R.E.M. Supports OccupyWallStreet-- So Does Every Single Blue America Candidate... But Conservatives Of Both Parties HATE It, Of Course

Yes, R.E.M. may have broken up as a band but they just lent their support to the OccupyWallStreet Movement with their 1987 classic, "Welcome to the Occupation" (from Document). But on Ed Schultz's show Monday night, they weren't asking for rock bands' support; they were asking for Democrats' support. Love Ed! He helped Blue America more than anyone else in the media-- much more-- when it came to our anti-Boehner campaign for Justin Coussoule last year. He nailed it... night after night after night. This Monday night, though, he didn't seem to realize-- nor does anyone in the media-- how integrated so many candidates for office are with their local OccupyWallStreet movements.

I mean if someone is asking Inside-the-Beltway corporate whores like Steny Hoyer, Ben Nelson, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Max Baucus to come down and join the drum circle... get a clue. These are the BAD GUYS. These people are the problem, not the solution to the problem. We're in a mess today because of conservatives-- not just Republican conservatives, but Democratic conservatives as well-- and conservative in the real sense of the word, not just whether or not someone opposes Choice or gay marriage or how they stand on the divisive social issues. I read these lines from Corey Robin's book, The Reactionary Mind on Nicole Sandler's show Tuesday morning (when normal people were still asleep):

Conservatism, then, is not a commitment to limited government and liberty-- or a wariness of change, a belief in evolutionary reform, or a politics of virtue. These may be byproducts of conservatism, one or more of its historically specific and ever-changing modes of expression. But they are not its animating purpose. Neither is conservatism a makeshift fusion of capitalists, Christians, and warriors, for that fusion is impelled by a more elemental force-- the opposition to the liberation of men and women from the fetters of their superiors, particularly in the private sphere. [Emphasis added by DWT editorial staff.]

Tuesday morning brought a much-discussed OpEd by one of the most corporate-oriented, money-grubbing whores who ever polluted the Democratic Party, Doug Schoen. There are plenty like him-- from a now unmasked Joe Lieberman to a Thomas Friedman-celebrated Rahm Emanuel to a helicopter-flying Harold Ford and the entire Blue Dog and New Dem caucuses in the House and corporately funded outfits from the DLC to Third Way-- who Wall Street and Big Business pay very, very well to pretend to be "Democrats" while hammering home the 1% message. These are the enemies of the 99% as clearly and surely as the Republicans are. There is NO difference, except around the edges. Schoen, posing as a pollster, warned Democrats to distance themselves from OccupyWallStreet. The kinds of Democrats who take the ravings of Citibank's paid shill seriously should stay away from OccupyWallStreet... as far away as possible. Schoen, last heard from demanding that President Obama resign, begins his trash-talk with a dire warning that "President Obama and the Democratic leadership are making a critical error in embracing the Occupy Wall Street movement-- and it may cost them the 2012 election... [T]he Occupy Wall Street movement reflects values that are dangerously out of touch with the broad mass of the American people-- and particularly with swing voters who are largely independent and have been trending away from the president since the debate over health-care reform."

I don't think Wall Street pays him by the word-- although they may-- but, he's dead wrong about his narrative, as he always is-- and misrepresenting his own "poll" numbers to get his political/business point across. Legitimate pollsters-- the ones who don't pull the numbers out of their asses and tailor them to whichever client is writing the check-- have found that 77% of Americans want higher taxes on the wealthy. CNN is reporting a poll showing 76% of Americans want a surtax on millionaires. Yesterday another New York poll, this one from Siena shows overwhelming support from ordinary Americans for the grassroots OccupyWallStreet over the Astroturf Tea Party. Greg Sargent also pointed up some of the specifics of bedrock American working families' solidarity with the OccupyWallStreet movement and how its reinvigorating and enthusing the 99% after a three years of disappointment from Obama and the Democratic Party Establishment. "Working America," he wrote, "the affiliate of the AFL-CIO that organizes workers from non-union workplaces, has signed up approximately 25,000 new recruits in the last week alone, thanks largely to the high visibility of the protests."

