MAKE NO MISTAKE-Without OWS-We Would've Heard A VERY Different State Of The Union Speech Last Night!

[kpete]

MAKE NO MISTAKE-Without OWS-We Would've Heard A VERY Different State Of The Union Speech Last Night!



The State of the Union and the Would-Be 1% Nominee
By Charles P. Pierce
at 10:11AM

Make no mistake: Without all the hell-raising, and all the shouting at the right buildings, and all the drum circles, we would have heard a very different State of the Union speech last night. This country doesn't like to talk about issues of class. Not in any real sense, anyway. Not in any way that seems to undercut what we believe to be the god-kissed upward mobility that is inherent to America as roadside diners and Jerry Lee Lewis. Alas, since the Masters of the Universe burned down the house a couple of years, the issue of class in all its manifestations have become impossible to ignore. Our neighbors lose their house. Our cousin loses his job. Our kids move back in because, as we may have mentioned on this blog before, Fk The Deficit. People Got No Jobs. People Got No Money. Over the past year, thanks to the hippies in the parks, and the union folks marching in places like Wisconsin and Mitch Daniels's Indiana, the country has been tied to a chair like Alex in A Clockwork Orange and conditioned to look at what happens to your country's promise when you hand it over to greedy grifters who shuffle money for a living, and to their political hirelings — like Mitch Daniels, say, about whom more anon — who enable the shuffling and then tell the people whose lives were wrecked by it that they're just going to have to suffer a little or else The Deficit Monster will come in the night and devour their grandchildren yet unborn. Or something. The president spoke far more about righting the wrongs inherent in the system that got us into this mess than he did about The Deficit. It's hard to imagine that happening a year ago.

......................

If all it ever was going to be was a campaign speech, it was a very good one, and, if it's an indication of what the campaign is going to be like, then, maybe, the campaign itself will turn on whether or not the country will continue to be run on the three-card monte ethics of our corporate class. He's not in the drum circle yet, but he's in the crowd watching, and his foot is beginning to tap along.

Read more: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/state-of-the-union-class-6645356#ixzz1kUFrSA8O

[annabanana]

1. No question about it. The dialogue has changed profoundly.

Fairness never entered into it before.

[bvar22]

29. You are correct.

Before OWS,
it was ALL about Deficit Reduction and the Working Class Eating Their Peas.

OWS has had an impact!



You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.
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[roguevalley]

39. the people in Wisconsin and overseas ignited the spark of OWS and they

lit up the world with hope. I cannot tell you at my age what that means to me to see. God bless OWS and the 99'er movement because they SAVED us. They did. They are a holy thing in my house.

[SharonAnn]

48. Like FDR (?) said about liberal acts "Make me do them".

Without a groundswell of popular support, a president can't really make drastic changes. Especially when he's near election time.

OWS helped provide the awareness and outrage to get the needed public awareness and support.

[nanabugg]

53. You are not correct. This is the real Obama. And it will only get better.

[tblue]

78. So we used to have the fake Obama?

The "real Obama?" Hahaha! That's admitting the "fake Obama" wasn't all that.

[Douglas Carpenter]

80. AMEN!!! And he is taking a stand against regulation and government programs and for the free market!

just like he has from the very beginning:

" I’m a Democrat. But I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed: That Government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves, and no more. That’s why my education reform offers more competition, and more control for schools and States. That’s why we’re getting rid of regulations that don’t work. That’s why our health care law relies on a reformed private market, not a Government program."

[russspeakeasy]

2. Thanks, kpete.

[FreakinDJ]

3. Absolutely No Doubt

OWS has put the issues the American Middle Class has been demanding front and center in the political landscape

[tabatha]

4. And I wonder where OWS started.

[redqueen]

7. In Canada...

It was an idea that was first suggested on Adbusters.

[2pooped2pop]

46. yes this is where OWS started

or I guess I should say this is the why it actually started here, but the protests around the world was certainly the inspiration.

