As We Were Saying...

A new poll by Public Policy Polling shows opposition mounting to the Occupy Wall Street movement. The new PPP poll shows 33% support OWS, while 45% oppose it. A month ago, those numbers were 35% support and 36% oppose. The poll also finds the public now has a lower opinion of OWS than the tea baggers. Ouch.

As we noted the other day, the OWS movement needs to reassess its strategy and what it's trying to accomplish. This is part of the analysis accompanying the poll (emphasis ours):

"I don’t think the bad poll numbers for Occupy Wall Street reflect Americans being unconcerned with wealth inequality. Polling we did in some key swing states earlier this year found overwhelming support for raising taxes on people who make over $150,000 a year. In late September we found that 73% of voters supported the ‘Buffett rule’ with only 16% opposed. And in October we found that Senators resistant to raising taxes on those who make more than a million dollars a year could pay a price at the polls. I don’t think any of that has changed- what the downturn in Occupy Wall Street’s image suggests is that voters are seeing the movement as more about the ‘Occupy’ than the ‘Wall Street.’ The controversy over the protests is starting to drown out the actual message."

Changing the Face of the Occupy Movement

We're continuing to see reports of violence at many of the Occupy movement camps around the country. It's a disturbing trend that needs to stop. In Oakland, San Francisco, Portland, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Albany, violence resulting from police actions to evict demonstrators or from random shootings (3 dead so far) is undercutting the purpose and effectiveness of the Occupy movement, IMHO.

For starters, if your permit has elapsed, leave. You've got the nation's attention; in fact, you've got the world's attention. The law of diminishing returns is kicking in with every video or photograph of someone in a confrontation with the cops, or of a body bag exiting an Occupy camp. Remember what this was all about to begin with: Income inequality and the excesses of the oligarchs in government and the financial system.

Second, if anyone likes to demonstrate wearing a Guy Fawkes mask or bandanna covering his/ her face, let them demonstrate somewhere else other than with the Occupy movement. (We should apply the "7-11" standard here: if someone comes into a 7-11 store wearing a mask, you figure they're up to no good. Same probably holds true for someone marching in a crowd -- chances are they're more interested in breaking windows and beaning a cop than income inequality.) Leave the costumes to the tea baggers.

If this is truly a movement and not a moment, the Occupiers need to move into more practical political action: get out and register voters; or help people who may need ID to vote (thanks to Rethuglican voter suppression) get it; or hold seminars for local media to get them to cover the substance of the movement, not just the surface. In short, move from political theater to political action.

(Image: Not Guy Fawkes.)

Quote of the Day

"Occupy Wall Street and its allied movements around the country are more than a walk in the park. They are most likely the start of a new era in America. Historians have noted that American politics moves in long swings. We are at the end of the 30-year Reagan era, a period that has culminated in soaring income for the top 1 percent and crushing unemployment or income stagnation for much of the rest. The overarching challenge of the coming years is to restore prosperity and power for the 99 percent." -- Jeffrey Sachs, writing in today's New York Times.

Read the whole column here.

OWS Clip of the Day - "Wealth Under Siege"

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OWS Cartoon of the Day

(Ben Sargent, via gocomics.com)

Observations On The "Occupy" Movement

Laurence Lewis has a timely and perceptive post at the Daily Kos on the importance of the "Occupy" / 99% movement employing non-violent, civil disobedience tactics going forward. Here's a key passage:

"There is strength in resistance, but the greatest strength is in non-violent resistance. There also is the greatest opportunity for long-range success. At this stage, it's very much about perceptions. For this movement to have any chance at long-range success, this movement must progressively draw in more and more of the non-activist middle Americans who are for now mostly observing. And that means continuing to present to those mostly observing an ethos of determination, responsibility and non-violence. Let the tactics of those opposed to the Occupy movement reveal them. Let there be a clear contrast. This cannot be but a passing moment or a passing phase. It will take time and determination. And more."