The candidates Blue America supports were not asked if they support OccupyWallStreet as a precondition for our endorsement. Their candidacies predate the movement. Their candidacies, however, are animated-- to use Corey Robin's phraseology-- by exactly what motivates the movement. And many of these men and women were among the organizers of the local OccupyWallStreet movements in their home areas. Yesterday, for example, we introduced you to Ken Aden, a young blue collar working guy and veteran from a deeply red district in northwest Arkansas. He's fired up and taking on clueless corporate shill and 1%-er Steve Womack. I asked Ken what he thinks of the Occupy movement. I bet Ed Schultz would love his response:

"I am a staunch and proud supporter of the Occupy Wall Street Movement. In fact, I helped folks here in Arkansas start an Occupy chapter in the Northern part of our state. This is a true grassroots movement made up of young people, veterans, students, and folks from across the middle class just like me who are sick and tired of irresponsible corporations buying politicians of both parties while many in the government stand idly by and give corporate America the keys to the proverbial candy store. It's truly nauseating to know that so many politicians can be so easily bought, and not even loose an ounce of sleep over the fact that they are destroying everything which we hold dear. I  firmly believe that more people need to become involved, and stand up for what is right! Corporate greed is the new pandemic in this country. The ratio of CEO pay to that of the average worker is a prime example of the kind of reckless behavior that corporations in this country are exercising on a daily basis. Just look at how many politicians Koch Industries has bought over the last ten years alone. As the next congressman from Arkansas I would support an amendment to destroy the destructive influence of Citizens United. The last time I checked, corporations are NOT and will never be real people.

Nor is he the only one of our candidates to have been in on organizing. These people aren't like money-grubbing whores like Steny Hoyer and Debbie Wasserman-Fanjul-Schultz and Doug Schoen. These people are in politics because they are activists and because they're fighting for the lives of their families and their friends and their neighbors. "I've participated in three 'Occupy' gatherings in this congressional district during the last week-- Eureka (Humboldt County), Ukiah (Mendocino County) and San Rafael (Marin County)," Norman Solomon told me last night. "I'm in full support of this progressive populist upsurge. From the outset, since launch of our campaign last winter, fighting Wall Street and insisting on economic equity have been central to our campaign. On Sunday, I marched with a few hundred people through the streets of Ukiah as we visited Chase and Bank of America. 'We are the 99 percent!' Our campaign draws strength from progressive social movements because we're part of them!" Ed should have Norman on his show... or Ken Aden. Or blue collar New Deal Democrat John Waltz from Kalamazoo, who had this to say about the Occupy movement where he lives:

"What started out with a handful of folks on a windy day in Kalamazoo ended up growing into a protest with over 200 people as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Talking to several folks I could tell that they were frustrated that the top one percent of this nation is being coddled while the rest of us are getting trampled on. I heard concerns that ranged from economics to education and they were focused on making a difference.

"It was an honor to take part in this day of action in Kalamazoo. While we marched the streets with the sound of chants and drums there were several folks who were honking in support. It appears that the sleeping masses have awoken and there is a sea change coming. Question is whether this can be sustained and the answer I heard was a resounding yes."

"We," not "they." These people don't need permission to get involved with the movement; they are the movement. Nick Ruiz, the Green-turned-Democrat running against teabagging imbecile Sandy Adams in central Florida is, as usual, one step ahead of the game:

"Everyone's trying to figure out how to capitalize on the OCCUPY consciousness. But there's little mystery in it, and nothing honorable in trying to 'profit' politically from it. Reasonably, citizens are ever distrustful of politicians of every stripe because they have seen the political establishment legislate against Main Street's needs too many times to count.

"They 99% want to believe that it is possible to thrive again, in a country whose political establishment continues to fool them with bait and switch politicians who make legislative decisions that instead ensure the 99% will suffer. The 99% want to be represented by people that they can believe in, but they know in their heart of hearts there are few people they can trust.

"The people I spoke with at Occupy Daytona Beach knew I didn't arrive there with my pockets stuffed with $250 and $500 checks from the colossal donor network. The 99% is not interested in fundraising totals for Beltway machinery candidates. They believe in me, because I believe in them, in us-- in the concept of shared governance and socioeconomic fairness. They know I won't sell them out. They know I want the same things they want for America. And they know such a representative is truly hard to find. They won't put their faith and trust, and support in a party or political establishment, that does not include the truly liberal representatives they want to see in Congress and the White House.

"The OCCUPY phenomenon is a national cry for a more liberal, New Deal government. 2012 is going to be a referendum on liberal credibility in the eyes of the 99%. And very few candidates have it."

His neighbor up the road, Alan Grayson, has been pushing the message and inspiring the 99%-- loudly-- for several years. "Having been to the one in Orlando, I can tell you that it's like a street carnival for progressives. Democrats should go, and they should bring their friends. They'll be glad-- and proud-- that they did." Lance Enderle, also running against an Establishment suck-up in hard-pressed Michigan (Mike Rogers) wrote that everyone who knows him "knows I am not a politician that is worried about 'polls', I am concerned with people, and that is what OWS is. OWS is people, it is not a political party or group; OWS is people, citizens of the United States being hit by a force greater than freedom; corporate greed and deception!  I fully support this movement that is based on social and economic justice.