[sabrina 1]

20. The original idea was inspired by Spain's Indignados. The GA, the occupying of public places etc.

[redqueen]

23. And the Egyptian protests, yes...

those all served to influence the people ad Adbusters to suggest something similar for Wall Street.

[sabrina 1]

24. The Egytian protests were inspired by several other factors and revolutionaries, also used by the

Indignados. There was a lot of planning and studying before the Tunisian/Egyptian revolutions.

[roguevalley]

40. a young man in tunis who set himself on fire and changed the world.

[sabrina 1]

52. Yes, I am well aware of that and was writing about it when the rest of the media

was not. I am talking about the techniques of OWS, and their origins, which precede the Arab Spring revolutions but were studied by them for a long time.

[bvar22]

30. I wonder where OWS started

Where?
France

When?
The late 1700s.
SEE: French Revolution



...although a case could be made for 1215 in England when the peasant class united,
and demanded the right to participate in their government.
SEE: Magna Carta



You will know them by their WORKS.
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[Number23]

51. An EXCELLENT question, tabatha

Vanity Fair did a recent piece on the birth of Occupy. It is well worth the read. http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2012/02/occupy-wall-street-201202

The thing that I find absolutely fascinating is that those associated with its birth and who participated early on give many reasons for the birth of the movement. Yes, there is some disappointment with the president for not pursuing Wall Street criminals, and yes the overwhelming majority of the blame goes to the culture of corruption that has inhabited Washington and the country's economy for decades.

But one of the reasons for Occupy was disgust towards what is perceived by many as an impotent left. A left that has great ideas and the vision but is unable to get them implemented.

KALLE LASN
Co-founder, Adbusters
The left had been chattering on about revolutions for a long time, but we’ve basically been howling at the moon. And then, all of a sudden, a bunch of young people [in Egypt] using social media were able to mobilize not just 500 or 5,000 people, but 50,000 people. They inspired us with their courage and with their techniques.

I will always remember this the next time I see someone here drop the birth of Occupy at Obama's feet as if he and he alone is the reason for the movement's inception. By all accounts, the political ineptitude of the left was every bit as much a factor in Occupy's birth as this president. And judging by the number of people that seem determined to dismiss, minimize, obfuscate and deny every progressive achievement by this president and this administration, it would appear that some here are determined to remain impotent for as long as they possibly can.

[Zorra]

58. Alice Paul and the NWP Occupied the White House for quite awhile,

and this eventually resulted in the passage of the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote. I don't know if this gave anybody an idea for OWS, but it certainly was a very early and effective Occupation type direct action.

During the group's first meeting, Paul clarified that the party would not be a political party and therefore would not name a candidate for United States president during elections. While non-partisan, the NWP directed much of its fire at President Woodrow Wilson when criticizing those responsible for the social situation in which women of the era lived. The National Woman's Party also opposed World War I.

Women associated with the party staged a suffrage parade on March 3, 1913, the day before Wilson's inauguration.[1] They also became the first women to picket for women's rights in front of the White House. The picketers were tolerated at first, but when they continued to picket after the United States declared war in 1917, they were arrested by police for obstructing traffic. Many of the NWP's members, upon arrest, went on hunger strikes; some, including Paul, were force-fed by jail personnel as a consequence. The resulting scandal and its negative impact on the country's international reputation at a time when Wilson was trying to build a reputation for himself and the nation as an international leader in human rights may have contributed to Wilson's decision to publicly call for the United States Congress to pass the Suffrage Amendment.[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Woman%27s_Party

☮ccupy

[redqueen]

5. Indeed.

[ProSense]

6. It

goes to show what an organized and sustained progressive movement could have accomplished in 2009 and 2010.

I'm loving it.

[sabrina 1]

22. OWS is an independent movement created out of the knowledge that the political system

no longer works for the people. It is not affiliated with any political party, it is made up of people from across the political spectrum. The main goal of the movement from members of all political parties who are a part of it, is to start at the root cause of all the problems, getting the money that has poisoned the system out of politics.

