Why Occupy Wall Street Is a Disaster for the Obama Administration
I want to keep this brief so I’m not going to present a lot of supporting information — I’ll leave that for my next book, Silent Revolution, about how the far left first hijacked liberalism and key institutions, then hijacked America — but I hope you’ll see why the following argument makes sense.
The great advantage of the Obama administration and the far left has been concealment and deniability. They deny their extremism and sugar-coat their message, helped by the mass media and other institutions ranging from Hollywood through academia. Many sophisticated people — including those who aren’t leftists themselves — still believe that Obama is a regular liberal or even a centrist and think the idea that the media and academia are dominated by the far left is ridiculous.
But the Occupy Wall Street movement isn’t this sophisticated “New New Left” but instead is like the Old Left and 1960s’ New Left in its rhetoric, methods, and symbols. It openly talks about anarchism, Communism, Marxism, and overthrowing capitalism. Unlike the clever Obamaites, these people have learned nothing from the fall of Communism or the failures of the previous two lefts.
Moreover, the Occupy movement is not like previous protests that have won sympathy among Americans like post-World War I veterans seeking the bonuses promised them, or unemployed workers during the Depression, or African-Americans treated as second-class humans seeking equal rights. No, this is an upper middle class movement of the spoiled, seeking more consumer goods and “free stuff” generally. And it views the American people themselves as the enemy, despite the talk of representing the “99 percent.”
The American people are not going to identify with them and no media whitewash will change that fact.
Then there’s the open hatred, the violence and vandalism, the takeover of other’s property, the hygienic and crime issues. True, the media may play all of this down but it’s sort of hard to avoid seeing or hearing about people trashing the downtown neighborhoods of your city.
Such instability and extremism will drive more voters to oppose Obama’s reelection.
Of course, it is profoundly shocking to see the U.S. government’s top officials endorse this radicalism and nihilism. Sure, a lot of the activists want to help Obama but they’re not doing so. Quite the opposite. Then, too, the movement wants to put across its themes — which are also the administration’s themes — about the greedy rich and how government must take over more and more of society.
Certainly, the Obama administration wants to use the movement to its own benefit. But it does so in the wrong way, being too obviously on the side of extremists who are being too obvious in the views that have been winning in America because the true implications and agenda were kept secret by the radicals-pretending-to-be-liberal in the Obama administration and key institutions.
If Obama, his colleagues, and so many in the media and academia weren’t on the far left they’d be denouncing the openly radical movement, explaining to it the error of its ways, and highlighting their own differences in philosophy and goals.
And if those same people were smart or less secure, they’d be following that strategy anyway in order to protect themselves from exposure and criticism.
Incidentally, this is still another way that the radicals-pretending-to-be-liberals are different from real liberals. The real, pre-1920 Progressives — as opposed to those who used that name to camouflage their radicalism — and the New Deal in the 1930s proposed reforms very consciously as a way to defuse the left and avoid a radical revolution. Then the mainstream Democratic Party was anti-Communist during the peak Cold War years. For the Obamaites, however, there is no enemy on the left, not even the Reverend Wright, the Black Panther Party, or Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn.
Yet while the “New New Left” packaging has been so amazingly effective, these people in the OWS movement are returning to the old, failed methods of the Communists and New Left. Take a look at any photo essay by PJ Media’s Zombie, among others, for very graphic proof.
I think that letting these people get out of hand is a suicidal mistake for the Obama administration. No matter how hypocritical it would be, Obama and his cohorts could easily denounce this movement at no cost whatsoever. It could explain that they are well-intentioned but are going about it the wrong way, that they should work within the system, register people as voters (even if they’re dead or non-citizens), get on the government payroll as EPA enforcers or IRS agents, and so on.
After all, the New New Left did precisely that and might preach the same to the next generation of activists, people indoctrinated by its own cadre. Instead, swollen with pride (hubris goes before the fall) and a sense of endless smugness and invulnerability, they think they can get away with anything. I think they’re wrong.
I appreciate your clear-headed distillation of the ideological mismatch between the thugs in the street and the ObaMaoists.
May it continue and become more and more obvious to the American people. Obama won’t correct the ” youthful zealots” because he truly doesn’t understand or identify with the American culture. He doesn’t get it that we are not thanking him for Obama care, for example. I think he is intent on creating chaos in order to seize more power, and for that reason is making these strategic errors. He has underestimated the bitter clingers in flyover country.
