weekly response

Occupy the Government
By Leo Brown
[President Obama's Weekly Address]

It might seem that President Obama is pandering to the Occupy Wall Street movement with his recent rhetoric. He wants to tax the rich to finance our nation's future. He wants to live in a country where everyone, not only those who have already made a fortune, has an opportunity to prosper.

Of course, the President has been saying these things since before he took office, and especially in the last year during the debt fight. He repeats his conviction in this week's address.

Not long ago, I suggested that the President's agenda didn't entirely align with OWS. He has since issued an executive order to ease the burden of student debt, finally enacting legislation that Congress passed in 2010.

We are right to push the man, to ask more of him, and to be angry when he fails to deliver. But anyone who thinks that President Obama is an enemy of the cause has their head in the sand.

In this widely circulated column, Thomas Friedman describes the revolting relationship between banks and government as "a forum for legalized bribery." Even the shortest fry can see that our society is guided by perverse incentive and controlled by the corrupt and ignorant.

So the anarchist contingent of OWS would nail me to the wall for suggesting this, but I'll say it anyway. In the 2010 Congressional elections, the Tea Party won a great many seats in the House. What if OWS tries to do the same in 2012? We don't have much to lose, and now would seem to be the moment to seize. Tea Party representatives are politically weak and verifiably silly. A majority of Americans sympathize with OWS. Occupations are shooting up like dandelions. Instead of Tea Party obstruction, an OWS caucus could empower President Obama to be the progressive hero that we want and need.

Or, OWS could rally behind Jill Stein for President. Ms. Stein, a serious and immensely likable Green Party stalwart, could very well scoop up OWS momentum and usher a Republican into the White House.

The outstanding question is whether OWS can stomach an infiltration of the government. Clearly, some would prefer revolution and will settle for nothing less. But the Tea Party has shown us that a concerted effort to win seats can make an enormous difference in the workings of government. And a majority of Americans, I predict, would not support a revolution.

OWS continues to amass an impressive trove of political capital and, in a brilliant tactical move, has spent none at all. As the world unites around a cause of equity and justice, political beasts will be brought to their knees. But who, or what, will stand before them? This is for the 99% to decide.