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<P class=sitetitle><A title=Home href="http://october2011.org/">October 2011
</A></P>
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style="Z-INDEX: 9; POSITION: absolute; WIDTH: 800px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 39px; TOP: 0px; LEFT: 0px; opacity: 1"
class=sloganitem>Health care for all</H5><FONT size=4>We need an INDEPENDENT
Movement -- No to Co-Option!</FONT></DIV>
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<P><FONT size=4>By <SPAN class=author><SPAN class=fb_show><?xml:namespace prefix
= fb /><fb:name uid="100000110163348" useyou="false" linked="false">Kevin
Zeese</fb:name></SPAN> </SPAN>- Posted on <SPAN class=date>12 October
2011</SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV class=content>
<P><FONT size=4>The Occupy Movement will only be effective if it remains
independent of the two corporate-dominated parties. We need to build an
independent movement that pushes both parties for transformative change.
The tinkering that the best Democrats offer is insufficient. The country
needs much more. We cannot allow oursevles to be co-opted by Democratic
Party groups like MoveOn, Rebuild the Dream, Campaign for American's Future,
Democracy For America and others. We need an independent movement
supported by independent media and if that is insufficient, than independent
electoral organizations. We must rely on the people not deeply corrupted
political parties and their front groups.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>KZ</FONT></P>
<H3><B>MoveOn.Org and Friends Attempt to Co-Opt Occupy Wall Street
Movement</B></H3>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT size=4>Tuesday 11 October 2011</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>by: Steve Horn, Truthout | News Analysis</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Gandhi once </FONT><A
href="http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi"
target=_blank><FONT color=#990000 size=4>said</FONT></A><FONT size=4> of growing
movements of social protestation, "First they ignore you, then they laugh at
you, then they fight you, then you win." The trajectory of the ever-evolving and
growing Occupy Wall Street movement follows the same pattern almost to a "T,"
with slight variation.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Now, apply that model to the most recent public relations and
marketing ploys of organizations like MoveOn.org, the ascendant "Reclaim the
American Dream Movement" and the general segment of society author and
journalist Chris Hedges calls the "Liberal Class" in his most recent book titled
"</FONT><A
href="http://www.amazon.com/Death-Liberal-Class-Chris-Hedges/dp/1568586442"
target=_blank><FONT color=#990000 size=4>The Death of the Liberal
Class</FONT></A><FONT size=4>" (of which the former two are both a
part).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>In so doing, one can observe a perfect case study of the
liberal class in action, in four distinct acts, with one exception: "then they
fight you" can be replaced with "then they attempt to co-opt your
movement."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><B><I>Act One - Getting Ignored:</I></B> In the early planning
stages of Occupy Wall Street, few eyes were on those working behind the scenes
to make this vision a reality. With little funding backing their cause, the
activists calling for this action, to those even paying any attention to them at
all (few and far between), seemed quixotic or at the very least, overly
optimistic. This was the case even to those highly sympathetic to the cause and
its accompanying ideology.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>How in the world does a rag-tag bunch of activists take on the
financial power center of the world that calls the shots politically in
statehouses around the country, on a federal level and around the world? Because
the task was such a monumental undertaking, these activists were essentially
ignored all throughout the planning stages and into the opening days of the
occupation itself.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The liberal class, predictably, was nowhere to be seen in the
planning stages of Occupy Wall Street, wholeheartedly ignoring the fact, or
simply not even knowing the fact, that this occupation was in the
works.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><B><I>Act Two - Getting Laughed at:</I></B> Once it was seen
that, while not yet a movement, the people occupying Wall Street had, at the
very least, legitimate grievances, the liberal class resorted to scornful
tactics like mockery of the type of people in the movement - ad hominem attacks,
if you will.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The scorn was well-depicted by liberal environmental blogger,
Grist's David Roberts, who </FONT><A
href="https://twitter.com/#%21/drgrist/status/118072522632736768"
target=_blank><FONT color=#990000 size=4>tweeted</FONT></A><FONT size=4>, "I've
been reading about #occupywallstreet for the last hour or two & it's just
horrific. Practically designed to discredit leftist protest." It was also on
perfect display with liberal blogger David Atkins, who </FONT><A
href="http://twitter.com/#%21/DavidOAtkins/status/118042662367543296"
target=_blank><FONT color=#990000 size=4>mockingly tweeted</FONT></A><FONT
size=4>, "If you want to #occupywallstreet, 1) shave 2) wear some decent clothes
3) coordinate signs about inequality 4) get a media spokesperson." The diatribe
proceeded for multiple tweets, Atkins having listed ten points.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>In a post </FONT><A
href="http://politics.salon.com/2011/09/28/protests_21/singleton/"
target=_blank><FONT color=#990000 size=4>titled</FONT></A><FONT size=4>, "What's
behind the scorn for the Wall Street protests?" Salon.com blogger Glenn
Greenwald aptly explained their behavior and tactics, writing, "Any entity that
declares itself an adversary of prevailing institutional power is going to be
viewed with hostility by establishment-serving institutions and their loyalists.