Particularly since Nancy Botox Pelosi praises these youthful revolutionaries…which only underscores how insane Obama’s “forward” message is….
“Many sophisticated people–including those who aren’t leftist themselves–still believe that Obama is a regular liberal or even a centrist”
Dear Liar is a centrist only in the sense that he’s merely a fascist and not an out and out communist. When Mussolini created fascism he intentionally touted it as “The Third Way” between capitalism and communism.
I wonder if The Whine is going to use the OWS crowd in a “hey, I’m the only one who can keep these barbarians from the gates” way. In fact, I have to be cynical enough to wonder if the whole OWS movement wasn’t created as a more dangerous alternative to Dear Liar, so that he does seem more moderate and reasonable, and that Romney is hopelessly out of touch. Very dangerous game to play, but I don’t put it past these marxists.
Rather than calling him names, I think it is more useful to look at Obama’s incoherent base, and his need to impose unity where there is irreconcilable conflict as to objectives. The Republicans have a similar problem in bringing together all their internal factions. I wrote about the Democratic base here: http://clarespark.com/2012/04/06/diagnosing-potus/.
Excellent column.
I pray you are right but I fear you are wrong. I question whether enough of those who voted for Barack Obama in 2008 can be persuaded not to vote for him again. (And are there enough such voters to swing the electoral majority to Romney?) How many of them will be able to rationalize the OWS movement as the work of ‘a few malcontents’ and ‘not Obama’s fault’? Many of those who think the rich ‘don’t pay their fair share’ also work for a living. They see themselves in the ninety-nine percent and they have no guarantees from their work while those who bring on economic misery always seem to get bailed out. It all comes down to choices. I fear that too many people will see Mitt Romney as one of the one percent and will vote for Obama as a result. Mitt Romney is not Ronald Reagan.
It will take some pretty smooth campaign ad writers to hang the OWS albatross around Obama’s neck without generating backlash, but it could be done. The message would be about a president who pits Americans against each other and who takes sides with these thugs, drugs, and slugs.
Then our side needs to remind the American voter how Bill Clinton became from Zero, to being worth a few hundred million, in his last few years….Shine the light on Roaches, and the filthy things scatter…About Mitt Romney, i think he really worked hard, and used the system, such as a good university Ed…, and being very frugile, and being a good man and an Honorable man….Not that he was my first choice, in fact when SARAH backed off, there was no more choice for me…..My opinion….I still lub her…[ as a true conser.]….We as conservatives have no other choice but all get behind Mitt…and that also calls for the Ron Paul followers to get on board….Remember it was ONE man out of this 300 million that put our bigg disaster, Willy Clinton, in office….one man….EARS …Ross peroit…. and his violent hatred for the Bush Family….and as a result we now have this Chinese Disaster>>>>>Jimi
“It could explain that they are well-intentioned but are going about it the wrong way…”
Again, look at Zombie’s photo essays. Most people would find it tough to believe that OWS idiots are well-intentioned. He could explain it, but it would not be very persuasive.
It would probably help him quite a bit more if he denounced them. If he wants to get reelected, he’ll need people who aren’t extreme leftists to vote for him. That could be pretty tough to do, considering that most Americans despise people who loot, pillage, use drugs, and defecate in public.
I don’t think most people who get their news from the MSM have seen one word linking OWS to the Far Left, new or old. Check the NYT coverage and you’ll see.
However, OWS was clearly intended to become the astro-turfed answer to the Tea Party, which as a real populist movement clearly has the Obama-ites scared stiff. By that measure it has clearly flopped.
Best thing Obama admin can do is nothing. Why step into a losing situation? If pressed just mumble something about the right of people to protest within legal bounderies best left to local authorities and let it go at that.
Personally I think Obama is more of an opportunist than idealogue. He has nothing to gain by siding with or against OWS.
I don’t know if it is hubris or not.
In the last few weeks I have repeatedly posted comments in which I have highlighted the “attack ! attack ! attack !” strategy chosen by Obama. It is a strange strategy, because it is scaring away the independents (and even some Democrats)but there is a very important “but”: we don’t know if (and which) “October surprise” the subversives are planning. A very aggressive “surprise” would certainly crown this kind of aggressive campaign with a winning touch.
I think we must work door to door, spread information, reveal the lies…and be very very prudent and vigilant. The subversives reason in terms of war, not in terms of politics…
SZ-
The “October Surprise” may be devastating. I fully expect it to include the unthinkable, large loss of life, national riots and a descent into martial law. The ‘Forward’ version of “die Kristallnacht”.