It is mostly made up of people who were told to 'stfu' when they attempted to raise these issues within their own parties. It COULD have been a Progressive Democratic movement had the Dem Leadership listened to the base instead of calling their ideas 'retarded' eg. People do not go away, they can be thrown out of political agencies etc, but if their cause is just they will just go somewhere else and that is what created OWS which is growing and will be around for years, until the system is fixed.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

44. I don't think you would've like --

what "an organized and sustained progressive movement could have accomplished in 2009 and 2010."

[Jakes Progress]

85. Nope. Way too satisfied

with what we already have.

[MinervaX]

8. OWS will not be coopted

By the likes of Charles Pierce, Shepard Fairey or others in the Obama camp.

P.S. by the way, Occupy hates Fairey. The guy is a hack who only wishes he'd come up with the V for vendetta motif on his own. He's a shitty "artist".

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/shepard-fairey-changes-occupy-wall-street-sign-after-complaints/2011/11/23/gIQADCDgoN_blog.html

[bottom line]

26. Le Poster

Love someone who who has coopted, O camp, Occupy, & Hates linked to a washington post...
Might I suggest POSER...
oh yea & shitty...
Whether an artist is insane, likable, or a con, as opposed to whether he contributed with his art, who cares? Right now I wouldn't shake his hand for fear of getting egoitis, but he's young enough to where he may learn, someday, hopefully.
No offense Minervax, you too.

[kpete]

28. bottom line

you sure got that right!!!

thanks,
and peace,
kpete

[tridim]

9. It should also be clear that OWS might not be technically partisan, but its goals are PROGRESSIVE

and DEMOCRATIC, not CONSERVATIVE. OWS's ideas are easy and natural for Democrats to adopt and impossible for Republicans.

I'm sick of the obfuscation by the media.

[MinervaX]

10. Really? There are a lot of Ron Paul suporters at OWS

[tridim]

12. That's because they are idiots.

Paulites glom on to everything, including the teabaggers.

[donheld]

70. No more callers, we have a winner

Exactly right.

[bvar22]

31. Hmmm, well THAT explains all the "Vote Democratic" and Obama 2012" signs at the OWS.

All the protests are just blanketed with them,
aren't they?

Thanks!



You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.
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[tridim]

33. That's why I said they're are not technically partisan.

Reading is fundamental.

[roguevalley]

41. they are global too. OWS is all around the world. Tea bagging? Not so much.

[girl gone mad]

59. OWS's goals are anti-neoliberal.

Unfortunately, the Democratic party is full of neoliberals.

[socialist_n_TN]

63. What you said ggm...........

It's also anti austerity.

It's also somewhat anti capitalist in a lot of places and suspicious of capitalism everywhere. The longer it goes on, the MORE anticapitalist it will get simply because the capitalists and their toadies will push them there.

[SammyWinstonJack]

11. K&R

Only paid attention to other than the 1% when forced too. Not cool!

[annabanana]

13. That's why we call it "of, by & for the people"

(A Republic, Ma'am, If you can keep it.)

It is our JOB as CITIZENS to force them to do the right thing.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

14. I'm afraid I think that's wishful thinking. At best it's speculation.

I certainly can't say definitively "you're wrong", but there doesn't seem to be much evidence to support you.

OWS was primarily a symptom of discontent, not the cause of it, and there is no evidence that Obama would have ignored that discontent rather than tapping it had it not been for the OWSers.

It hasn't had much impact on mainstream political debate, and while there's no evidence that it's *not* a factor in Obama's choice of topics for his SOTU speech, I don't think that your emphatic claim that it was is justifiable.

[morningfog]

15. OWS gave that discontent a face, a message and a frame.

It most certainly has had an impact on the mainstream political debate. Republicans have been forced to use words such as inequality. Campaign speeches have been disrupted and altered. Romney, especially, has been reactive to OWS. OWS played a significant role in bringing him down in SC.