That's just the nature of protests that take place outside approved channels, an
inevitable by-product of disruptive dissent: those who are most vested in
safeguarding and legitimizing establishment prerogatives ... are going to be
hostile to those challenges. As the virtually universal disdain in these same
circles for WikiLeaks (and, before that, for the Iraq War protests)
demonstrated: the more effectively adversarial it is, the more establishment
hostility it's going to provoke."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The liberal class, though, quickly realized that Occupy Wall
Street was gaining traction, with leaders of the left like </FONT><A
href="http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2011/10/4/frances_fox_piven_at_occupy_wall_street_we_desperately_need_a_popular_uprising_in_the_united_states"
target=_blank><FONT color=#990000 size=4>Francis Fox Piven</FONT></A><FONT
size=4>, </FONT><A href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCZLhEOJ8XA"
target=_blank><FONT color=#990000 size=4>Michael Moore</FONT></A><FONT size=4>,
</FONT><A
href="http://www.democracynow.org/2011/10/6/naomi_klein_protesters_are_seeking_change"
target=_blank><FONT color=#990000 size=4>Naomi Klein</FONT></A><FONT size=4>,
</FONT><A
href="http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2011/9/29/cornel_west_on_occupy_wall_street_its_the_makings_of_a_us_autumn_responding_to_the_arab_spring"
target=_blank><FONT color=#990000 size=4>Cornel West</FONT></A><FONT size=4> and
</FONT><A
href="http://www.businessinsider.com/joseph-stiglitz-was-at-occupy-wall-street-yesterday-and-he-looked-like-he-was-having-a-great-time-2011-10"
target=_blank><FONT color=#990000 size=4>Joseph Stiglitz</FONT></A><FONT size=4>
joining the cause in solidarity, and its leaders realized that it must co-opt
the movement while time is still on its side.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><B><I>Act Three - Co-Option:</I></B> With Occupy Wall Street
off the ground, but its longevity still in flux, MoveOn.org and its cousin, the
</FONT><A
href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_American_Progress"
target=_blank><FONT color=#990000 size=4>Center For American
Progress</FONT></A><FONT size=4>, and </FONT><A
href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Van_Jones" target=_blank><FONT
color=#990000 size=4>Van Jones'</FONT></A><FONT size=4> </FONT><A
href="http://ourfuture.org/news-release/2011052016/take-back-american-dream-conference-oct-3-5"
target=_blank><FONT color=#990000 size=4>Reclaim the American Dream
Movement</FONT></A><FONT size=4>, were nowhere to be found. Instead, they were
busy planning the </FONT><A href="http://www.ourfuture.org/conference"
target=_blank><FONT color=#990000 size=4>Take Back The American Dream
Conference</FONT></A><FONT size=4>, which took place from October 3 through
October 5.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>"Taking back the American Dream," Jones said in an interview
appearing on </FONT><A href="http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/152616"
target=_blank><FONT color=#990000 size=4>AlterNet</FONT></A><FONT size=4>, will
be a three-step process.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>First, the planned November 17 "</FONT><A
href="http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/10/04/american-dream-movement-announces-november-17-rising-tide-of-protest/"
target=_blank><FONT color=#990000 size=4>Rising Tide of Protest</FONT></A><FONT
size=4>," a protest, led by the </FONT><A
href="http://ourfuture.org/news-release/2011052016/take-back-american-dream-conference-oct-3-5"
target=_blank><FONT color=#990000 size=4>Reclaim the American Dream
Movement</FONT></A><FONT size=4>, will be held in a network of cities throughout
the United States. As FireDogLake's David Dayen </FONT><A
href="http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/10/04/american-dream-movement-announces-november-17-rising-tide-of-protest/"
target=_blank><FONT color=#990000 size=4>explained</FONT></A><FONT size=4>,
"[The] November 17 protests announced by the American Dream Movement ... [are] a
one-day protest across multiple cities across the country that organizers hope
will be a massive activation of their supporters."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Second, an amalgamation of coordinated house meetings and
online teach-ins. "We're going to try to get a million leaders in America online
and talking with each other. And that's going to be a major piece," said
Jones.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Third and most importantly to an organization "powered by,"
(aka a project of) </FONT><A href="http://contract.rebuildthedream.com/"
target=_blank><FONT color=#990000 size=4>MoveOn.org</FONT></A><FONT size=4>,
which among other things, is an organization that raises campaign money for
Democratic Party candidates, Jones said the 2012 elections are a vital piece of
the puzzle. "And then there's a third piece and it's new - and it seems to have
escaped people's notice - and that's that we've said we're going to run 2012
people for office in 2012. Now, that's a big deal," Jones stated.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>"We're talking about U.S. senators who want to run as American
Dream candidates - soon to be announced. We've reached out to the House
Democratic Caucus; there are House members who want to run as American Dream
candidates," he continued.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>What this translates to, in layman's terms, is the very
process of co-opting a growing movement of democratic resistance and trying to
replace it with a sales pitch to go out in 2012 and vote Democrat. Jones and the
Democratic Party operations in disguise, namely the likes of MoveOn.org and the
Center for American Progress, are taking a page out of the Dick Armey and Koch
brothers' Tea Party co-option playbook with this one.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Indeed, many forget that before the Tea Party was an Astroturf
movement funded by Armey and the Koch brothers, it was an enraged grassroots
movement, led mostly by Ron Paul </FONT><A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Party_movement#Background_and_history"
target=_blank><FONT color=#990000 size=4>libertarians</FONT></A><FONT size=4>.
