Democrats co-opt OWS without occupying or doing anything but taking credit!

[Generic Other]

Just in my email:

On September 17, a handful of activists changed history just by marching down Wall Street and refusing to leave.
Thursday November 17 is the two-month anniversary of their heroic action, with solidarity actions around the country. Can you join them?

The 1% is truly afraid. They've tried everything to stop US - riot police, mass arrests, pepper spray, helicopters, police horses, and endless FOX News lies - but WE refuse to quit.

How can we? For 30 years, they've robbed us blind, destroyed our jobs, and made us slaves to their debt. If we don't stop them now, we never will. So please join an action near you.

We've won amazing victories in the past two months. We made the media discuss jobs, debt, inequality, corruption, and greed. We made huge banks abandon debit card fees, and moved billions to credit unions. We won key elections in Ohio, Mississippi, Arizona, and Kentucky.
There's nothing we can't achieve if we set our minds to it, and keep fighting. We've truly just begun.

Thanks for all you do!
Bob Fertik and the Democrats.com Team

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?

[meow2u3]

1. That's Democrats.com, not the Democratic National Committee

Democrats.com is not related to the Democratic Party; the DNC website is democrats.org.

[Generic Other]

2. They call themselves Democrats

I call them Johnny-come-lately's.

[Nye Bevan]

3. You can accuse them of being "Johnny-come-latelys". Or you could welcome them on board.

I wonder which would be better?

[jeff47]

5. Depends if you're looking for righteous indignation, or political change. (nt)

[Generic Other]

14. Jumping on board is a bit different than taking command

I have been occupying for a month and have rarely heard anyone mention either party as most of the occupiers believe both parties have failed. One is actively evil. The other is enabling the evil.

I do not say this lightly as I do not like feeling let down by my own side as I do.

[Old and In the Way]

8. So, you want to discount any of the 55MM or so who vote Democrat?

Seems to me someone is trying to make OWS a very exclusive club. Or maybe, someone is trying to neutralize OWS from gaining any political leverage?

[Generic Other]

12. Of course not...I just have spent days telling the right they can't co-opt

The Ron Paulites spend all their time claiming the movement is theirs.

No one ever mentions the Democrats at all. That is Obama's fault don't you think? I keep the two parties out of my OWS actions because they are separate from my actions as a Democrat.

Some people on DU support the OWS. They happen to be Democrats. Some Libertarians support OWS. They happen not to be Democrats.

Lots of Democrats on DU do nothing but dismiss OWS.

So if you are someone who supports OWS, then you are my friend too. That you happen to be Democrat is a plus to me, but it is not a litmus test. And our party does not own OWS. I wish it did!!!

Does that make sense?

[Cirque du So-What]

11. So do members of DU

although I've seen some very un-Democratic words & phrases come from the fingertips of some members. Democrats.com can no more lay claim to the Occupy movement's successes than DU as a whole. In fact, I'd give more credit to members who frequent this board than any place I have seen so far.

[Generic Other]

13. I agree! Lots of DUers have been champions of OWS

but the Occupiers cross party lines and mostly don't trust either party. That's just a fact. I don't think my fellow Occupiers feel either party has addressed their concerns. Are they wrong? I wish our side had better championed their cause. Especially Obama. Obviously if wishes were dreams, pepper spray would turn into wine.

[Enrique]

4. Democrats.com is very different than Democrats.org

Bob Fertik is more of a Jane Hamsher than a Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.

[NNN0LHI]

6. democrats.com has no more to do with the Democratic party than DU does

Zero. Nada.

Whomever is pushing this meme to you is an idiot.

Don

[Kurmudgeon]

7. Try going to right wing and/or the Republicans and see what you get.

[Generic Other]

17. Having met a bunch of Ron Paulites who agree with me about the 1%

I guess I already know that their core concerns and ours intersect in this one area. It is why we tend to keep party politics out of this discussion.

We all agree that political process has been corrupted by big money. On both sides. That the concerns of the 99% have never been addressed.