Too conspiracy for you? Check your assumptions. Who would have thought that local police agencies are using Predator drones over the US 4 years ago? But they are being used.
He’ll eventually denounce OWS–when he thinks it’s expedient. His presidency is the most transparent ever–the most transparently cynical. I’m afraid there are far too many people who approve of such cynicism, but I don’t think they can manage a majority. I think he’s headed for an epic fall.
I don’t think Obama will denounce OWS unless forced to by circumstances. Barry is right, the pattern of this administration is “no enemy on the left”.
“This is an upper middle class movement of the spoiled, seeking more consumer goods and “free stuff” generally. And it views the American people themselves as the enemy, despite the talk of representing the “99 percent.”
Absolutely right. You have spoiled brats with their IPhones and their IPads screaming because they’re not getting a free college education. They’re screaming that the liberal institutions that they support, like colleges, keep sticking it to them by raising tuitions at horrific levels on an annual basis. And they get even angrier still when the rest of America doesn’t want to pick up the tab for all of this, just so they can keep partying in their favorite frat house or dorm. While in the Depression people were protesting because they were literally starving to death, today’s kids are protesting because they don’t get free Wi-Fi. It’s disgusting and I think most working people can see right through this.
And it’s really going to stink for all of these college kids when they finally realize that the guy they voted for in 2008, Mr. Hope and Change, the man who was going to fix all of this, not only made things worse but also killed the economy so that they can’t find a job when they graduate, thereby sticking them with all of these huge college loans. Yup, it sure stinks when you get lied to and I hope these same kids will remember that come November. This is one thing they can’t blame on Bush.
Judging from Obama’s popularity with that age group they are not learning nor do they have the analytical tools, what we call experience and maturity, to learn. By the time they do figure out he was a fraud Michelle will be in her second term.
You’re not wrong but I’m afraid there is little reason for optimism. This bunch will never change because they are not rational people. Their leaders are brain-washed ideologues and the followers are ignorant sheep looking for any reason to feel relevant.
Dr. Rubin, your recent columns on this topic have been stellar. I think the book “Radical-in-Chief” fills in some of the details about the debates over tactics within the far left. Some preached open confrontation, others favored the stealth mode employed by Obama. I think the OWS folks are young idealists who don’t have a clue – often they don’t know exactly what they stand for.
Also Walt Williams over at townhall.com has a column on who the OWS folks are. They looked at the records on the few hundred that were arrested – let’s just say they aren’t homeless.
I think “Radical-in-Chief” should be made into a movie.
about all this, Dr. Rubin.
Rather than pointing out how disastrous it is for the Obama Administration, just leave it alone, let it take its course, and the end result will be what we all want, hope, and long for: Obama will be voted out of office. Good riddance!
The time to make something of it, if any, is way down the road, when it’s too late for the OWS and Obama to pull back.
D’ya get it, Dr. Rubin?
This isn’t just the administration, it’s the entire party. Nancy Pelosi loves herself some #occupy.
What is most interesting is the fact that the attacks on May Day were all in Liberal Enclaves where the Local Officials were Leftist themselves (i.e. Mayor McGinn in Seattle) and did not call for Police Presence until after the damage was getting out of hand.
So they were able to look very bad for the cameras because they were allowed to misbehave by the Local Leftist Officials.
Interesting what?
While you may say the Bonus Army deserved sympathy, Republican President Hoover sent the Army to burn their camps using cavalry and tanks.
Hoover was a Progressive Rino who deserves no sympathy for his low ranking by Historians.
Absolutely correct.
a such and such, and Barry Rubin agrees.
SO WHAT?
Who or what should be the entities that “guarantee” your income, besides yourself?
And whose money should they use to “guarantee” it?
I believe we American still very lucky because they are some patriots adviser around President Hussein Obama whom do not let him to do whatever he believe, I believe if Obama had all the power he could be great dictator and would bring America down to greatest communist nation but he can’t because he does not have that power despite he is the U.S president.
I believe we American still very lucky because they are some patriots adviser around President Hussein Obama whom do not let him to do whatever he believe, I believe if Obama had all the power he could be great dictator and would bring America down to greatest communist nation but he can’t because he does not have that power despite he is the U.S president,
All very salient points. The problem is that the Democrats are gearing up for massive voter fraud. At the very least, I expect to see this election thrown into the courts.
If this is a reprise of Al Franken’s theft of the Senate seat in Minnesota we are in trouble.
