I have a dilemma to propose to you. There are two major victories for the Occupy movement so far that are really worth mentioning. It is difficult to tell which one is more worth being proud of.
Victory #1: "Outing the Ringers"
Thanks to Jay Smooth for so eloquently explaining the mess we've made for TV talking heads.
I can't say it better than Jay Smooth did, but it does bring me great satisfaction, and it should bring us ALL great satisfaction. The more ridiculous these mouthpieces start to look, and the more ridiculous their defends start to look, the less people will be willing to take them seriously. And that's a great thing.
Victory #2: "Outing the Imposters"
Victory number 2 was touched on by Chris Hedges in this recent column, as well as an interview he did down at Occupy Wall Street (around 4:19)
There are a lot of people out there who have spoken a lot of empty words and meanwhile deliberately sold out the people they pretended to represent. None are more despicable than the politicians who make up the Democratic Party. At least the GOP is honest about working for rich people day in and day out. The Democrats have always been willing to give lip service in order to channel honest grievances into a corrupt and fruitless political process for their own sakes. But Hedges is right to call out unions and Moveon.org as well, and we can add the million other faux progressive organizations to that list. Over the next few months we will watch as these hypocrites scramble to try to avoid their impending irrelevance, either by attempting to co-opt us or by simply hitching a ride: "This what we had in mind the whole time, we swear!" That's the important thing to remember--any organization that was serious in its opposition to the United States' plutocratic system could have organized a real struggle instead of just talked. Now that everyone knows what real struggle looks like, the curtain has been lifted, and these people have been revealed for what they are: complicit.
The attempts at co-optation have already begun. The other night a lackey for Alan Khazei attempted to pass a resolution at an Occupy Boston GA to bring politicians to our camp in order to build "unity" or some such nonsense. But this lackey did not identify himself as a lackey. He pretended to be a protester. And the best part? The resolution was brought to the GA when most of the rest of Occupy Boston was out marching. Alan Khazei, consider yourself outed.