"On October 8th, OWS hit Lansing, Michigan. The citizens set up their camp at Reutter Park, beginning with 2 brave souls. 'Solidarity Park' has now grown to over 100 people nightly, with hundreds filtering through daily showing support for the '99%.'

"I have been amazed with what I have seen in just one week. I have seen and listened to many different views and opinions come together and form a coalition of one. I have watched the citizens feed and clothe the homeless daily from the park. I have watched the old look after the young and share experience and education. I have also watched the young give back the gift of youth and vitality to the old, creating an energy that I have never felt from a group of people before. 

"But, the greatest thing I have experienced from OWS is DEMOCRACY! This is a living and breathing example of what democracy is.

"It is time for Americans to stand up, be strong, and say we are not going to take the greed and deception anymore; stand up for America and our way of life, stand up for the 99%!"

Democratic candidates should spend time at OccupyWallStreet, huh? I bet Ed Schultz would LOVE Lance Enderle. He'd probably love New Mexico state Senator Eric Griego as well: "I was there on Saturday with my wife and son Lucas. We saw seniors, small business owners, teachers, veterans, students, union members and kids. They were diverse in background but united in their belief that we are a community and all in this together. They called for Wall Street reform, investment in our infrastructure to create jobs, and ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Rather than some fringe group it was a slice of America and of our community."

The first candidate who ever told me she was going to an OccupyWallStreet event was Mary Jo Kilroy, a former Ohio congresswoman from Columbus who Blue America was live blogging with early on in the movement. She's recognized instantly that protesters were motivated by many of the same things that have motivated her political life. Yesterday she reminded me that she "spent part of an afternoon with Occupy Wall St. Columbus in front of the Ohio Statehouse. They are expressing an anger many of us feel about conditions in this country. People want good paying jobs, not more bad cuts. I talked to one young African American protester who had obtained a college degree and the only job he could get was delivering cars for a car rental company. He is underpaid and wants to move forward, use his talents and earn enough to have a home and a family someday. Yet he sees little opportunity for him at this time. All these talented young people see in Washington is a willingness to block crucial programs that would help working people, while the banks get bailed out, and corporations are coddled. The unique thing about the movement is that it can express the different frustrations in each community. Right now in Ohio, for example, much of this anger is focused on stopping a huge assault on workers by making sure that collective bargaining isn't taken away and replaced by collective begging. The whole point is that we need to reset our priorities in this country, and I am proud to stand with the 99% in that effort."

Plenty of people for Ed Schultz to have on his program.


UPDATE: What Does Pressure Do?


Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR) is about as far from the 99% as you're going to see. His claim to fame is that he was one of the South's most bigoted mayors (in Rogers, Arkansas, where his motto was "If you're coming to America illegally, you don't want to come to Rogers"). But protesters Occupying Fayetteville and Fort Smith were shocked yesterday when Womack, who inherited his family's radio business, claimed, through a spokesman, that he "supports" the movement. He's been under immense pressure from his Democratic opponent, Ken Aden-- one of the organizers of OccupyNorthArkansas-- but, despite a record that is pure 1%, he seems frightened of a growing populism that could unseat him. Aden's response was "Womack's record speaks for itself... plain and simple. He is a tool and a corporate owned tool at that."

UPDATE ON THE UPDATE: Womack Reiterates That He Hates Drum Circles

No one really believed this creep would support the OccupyWallStreet movement and, of course, he doesn't.

A spokesman for Womack said that Woodard had misunderstood the conversation that he had with Womack’s aide.

“I think there was a big misunderstanding,” said J.R. Davis, a spokesman for Womack.

The congressman, Davis said, does believe that measures should be put in place to make sure another financial crisis doesn’t occur. He supports efforts to combat corruption. But he believes there are better ways to address the issue than to protest on Wall Street.

“He definitely stands by freedom of speech; that is a right. But he doesn’t stand with the philosophy behind Occupy Wall Street,” Davis said.

Ken Aden reiterated his support for the movement and the people in Arkansas who are behind it. "Congressman Womach is clueless and he's spineless. He doesn't understand what regular working folks here are going through and doesn't understand that a real Representative for this part of the state would be standing with the OccupyArkansas movements, not against them."

Aden has been endosed by DWT and you can contribute to his grassroots campaign here at our ActBlue page.