[maddezmom]

9. You might want to read up on Fertik and what he's been involved in

http://warisacrime.org/

[Generic Other]

16. And how is this an issue?

I agree with Fertik. Our Middle Eastern wars are a crime. Against humanity. Against Americans.

But that's not the issue that made me make this post. I just take issue with Fertik co-opting the movement. Why isn't he showing me pics of his involvement? His tent being dismantled? His face after being pepper sprayed? His articles supporting this movement?

Way too many Democrats on DU even have had nothing but contempt for us. For the Democrats who support the movement, I have nothing but deep respect, especially those who have responded by taking it to the streets. We have tried to show that our ideas, our leftwing progressive goals are worthy of a voice. OWS gave us more of a platform than many Democrats have. This is a sad fact.

I want to be a good Democrat. I just don't know how to be one and still defend my country against the abuses of the 1%.

[maddezmom]

20. well he's on your side and shares your opinion that the movement should not be political

http://www.democrats.com/occupywallstreet-is-a-profoundly-moral-not-political-movement

[Generic Other]

22. How does "I visited OccupyWallStreet" become "We've won amazing victories"?

I don't like his approach because I can see it turning off the majority of the Occupiers.

[SidDithers]

10. Fail post...

:rofl:

Sid

[Generic Other]

15. haha laugh it up as you lose more and more support for your "side"

I am the one occupying the trenches. I am just telling you that the people in the OWS are NOT Democrats or Republicans. They are angry citizens who feel both sides have failed them.

And we all vote. Do you?

[gratuitous]

18. Democrats can only co-opt Occupy by being co-opted by Occupy

From everything I've seen in the last several weeks, Occupy isn't about to just bow down to anyone who mouths a few of the right words, which distinguishes Occupy from, for example, the Tea Baggers. If the official apparatus of the Democratic Party is going to co-opt Occupy, it will be because they adopt the goals of Occupy. So, who co-opts whom?

[Old and In the Way]

19. Exactly.

Personally, I hope every Democrat co-opts the OWS message because that will be proof positive that OWS has co-opted the Democratic Party.

For some, though, it would appear that OWS will only be a success if they don't get political results. I am just not sure how that thinking helps us in the long run. Maybe Ralph Nader can lead OWS and bring them/us out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land?

[Generic Other]

21. The problem is that many in OWS believe the Dems don't support their goals

I don't necessarily believe this is so, but there are many who do. It has to do with our tepid responses to the economy, tax cuts for the wealthy, the corruption of the political process by those on both sides.

I don't see the OWS caring much whether Democrats join up or not if they aren't seriously working toward the same goals.

That being said, I want Democrats being involved. Just not pretending it was their idea to Occupy when they have been just as active trying to discourage the movement as the other side. Our leaders need to express solidarity with the movement, not act like they are running it. Our president needs to be proactive. Our supercommittee members need to fight the ones who wish to make concessions on tax cuts for the wealthy. That is not open to discussion. If Democrats continue to back tax cuts for the 1%, if they continue to take corporate money, they give the appearance of being the lapdogs of Wall Street. How do we change that perception when it seems that this is what our Congressional leaders continue to promote?

I can see that some in the party think we should all be on the same team. I tend to think so too. But I am not sure we have proven to OWS that we are--
anymore than Sarah Palin or Ron Paul proves it with their feeble attempts to co-opt the movement for their own cynical purposes.

I want to tell my fellow occupiers that Democrats are on our side. But they still believe actions speak louder than words. No one wants to be a tool.

I hate to think we cannot be both--an occupier and a Democrat.

[gratuitous]

23. I think I said just that

Which is to say, actions do indeed speak louder than words. Democrats will "co-opt" Occupy only when they start acting in accordance with Occupy's aims; lip service alone won't do it. I've had enough change I can believe in when the only noticeable change is in some of the words used to justify the continuation of the status quo. Talk is notoriously cheap; it's the actions that follow that cost, and I don't know that there is sufficient courage in the Democratic caucus to act such that voters who will never vote for Democrats anyway are alienated.