[backscatter712]

17. Not to mention Newt peeled Romney apart using Occupy rhetoric.

Don't get me wrong - Newt has no intention of doing the least bit for the middle or working classes, but he got points by going after Mitt on his Bain record, which in other circumstances would have been left in the dark.

[krawhitham]

21. +1

[BelgianMadCow]

34. Newspapers in the UK and Belgium indicated yesterday that Occupy shaped the SOTU and the WEF

in Davos. The belgian paper also had an editorial indicating the (co-opted) union general strike that is planned here does a meager job of channeling the discontent, and has no positive message. They advised lecture of Stephane Hessel, author of "Indignez-vous".

Go, us!



Protesters from Occupy WEF, who have captured international attention by building igloos near the site of the global gathering in Davos, have pulled off another eye-catching stunt. Members of the Occupy movement released balloons carrying a protest banner at the Swiss resort of Davos, where the World Economic Forum summit is taking place. Photograph: Anja Niedringhaus/AP
from the Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jan/25/davos-summit-growth-gloom-live#block-20

[Brickbat]

37. It's possible to read Obama's previous SOTUs and convince one's self that he's making a nod at OWS,

if one didn't know better.

[2pooped2pop]

47. did you hear the speech?

Have you followed Occupy at all?

He damned near hit every major point that Occupy has made. OWS has changed the talk in this country. It has already made a difference.

[eridani]

62. Really? Then what is your explanation for the fact--

--that Obama did not set up a task force to take on bankster fraud on 1/21/2009?

[Donald Ian Rankin]

65. Any number of possibilities.

One obvious one is that he wasn't facing reelection in a few months time.

[eridani]

71. So it's a very low priority for him unless the 99% are paying more attention? n/t

[Lint Head]

16. Absolutely! They have made a difference and I feel things will change dramatically in the future.

The OWS message is also being promoted by people who are not directly involved in the movement. I hear the sentiments of OWS spoken all the time by the average person.

[raouldukelives]

18. Heck, even Newt is trying to ride the wave.

Attacking Romney for being an elitist Wall St puppet.
You know, just in case you weren't sure we lived in bizzaro land.

[Cal33]

19. I completely agree. OWS is just the right thing to appear when it is the most needed. I am sure

Corporate America hates its guts. Corporate America does have something to fear now.

[roguevalley]

42. a guy inside wall street tweets comments the asshats say: 'I see poor people

and I think pigeons.' and the like. the fucker.

[2pooped2pop]

75. he will probably lose his job soon too

and join the rest of the pigeons. Well, he will probably join the rats. We pigeons can still fly.

[roguevalley]

83. awesome response, my dear one.

[PA Democrat]

25. They have had a significant influence in redirecting the national conversation

to the issues that matter most.

There is less and less talk about austerity and much more emphasis on the corporate takeover of our government, jobs, income distribution and tax equity. If that were not true, you would not be seeing the coordinated efforts to discredit the Occupy movement.

[FrenchieCat]

27. I'm glad that folks decided to stand up.....

instead of continuing to sit down on their asses believing that
others were the ones that they had been waiting for to get her done!

I applaud the move made.....
I support it....
and I will do all that I can to keep it going.

[mistertrickster]

32. Damn right. The 1 percent phrase is part of the dialogue. nt

[Uncle Joe]

35. I agree.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[slay]

36. No doubt

#OWS for the win - and to keep the pressure on!

[Major Hogwash]

38. Balderdash!

When the tea party faction was in the streets in 2010 they had very little impact on anything the President said in his SOTU speech in 2011.
Same goes for OWS.

If President Obama thinks that he can count on OWS to save his beans this fall, he is sadly mistaken.

[roguevalley]

43. Obama is just another guy surfing behind the curve.

OWS doesn't support politicians. It supports the people who are in need something that Obama hardly does with his Geitherner filled admin. The tea party hasn't affected anyone but the pugs. They ate them alive. OWS has changed the world and even Obama gets it. Slow, late, not enough but he gets it.