Then it got co-opted and now it is a rotten pawn of corporate
elites.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>If Occupy Wall Street organizers are not careful, this could
also be their destiny.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><B><I>Act Four - Win or Be Co-Opted? That Is the Question:
</I></B>Occupy Wall Street, now three weeks into the occupation, now finds
itself in a pivotal moment. Will the nonpartisan, anti-establishment movement
allow itself to be co-opted by the Democratic Party serving powers that be, i.e.
by the MoveOn.orgs and Center for American Progresses of the world, or will it
remain a strong, left, independent force that grows with each passing day and
strikes fear into what the late sociologist C. Wright Mills calls the </FONT><A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_elite" target=_blank><FONT
color=#990000 size=4>power elite</FONT></A><FONT size=4>?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>One thing is for certain - the liberal class is working
overtime to co-opt a burgeoning social justice movement.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Exhibit A: On October 5, Day 19 of Occupy Wall Street,
MoveOn.org sent out an email calling on clicktivists (as opposed to activists)
to "Join the Virtual March on Wall Street." "The 99% are both an inspiration and
a call that needs to be answered. So we're answering it today, in a nationwide
Virtual March on Wall Street to support their demand for an economy that serves
the many, not the few ... Join in the virtual march by doing what hundreds have
done spontaneously across the web: Take your picture holding a sign that tells
your story, along with the words 'I am the 99%,'" wrote Daniel Mintz of
MoveOn.org.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Stauber"
target=_blank><FONT color=#990000 size=4>John Stauber</FONT></A><FONT size=4> is
a longtime critic of organizations like MoveOn.org and Center for American
Progress, and founder and former executive director of the Center for Media and
Democracy as well as co-author of "Toxic Sludge Is Good for You," a book that
exposes how corporations and vested interests work to co-opt movements for
change. In an interview, he stated, "Don't be fooled. This will primarily be an
effort to co-opt the language and energy to salvage Obama and the Dem Party.
This is how you co-opt movements. The Occupy Wall Streeters are not leader
oriented. Van Jones will become the voice of this in the
mainstream,"</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>"The same thing happened to anti-war in 2007. MoveOn.org was,
to the mainstream, the voice of that movement," Stauber continued. "It is easy
to read between the lines. For one thing, there is no criticism of Obama in the
'Reclaim the Dream' messaging and marketing. No one with a national reputation
is going to do anything to undermine his re-election efforts. There is huge
money in supporting Obama and nothing but pain and punishment in not - both
desperation and self interest are driving this at this point in
time."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>As Stauber alluded to, one only has to look a few years down
the memory hole to see that, as William Faulkner wrote in "</FONT><A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requiem_for_a_Nun" target=_blank><FONT
color=#990000 size=4>Requiem for a Nun</FONT></A><FONT size=4>," "The past is
never dead. It's not even past!"</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>In an article about how the Democratic Party, teaming up with
MoveOn.org and other like-minded apparatchiks, viewed the Iraq war as a "gift"
to wield for electoral purposes in the 2006 elections, Stauber wrote, "And how
have the Democrats treated their gift now that they control Congress? The
Democratic House and Senate have continued to fund the war while posturing
against it ..."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Later, in that same piece, Stauber juxtaposed the operatives
with Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), an organization that is against
imperialistic foreign policy no matter who is in office, writing, "[IVAW] are
not the concoction of a liberal think tank or PR firm; they have very little
funding; they are not avoiding criticism of Democrats; and they are not playing
political games trying to bank-shot Democratic candidates into the White House
and Congress in 2008. They are in open non-violent revolt against US foreign
policy, criticizing politicians of all stripes who would exploit the war for
political gain."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Fast forward five years and a nearly parallel situation
exists. An independent and democratic economic justice movement, ground zero of
which exists at the power center of economic injustice, namely Wall Street, has
now spread to every corner of the country in some form or fashion within the
framework of the Occupy Wall Street movement.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The Democratic Party vultures are waiting to swoop in, steal
the thunder and then make sure the focus is on electing Democrats, who are just
as much to blame as Republicans for the ascendancy of Wall Street. If anything,
they are even more to blame for the pacification role they play in co-opting the
overwhelming swath of the left time and time again, no matter what horrible
policies they pass.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Will Occupy Wall Street of 2011 be a repeat of the Iraq war of
2006? Similar forces are at bay, that is for certain.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>It will all depend on activists deciding whether they choose
to be used as a "gift," or if they choose to remain independent of the forces of
co-option.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Act four, to say the least, should be
interesting.</FONT></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>