There has been more than a little discussion of the "Occupy" bunch(es) and whether they are like or unlike the TEA Party bunches.
Well, sometimes. Carney went to the NYC and DC sites and learned a bit; another writer was also in NYC. Both found that at least some of the Occupy people had a distrust of the Government/Corporatist establishment--not unlike the TEA Party's objection to the bailouts of Citi, Bear Stearns, AIG, (et al.)
That's where the similarities ended, for practical purposes. The TEA Parties were not an occasion for sex, drugs, & rock'n'roll, nor trashing public streets, nor riotous incursions into national museums.
But the Libertarian mentioned above opined that 'when the Republican Party took over the TEA Party, the TEA Party lost its steam.'
Hmmmmm.
Now, it seems, the Usual Suspects (SEIU, ACORN, New Party, Working Families) are mightily striving to 'take over' the "Occupy" movement(s).
So the question: when that happens--and it will--will the "Occupy" bunch lose its steam as well?
Verum thinks so--as do I.
I'd say it's a virtual certainty that the movement will be co-opted, but I suspect that will make it more rather than less effective. Currently, after all, it's entirely ineffective: it's pretty clear that the organizers have no idea how to do more than show up somewhere and talk about stuff.
ReplyDeleteThe unions, on the other hand, know how to translate protests into political results.
The contrast with the TEA party is that it was actually getting results before the co-opting by the Republicans. What the Republican establishment wanted was to neutralize it, not to leverage it. Thus, whereas the unions will probably leverage this for political gains, the Republicans did their best to absorb TEA Party organizations in order to get them to shut up -- at most they seem to want to use it as a fundraising organization for establishment figures.
Not sure I completely agree. A lot of us were just plain tired after the 2010 election. It was a busy, exhausting 18 months prior.
ReplyDeleteI don't go to rallies anymore, waving signs.. meh, they don't listen to us anyway.
No, I got active in local politics. We start with fiscal responsibility here. I am also active with a Congressional campaign of a plucky Marine who has stepped on enough establishment foes that they redrew the district to give him an establishment primary challenger. And judging from the activity I see - a lot of others did the same.