department of Homeland Security opened an investigation and President Obama received a briefing from his counterterrorism adviser, John O. Brennan, federal officials emphasized the same message, describing the case as a criminal inquiry.

It can be a lone wolf case, but that doesn’t change the reality. One extremist in a plane can be a terrorist, so it’s clear Stack was, too, on domestic soil.

Timothy McVeigh comes to mind.

Self-Important Gasbag Alert

By Taylor Marsh on 28 January 2009

Well, Dick Armey sure went out of his way to prove his central point, politics as he represents it is “juvenile.”

“I am sure damn glad that you are not my wife, ’cause I’d have to listen to that prattle from you.” – Dick Armey

While telling Mr. Armey he was delusional to think he’d have a chance with her. It was at this point my colleague, Joan Walsh, who was debating Dick, leaned slightly over and in one graceful swoop, she took her shoe off and wrapped the gas bag of a man sitting before her over the head. Her shoe was back on her foot before Dick knew what hit him.

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….well, it didn’t exactly happen like that, but metaphorically, that’s exactly what happened.

Meanwhile, Chris Matthews did nothing but mumble under his breath about, I don’t know, but “prattle” had something to do with it. It was the weakest performance by a host on a major political broadcast. Joan can handle herself, believe me, but “Hardball” is his show and he should have the spine to expect better discourse from his guests.

But as Dick sputtered and spewed, Joan took out our best hits. You know, policy and social justice combined, with an emphasis on jobs. You know, jobs? That was just for starters.

Now Rush has a bookend. Call it “the newest faces” of the Republican Party. Rush and Dick.

Bob Herbert is wrong.

Joan should apologize to Dick. She gutted him.

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Money Quote that Would Make Reagan Laugh
“Cantor and Kyl just threw Boehner and McConnell under the bus. This move is an admission that there will be [...]
Getting that 1979 Feeling Again
It’s déjà vu all over again. via David Weigel Pres. Obama has never understood the incredible gift he was handed [...]

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OWS Opponents, silver foot in the mouth variety

From Antarctica to Madam Butterfly, Occupy is everywhere

“The 99 Percent Declaration” from “An OWS Working Group”

OWS sign: “The thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes rebellion”

Occupy gears up for 15 October global day of action

Liberally Independent: “Hopping mad” and “scared”

Liberally Independent: The Electeds are Getting Nervous

Liberally Independent: Occupy Day 26 and ‘Tax Me’

Liberally Independent: Occupy and “Class Warfare,” October 10

Liberally Independent: It’s what Citigroup / Wall Street says about the economy, stupid

Liberally Independent: Cain wins again, Perry playing defense again

Queer Talk: Unrest and 2012

Bogus, timid, political ploys

Liberally Independent: Sizing up the Super Committee

Liberally Independent: “Personhood” at inception. Baby, you have a come a long way.

Queer Talk: Barbarians, Termites and Bathrooms

‘I’m Jon Huntsman and I’m humbled.’

Alaska Tea Party Candidate Leads, Credits Palin as ‘Pivotal’

Domestic Terror in Texas

Self-Important Gasbag Alert

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