The hallmark of the civil rights movement was in non-violent civil disobedience, even when faced with racist sheriffs departments employing fire hoses and clubs. The contrast in behavior was stark, and eventually aroused America's sympathy and support. The movement can't afford to be pictured as a series of anti-World Trade Organization-type riots by nihilists and vandals, which is what the one-percenters are trying to achieve.

Path to Victory?

President Obama, starting to channel the Occupy movement and Elizabeth Warren. Let's have a lot more of this.

Occupy Cartoon and Chart of the Day

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(Top: Jen Sorensen via Daily Kos. Bottom: Chart from the Congressional Budget Office, showing that income of the top 1 percent grew by 275 percent in the past 28 years, far outstripping income growth of other income levels.)

Rich on the Occupy Movement and "Class Warfare"

Frank Rich has a long, intriguing essay in New York Magazine on the anger being expressed at the "overclass" (i.e., the 1 %) that transcends ideology and has deep roots in American politics. The essay is worth a read; here's an excerpt:

"Elections are supposed to resolve conflicts in a great democracy, but our next one will not. The elites will face off against the elites to a standoff, and the issues animating the class war in both parties won’t even be on the table. The structural crises in our economy, our government, and our culture defy any of the glib solutions proposed by current Democrats or Republicans; the quixotic third-party movements being hatched by well-heeled do-gooders are vanity productions. The two powerful forces that extricated America from the Great Depression—the courageous leadership and reformist zeal of Roosevelt, the mobilization for World War II—are not on offer this time. Our class war will rage on without winners indefinitely, with all sides stewing in their own juices, until—when? No one knows. The reckoning with capitalism’s failures over the past three decades, both in America and the globe beyond, may well be on hold until the top one percent becomes persuaded that its own economic fate is tied to the other 99 percent’s. Which is to say things may have to get worse before they get better."

OWS Cartoon of the Day

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(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, via gocomics.com)

OWS Cartoons and Headline of the Day

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Tom Tomorrow via Daily Kos

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Pat Oliphant via goComics.com
(Guillotine, nice touch! Note the "Herb" Cain reference, bottom right)

"Romney Beating Obama in Wall Street Donations" -- Huffington Post. Surprise, surprise.

OWS Movement Spreads to Pets

The signs at Occupy Wall Street demonstrations are creative and pointed. The HuffPo has a good collection here. The one above was a favorite of ours. Bark if you agree.

Today's Class Warfare Cartoon

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(Tom Tomorrow, This Modern World.com)

Sunday Quote: "Occupy"-ing the Side of the People

Steven Perlstein in today's Kaplan Daily business section:

"[H]ow about White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley, outside the same conference [hosted by the Atlantic magazine], responding to a reporter’s question about whether the [Occupy Wall Street] protests were helpful to the White House in furthering its economic agenda:

'I don’t know if it’s helpful.'

Trust me on this one, Bill: It’s helpful. And the fact that the White House chief of staff can’t see that and say it publicly is why Barack Obama finds himself in the political pickle he’s in.

I realize Daley has taken it as his personal challenge to repair relations with the business community. But the first thing to point out is that the business community isn’t Wall Street. More significantly, however, you can’t 'repair' relations with the business community while its members are pushing back against virtually every one of your initiatives and generously financing the Republican opposition. The way to 'repair' your relationship with the business community under such conditions is to provide convincing political evidence that they need to repair their relationship with you.

I’m sure Daley and Geithner are keenly aware that there’s a nasty political war going on out there and that they’re losing. What I suspect they don’t fully understand is that one reason they’re losing it is that people aren’t sure which side they’re on. And the way to let people know which side you’re on is to send clear signals through what you say and what you do."

Cartoon of the Day

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Listening to the petulant talking heads in the media whining about "what's their message?" regarding the "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrations reminds us of how broken our sound-bite driven, talking points-gobbling media is. They want to be spoon fed, so that they can make it to happy hour. Perhaps they expected the same corporate-backed, phony grass roots demonstrations put on by the teabagger "movement," complete with leased buses, mass-produced signs and coordinated coverage by Fux. Not going to happen.

For laughs, check out this video on how to get media attention.