[whistler162]

45. Quietly you don't want to interrupt a group delusion while

it is in progress.

[2pooped2pop]

49. Did you hear the speech?

Have you followed OWS at all? They have changed the things people are talking about. That speech went right down the Occupy list of complaints. It did effect the speech.

But you are right, OWS will pay attention to his deeds. They will not blindly follow his words this time. Deeds matter.

[Zorra]

60. The Tea Party is an extreme RW group. OWS is an extremely progressive phenomenon.

Your analogy seems a bit strange.

Why in the world would a Democratic president be impacted enough by RW extremists to use talking points from a RW extremist group like the Tea Party in his SOTU?

[DCBob]

50. Totally agree. OWS has made a huge impact already and there is more to come.

OWS representives should be given time to speak at the convention and OWS issues should be part of the platform.

[Raine]

54. TOTALLY Agree, You're completely on point! nt

[lovuian]

55. Yes and let us hope that Action

is done rather than just words

The American people got a great look at the Republican party
the rich 1% class that wants to take away social security pensions and medicare and medicaid

and support the Patriot Act
and the Banksters

I see the Democrats taking back Congress

[arely staircase]

56. i am in total agreement before ows income inequality was rarely if ever mentioned in the press

after ows it is perhaps the biggest issue in the presidential campaign.

[bemildred]

57. Well, yeah, and one thing about "The Speech" last night,

that is worth observing, is that given political cover, Obama was willing to "go there", to go after the banks and arrogant wealth. The proof is in the pudding, but that is a good sign.

His first job was always to get re-elected, a thumb in the dike so to speak, but now he has the pubbies right where he wants them, so now we will see ...

Did you notice how relaxed he looked?

[2pooped2pop]

76. yes, I am curious

to see if he just needed the backing of the people for his spine splint, and hope that he keeps going in this way.

[bemildred]

84. I watched Carter's Presidency.

And Clinton's. I liked all 3, I supported all 3, all three were trashed by the reactionaries, but Obama is the Master of them all. They haven't really laid a glove on him, the skinny black kid that came from nothing much, and I believe that THAT is what is really makes them froth and foam at the mouth.

I don't pretend to know what Obama's objectives are, he sure as Hell is not an ideologue, but I do think he is playing 3-D chess with these guys, look at the situation, it's no accident that he made that speech and went populist now. He also seems to have truly superb self-control. I would have been tense before that speech, he looks fine, and sharp as a tack.

We live in interesting times.

[Zorra]

61. yep

☮ccupy!

[socialist_n_TN]

64. And it's still hard to believe that there are some people who think

that it HASN'T had an effect. As others have noted, JUST HAVING THE CONVERSATION IS A MAJOR EFFECT OF THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT. Hell, even GINGRICH is talking like a (fake) populist.

When this first started last Fall, I liked the idea of Occupy BECAUSE it was trying to change the economic conversation from austerity to justice. Although not overtly Marxist, economic justice is a BASIC Marxist tenet and I was wondering whether it would catch on with the general public. I'm glad it did.

Naysayers be damned. OF COURSE it's had an effect.

[2pooped2pop]

77. It confuses me

why anyone on a site of this nature would not support Occupy. Some who claim to work for Dems and such, seem to be really afraid of Occupy being successful. It really confuses me. OWS seems to make them angry and afraid. I have suggested that it might be that the good dems they say they work for are not too progressive and that OWS will not blindly support them, and will eventually show them the door. But I don't know if that is what causes the fear and hate among people who are supposedly on the side of the people or what.

I know after all these years of watching the shit going on in the world, one would be sceptical of anything succeeding in changing the marriage of wall st and DC, but to just come on to every thread about OWS and slam them certainly makes me curious. Doesn't it you?

