“Obviously I’ve heard of it,” President Obama said in his Thursday press conference. “I’ve seen it on television.”
Well, maybe he can see "it" up close in DC if he gets out of his bubble.
Protests against corporate power in the US have taken root in Washington DC, with hundreds of people occupying Freedom Plaza in the city centre to demand progressive reform.The "Stop the Machine" rally organised by a group called "October 2011" echoed the demands of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement in New York that drew more than 5,000 people, including labour-union support, on Thursday.
And what about his cohort?
TPM spoke to a slew of Democratic operatives across DC Wednesday and Thursday and found an even more cautious approach toward the growing movement. (They all agreed to speak anonymously as is the custom in DC when reporters try to push past talking points.) Some operatives seemed thrilled at the possibilities — liberal tea party! — but all said it’s way to early to tell whether this is something Democrats want to engage directly.
Yes, if they’re going to exploit something, they first have to be sure that it’s something that has enough votes behind it.
Not all Democrats are holding back.
Add Russ Feingold to the list of prominent names backing Occupy Wall Street.The former Wisconsin senator sat down for an interview with the Washington Post‘s Greg Sargent.
[...]
“I’m really encouraged by what I’m seeing. People around the country are finally organizing to stand up to the huge influence of corporations on government and our lives. This kind of citizen reaction to corporate power and corporate greed is long overdue.”
Of course, Russ Feingold doesn’t have a seat in Congress to guard any more.
These guys do (with the exception of Howard Dean), but I can only assume theirs are safe. In fact, Kucinich could positively be counted on to support the movement.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) released a video on Tuesday in which he praised the ongoing “Occupy Wall Street” protests in lower Manhattan and other cities across the United States.“To the young men and women who are braving the overreaction of local authorities to raise their voices against the corruption and manipulation of our nation that emanates from Wall Street: I say to you that your presence is making a difference,” he said. “You are exercising the right every American holds most dear, the right of freedom of expression, and with that expression you are finally getting the attention of the nation.”
"We have been inspired by the growing grassroots movements on Wall Street and across the country," say Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz. and Rep. Keith Ellison, co-signing a statement. "We share the anger and frustration of so many Americans who have seen the enormous toll that an unchecked Wall Street has taken on the overwhelming majority of Americans while benefitting the super wealthy. We join the calls for corporate accountability and expanded middle-class opportunity."
"I think it has become a vehicle for people to vent their frustration with the economy," Senator Kirsten Gillibrand told The National Memo on Tuesday. "Everywhere I travel across New York State I meet with every day families and small businesses, and they are deeply worried about the economy. I share the frustration at how broken Washington has become in forging solutions. We must act and I hope we can rally around the bipartisan ideas I've outlined today to get people back to work."[...]
"I've been waiting for something like this to happen," Howard Dean, former Democratic National Committee chair and governor of Vermont, told The National Memo. "Wall Street is an institution that is not serving the country well. Because of their financial practices, money's not getting invested in the long-term creation of jobs. They basically have turned Wall Street into a gambling casino. Credit default swaps, about 95 percent of that is speculation. So I'm glad to see all these young people on Wall Street."
And here’s a little more entertainment using #Compromise’s speech from WIIIAI…
Have you heard about this Occupy Wall Street thing? “Obviously I’ve heard of it. I’ve seen it on television.” No word on whether he’s keeping up on the economic plight of ordinary Americans by watching “Two Broke Girls.” “So, yes, I think people are frustrated”. And evidently they’re mostly frustrated by Republicans who want to roll back Dodd-Frank. And bankers and the financial system and whatnot. If they’re frustrated by Obama and the Democrats in any way at all, Obama must not have seen evidence of it on television.[...]
Re “Fast and Furious” (selling guns that went to Mexico so we could track them, without the actual tracking them part), he has “complete confidence” in Attorney General Eric Holder, who has “indicated that he was not aware of what was happening in Fast and Furious,” which you’d think would undercut that complete confidence just a little bit, but evidently not. “And I think both he and I would have been very unhappy if somebody had suggested that guns were allowed to pass through that could have been prevented by the United States of America.” So that’s okay then.
IRONY! “The irony is the same folks that the Republicans claim to be protecting, the well off -- the millionaires and the billionaires -- they’d be doing better, they’d be making more money if ordinary Americans had some money in their pockets and were out there feeling more confident about the economy. That’s been the lesson of our history -- when folks in the middle and at the bottom are doing well, the folks at the top do even better.” Heads, the rich win, tails the rich still win.
Oh, and that is not at all the lesson of our history.
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
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