WE are the ones we've been waiting for!

[FarLeftFist]

After the 2008 election we thought we elected a game-changing President, so Libs and Progressives went back home and got cozy and relaxed, ready for our newly elected President to transform the entire world....Even after we knew his campaign slogan was "Yes WE Can!" not "Yes I Can". YES, we DID elect a super-intelligent clear-headed rational and completely sane leader, but WE all for the most part expected him to do all the work.

I guess where I'm going with this is that we have all learned a very valuable lesson. I am very fond of Obama and am very happy he is our President and REALLY hope he wins in 2012, but I can't help feel like WE squandered a moment in history that WE should have capitalized on. Occupy Wall Street.

I feel like OWS should have started right after Obama's inauguration instead of 3 years later. Think of all the legislation WE could have gotten passed. We could have swayed an entire Nation to see our point of view on things like healthcare, education, war, spending, taxes, environment, etc. Especially during the populist tide of that year. Instead the Tea Party, sensing conservative extinction and an easily swayed desperate citizenry decided to make the first move and change the conversation (through corporate funding). WE are somewhat to blame for this as well, including myself, who temporarily resorted to hanging up my protest flag and just arguing with idiot conservatives on the web. Waiting...

But it's OK. I feel like it is a HUGE learning experience to be reminded of the rabid opposition in America we face that will try everything in their power to keep a progressive America from forming. Now we know. This will never happen again. From now on if WE want to change the National conversation then WE will do so. OWS is NOT going away. It will not be stopped. After the long Winter months comes the Spring. We will OWN 2012. We will OWN the 2012 conversation. We will change the debate. We have already started to.

It's also a HUGE learning experience to never give up, to always remember that sometimes progress is measured in inches. And we must also remember to continually hold our elected leaders accountable, even if it means taking it to the streets and forcing the National conversation to change. We can longer count on the corporate controlled media to ask questions of importance, they have billionaire shareholders to appease. Remember how the Tea Party was treated to all the best media platforms 24hrs a day because it served a corporatist message yet, OWS wasn't covered by the media until it became so huge on social media sites that people were wondering why the MSM WASN'T covering this HUGE story. WE have to control the messaging. Now we know.

WE must continue to be active participants in the fight for expanded Democracy. WE must continue to keep winning hearts and minds. WE must continue to show that humanity has hope and never give in to fear. We know what is right in our hearts: liberty, equality, and justice for all. We are in a constant battle of HOPE vs. FEAR in this country, and as long as we continue to counter-act the party of FEAR with a message of HOPE we will continue to make progress, even if it is only one inch at a time.

[msongs]

1. campaign as a democrat and govern as a son of a bush lol. nt

[jberryhill]

2. No, Obama is supposed to wave a magic wand and do everything for us!

[Edweird]

3. It looks as if you believe OWS is some kind of Dem/Obama pep rally.

It is not.