Yesterday I re-read some of President Barack Hussein Obama’s words on taking to the streets.

Only this time, something different happened. [A] young [man] was devastated when a police officer confiscated his [possessions]. This was not unique. It’s the same kind of humiliation that takes place every day in many parts of the world -– the relentless tyranny of governments that deny their citizens dignity. After local officials refused to hear his complaints, this young man, who had never been particularly active in politics, went to the headquarters of the [local] government, doused himself in fuel, and lit himself on fire.

There are times in the course of history when the actions of ordinary citizens spark movements for change because they speak to a longing for freedom that has been building up for years. In America, think of the defiance of those patriots in Boston who refused to pay taxes to a King, or the dignity of Rosa Parks as she sat courageously in her seat. [T]hat vendor’s act of desperation tapped into the frustration felt throughout the country. Hundreds of protesters took to the streets, then thousands. And in the face of batons and sometimes bullets, they refused to go home –- day after day, week after week….

The story of this revolution, and the ones that followed, should not have come as a surprise. In too many countries, power has been concentrated in the hands of a few. In too many countries, a citizen like that young vendor had nowhere to turn -– no honest judiciary to hear his case; no independent media to give him voice; no credible political party to represent his views; no free and fair election where he could choose his leader.

And this lack of self-determination –- the chance to make your life what you will –- has applied to the region’s economy as well. Yes, some nations are blessed with wealth in oil and gas, and that has led to pockets of prosperity. But in a global economy based on knowledge, based on innovation, no development strategy can be based solely upon what comes out of the ground.

In the face of these challenges, too many leaders… tried to direct their people’s grievances elsewhere. Divisions of [race], ethnicity and religious sect were manipulated as a means of holding on to power, or taking it away from somebody else.

But… events… show us that strategies of repression and strategies of diversion will not work anymore. Satellite television and the Internet provide a window into the wider world -– a world of astonishing progress in places like India and Indonesia and Brazil. Cell phones and social networks allow young people to connect and organize like never before. And so a new generation has emerged. And their voices tell us that change cannot be denied.

Are you listening to yourself Mr. President?

Gaius writes:

First let me note that I am not part of the yacht and private jet set, which represents an even smaller subset of incomes than mine. The threshold for inclusion in the top 1% of income earners in 2008, the most recent year for which published data is available from the IRS, was $380,354, enough for an extraordinary life but nowhere near enough for a harbor berth in St. Moritz. Nevertheless, I am – for now – comfortably ensconced in that demographic. Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan would save me roughly $400,000 a year in taxes, and President Obama’s tax proposals would cost me more than $100,000, yet I support the latter and consider the former laughable.

Thus you can imagine my amazement this summer Continue Reading »

Marc Fisher writes:

Wayne Schissler walked the four blocks from his workplace to the small Occupy Allentown protest to show the young demonstrators that a tea party member is not a monster. What he learned after a few hours of talk surprised him.

“They didn’t stink, and they weren’t on drugs,” he said. “I could see me being them, 30 years ago.”

Fifteen hundred miles away in rural Minnesota, Vas Littlecrow, a tea party die-hard since the movement’s early days, let the Internet noise about Occupy Wall Street wash over her, leaving her alternately annoyed and intrigued. She went on Google Plus to debate the Occupiers, “and they started saying things that clicked with me,” she said. “This was deja vu with how I got into the tea party.”

At the Occupy D.C. encampment at McPherson Square, Thom Reges, who plans to live in a tent till spring, spent the better part of a morning last week on a park bench debating America’s plight with a tea party member. They clashed over whether government should do more or less to put people back to work but agreed that both political parties do little or nothing for average Americans.

28 percent of Americans approve of the Tea Party movement, 54 percent approve of the Occupy Wall Street movement, DEC. Americans are catching on despite all the money Fox News and the Koch brothers have invested in turning the Tea Party movement to their own purposes. Despite what others contend, this is not a left-right issue, this is a top-bottom fight: the 1 percent believe they hold all the cards, the 99 percent intend to prove them wrong.

For the record, I admire Jeff Longo for signing his name. I think the conversation might be more fruitful if others followed our example.

For everyone else, read the comments, think about the United States you thought you lived in and what you can do to make that nation real again and then enter the conversation because that is the way we build our community.

Jeff Longo of North Royalton wrote in this morning’s Plain Dealer:

The Tea Party has a message that’s clear and precise: less government, lower taxes and more personal responsibility. The incoherent message from this collection of ignorance ranges from “down with capitalism” to “let’s eat the rich.” Clearly, the intellect of these spoiled malcontents is in short supply.

Please let me know your reactions to this video and Kevin Karl Denninger’s article, Jeff…

Ian Welsh writes:

In our current age the word demand has been debased. A day does not go by without some person or organization “demanding” an apology or retraction or that someone do something.

These are not demands as a prior generation would have understood them.

Why?

Because there is no “or else”, not even an implicit one.

OK folks, what’s our or else?