[socialist_n_TN]

81. Well I work it out this way..........

There are people who are Leftists in a meta and/or historical sense and there are people who are leftist in a relativistic sense. If everybody is a Nazi (or espouses Nazi sentiments) then someone who's to the left of the Nazis would be a "leftist" relativistically. Even though in a historical sense they could actually be RW.

The "relative" leftist doesn't like the Occupy movement BECAUSE of it's anti-neoliberal agenda. That's because they ARE neoliberal economically. The "liberal" part is just for social issues, which although important, don't effect most people's lives in exactly the way the economic issues do.

For a Leftist in the historical mold, Occupy is a Godsend and they're going to support it even if they don't agree with everything or, like me, even if they think it doesn't go far enough. For the relative leftist, Occupy is threatening to their worldview and they're going to oppose it.

If you look at it through this lens, you see the reason behind the support and opposition. And almost EVERY post by the relative leftist, shows the support of the neoliberal agenda in varying degrees. It's no wonder they don't like the Occupy movement.

[2pooped2pop]

82. thank you, that helps

I guess my naive part still thinks that everyone would want to support the people and would want to do what is right for humanity, regardless.

You can imagine how I must struggle to understand ANYTHING the republicans do with my naive side, if I have this much trouble with those who are suppose to be on the left. lol.

[pmorlan1]

66. Absolutely!

You got that right.

[lonestarnot]

67. Some freak pigliCON on Lawrence tried to credit Mr. President with OWS and class warfare bullshit.

We know better. What an ignorant out of touch fool dat.

[Jakes Progress]

68. K&R Absolutely. The most important lesson for the faithful

is how the administration is changing. The lesson that the "don't ever say anything to disagree with anything our guy does" group never hears is the one the president told them when he was elected. He told us to keep him straight, to let him know what we thought. Genuflecting while praising every rightward move the administration takes is not the way to make things better.

He may be in a bunker surrounded by corporate stooges and banksters, but when it is election time, his handlers can hear what is going on.

Thank you OWS crowd. Those of you with boots on the ground and mouths to the megaphones will have saved us if we can be saved. Those who cowered and shook every time the administration was called on to straighten up are enablers.

[goldengyrl]

69. The Prez is listening to fellow Americans and the world

It is a good thing when a people can influence their President. At least he doesn't have his head in the clouds like Newt Grinch or in his a$$ like Mitt money and mo' money Romney. Obama is with the people and trying to guide us toward the future global economy. I am not surprised that OWS came out of Europe. Leaders in Europe are meeting right now debating the future of capitalism because it is not sustainable and ruining the environment. They are saying that Capitalism is an outdated principal and are looking for a new Capitalism where citizens, the private sector and the government work together to make sure that their societies run efficiently and effectively. You will be hearing more about this new Capitalism this year. I think the OWS movement gets the credit for pushing this agenda forward and Obama get credit for actually trying to do something about it. I think we have have to be aware of our own bad habits in consumer culture and perpetuating the cycle of debt and be open to changing things and support the president as he tries to make it happen. After all, we are all in this together. A simple hurricane or flood will show you that. I really like what Obama said about education. We really need to become better educated to be able to be more innovative and prepared for the future. God bless American, everyone.

[KG]

72. possibly. still, merely rhetorical bread crumbs.

[ejbr]

73. k & r n/t

[DiverDave]

74. talk,talk,TALK!

Yeah, great, but I want ACTION.
Put those bastards IN JAIL, get a REAL stimulus going. Lets get JOBS for folks.
People are hurting and we get talk...

I understand it's a start, I'm just sick of hearing about things, lets GO!

[wiggs]

79. Did I hear correctly after the SOTUS that the gop was floating a

trial balloon to pin the 'trickle down' meme on Obama? Either Daniels or a pundit afterward tried to imply that Obama was a trickle down supporter.

Whether you agree or disagree about Obama's economic strategy, you NEVER would have heard this accusation from the RW unless the 99 versus the 1% discussion had started this last summer and was seen as popular with the public....