Tim Russo writes:

Either Mayor Frank Jackson and his chief of staff Ken Silliman have all along secretly wanted to help the Occupy Cleveland movement by arresting occupiers at Public Square on live television carried by every single 11pm local TV news broadcast, or they are the most incompetent buffoons you’ll ever encounter in politics. Let’s see, wait until 4am when the crowd of hundreds dispereses, or show up with SWAT teams and riot gear in time for the local news live feed? I’m really not sure which applies, but a good rule of thumb states that when in doubt, always assume incompetence. Continue Reading »

From Jeff Coryell:

Before you do anything else, before you even finish reading this update, please copy and paste the following message into an email and send it to your Cleveland Heights contacts.

I’m voting [I voted] for Jeff Coryell for Cleveland Heights City Council and I hope you will join me.

Jeff is a former government attorney who became an artist and teacher. He has worked for many progressive candidates and causes and was president of our Democratic ward club. Jeff and his wife have lived here seventeen years. He really loves Cleveland Heights and cares deeply about our future. You can learn more at CoryellForCouncil.com.

I’m excited about Jeff because he is a thoughtful and energetic person with a powerful vision for our community. He has a passion for public service and innovative ideas for helping our city grow and thrive. I believe he will bring positive change and make a real difference for Cleveland Heights.

Thanks for considering Coryell for Council! If you would like to help elect a great candidate on November 8th, please forward this email to your friends.

Thanks!

You’re welcome…

From Ms Drama…

Peter Frase writes:

[O]rdinary people hate partisanship, and elites hate ideology. Hence the elite is constantly attempting to misrepresent the latter as the former. And the masses sometimes respond by repudiating ideology when they mean to reject partisanship.

By partisanship, I mean adopting positions or taking actions based purely on what is immediately advantageous to your “side”, party, or faction. (On the far left, this usually goes by the name of “sectarianism”.) When Republicans denounce a health care plan that they were promoting a few years before, just to make the Democrats look bad, they’re being partisan. When Democratic-aligned lawyers go from vigorously denouncing Bush’s imperial presidency to giving legal cover to Obama’s death squads, they’re being partisan. A lot of people find this kind of behavior objectionable, because it is so transparently cynical and unprincipled, motivated by the desire to win tactical–and personal–advantages even at the expense of larger ideals and strategic objectives–that is, at the expense of ideology. What this sort of partisanship ultimately amounts to is the conviction that politics is about winning power for its own sake, rather than using that power for some larger purpose. The Wall Street protests seem to have drawn a decent number of people who were disengaged from the political system, perhaps from a revulsion at this kind of cynical partisanship, combined with a vague ideological intuition that neither side of the mainstream partisan divide is actually pursuing anything that is in their interest.

Via Tim Russo on Facebook…

For what it’s worth, I think the Wall Street Journal fudged the numbers high because someone with an income of $600,000 still counts in the 99 percent and I think the line is closer to $250,000.

Ineptocracy (in-ept-oc-ra-cy) System of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.

From My Dad (of course).

What the 1 percent lust after is the purest from of Oligarchy they can steal:

Oligarchy (from Greek oligarkhía) is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy. The word oligarchy is derived from the Greek words olígos, “a few” and the verb archo, “to rule, to govern, to command.”

Via Keef Knight on Facebook:

…watched “Thunder Soul” last night..best flick I’ve seen all year!!

In the United States we sometimes think of each state as an incubator for social, political and economic experimentation. As long as those experimenting don’t rig the results or queer the study, I think this is a good idea. I also think that if we are going to consider experimental models, we need to look beyond our borders and consider what is working in other nations as well.

Businessweek offers nine suggestions worth trying:

From Germany, Idea: Minimize Mortgages.
From Brazil, Idea: Pay the Poor.
From Turkey, Idea: Open the Doors.
From Canada, Idea: A Worthwhile Tax.
From China, Idea: Go Green.
From Australia, Idea: Give the Kids a Break.
From Thailand, Idea: Cheap Rooms!
From Singapore, Idea: Keep Workers Working.
From Israel, Idea: Swords Into Software.

How many years did the founders of our nation debate just what would be core of their mission? Sure, we had Don’t Tread on Me and Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death, but those were rhetorical catchphrases, great rhetorical catchphrases perhaps, but rhetorical catchphrases nonetheless.

I’m not concerned with the, looseness of the #Occupy movement, Rome wasn’t built in a day etc., etc. Offers are being made, however, by people inside and outside the movement. If I were to name three they would be: No. 1, a constitutional amendment that throws out Citizens United v. Federal Board of Elections; No. 2, a new, even tougher Glass–Steagal Act; and finally, No. 3, the systematic break-up of all and any institutions determined to be too big to fail.

I’ve got others — like the creation of a 1 percent financial transactions tax — but I’d go with my three first.

Matt Taibbi has five:

1. Break up the monopolies.

2. Pay for your own bailouts.

3. No public money for private lobbying.

4. Tax hedge-fund gamblers.

5. Change the way bankers get paid.

There is nothing special about my three or Matt’s five. This is a national conversation and conversations demand time. I have a sense that the #Occupy movement is on the cusp of a second phase. The 99 percent need to keep pushing.