If it’s not close they can’t cheat.
My Prediction;
Obama will win – California, New York, Michigan, and Hawaii
Obama may also win – Maine, Illinois, Washington, Oregon.
All other states will go Romney.
The senate will also go 55 to 59 Republican Seats.
The house may even gain ground in the Republican Column.
What the Republicans will do with their victory is another story.
Better take a look at today’s Rasmussen.
Something is very wrong with the electorate. After 3.5 years of being the worse President in US history, of undermining our economy, alliances, sovereignty and freedoms, Obama still has approximately 47% approval and holding his own or winning most swing states.
Somebody explain this to me?
Bob from Virginia
That is such awesome news;
Let’s look at how things were 32 years ago;
January 10, 1980 Gallup Poll
Carter 63%
Reagan 32%
March 1980 Harris Poll
reagan 40%
Carter 58%
October 24 – 26 1980 Gallup
Carter 47%
Reagain 39%
Obama ain’t nowhere close to Carter’s numbers and Carter was blown out in a total landslide winning only 4 states and the District of Columbia.
For Obama to be starting at sub 50 percent is a genuine Disaster.
At the same point in time:
In 1972 Nixon was above 50% and +18 over his opponent.
In 1976 Ford was above 50% and +6 over his opponent
In 1980 Carter was above 50% and +25 over his opponent
In 1984 Reagan was above 50% and +13 over his opponent
In 1992 H.W. Bush was above 50% and +11 over his opponent
In 1996 Clinton was above 50% and +14 over his opponent
Only in 2004 was W. Bush not above 50% and not with a major plus over his opponent, however the Economy was in great shape with good growth and LOW unemployment. (Neither of those elements are in play with Obama.)
I might add that Ford, Carter, and H.W. Bush all ended up losing and Clinton while winning did not exceed 50% in the Final tally.
From your mouth to G-d’s ears. I am somewhat pessimistic because there is an irrationality about the whole Obama phenomena I have never seen with regard to any other President.
What’s wrong is that you are increasingly outnumbered.
In 2012, the electorate is going to look something like this:
White non-Hispanic voters: 72%
Black voters: 14%
Hispanic voters: 11%
Other (Asian, etc.): 3%
The groups in Obama’s coalition are growing in size. Hispanics and single women are the two fastest growing voting blocs in America today. And Obama dominates them both.
The GOP is accustomed to winning elections mainly with white voters. In 1980, Reagan won 56% of the white vote. But back then, whites were 88% of the electorate. Today they’re 72% of the electorate. Do the math. Today, 56% x 72% = 40%. With today’s demographic breakdown I gave above, Reagan would have lost the election if he couldn’t have appealed much more to minority voters than he did.
Ever heard of minority-majority Congressional districts, in which a minority group like blacks are the majority in that district? America is gradually becoming a majority-minority country. By 2040, white Americans will be a minority inside their own country. And the GOP had better find another way to win elections.
The flaw with your reasoning is that how would the public know the real face of the Occupy movement unless they were already conservative in the first place?
The mainstream media doesn’t mention any of the negative aspects of the Occupy movement. Unless you watch Fox news or read blogs, you wouldn’t know.
I mean, out of habit I use Yahoo as my home page. Virtually every day there’s a pro-Occupy movement story.
A few months ago, I got banned from a video game website for making a joke about Occupy.
You don’t understand how popular it is…
I hear you and you make valid points. My answer, though, is that they will see the disruptions and hear about it by word of mouth. i walked around two U.S. cities passing the encampments and hearing what people on the streets in the neighborhoods were saying. I remember in the 1960s-1970s that when demonstrators blocked roads and traffic regular people were outraged. But I fully appreciate and understand your point and you–and others who made this point–might be right. Keep following this point and see what you think as the demonstrations grow in violence and aggressiveness.
Barry, didn’t the demonstrators eventually get most of what they wanted despite the outrage? I thought that’s why we’re in the mess we are today.
Occupiers– but they’re the Democratic base for 2012?!
It occurred to me the other day, while listening to that jackass Ed Schultz – which trust, never lasts more than 60 seconds – that Liberals, progressives and socialists have to have some very inhuman, immoral core beliefs to believe the pabulum they spew out.
1. A poor person is poor through no fault of their own, they have no ability to change their lot in life and have no responsibility to change their situation to try and improve it.
1a. Further, when we see statistics that say X% of Americans are below the poverty line, they believe this represents a static population of hapless fools who need government assistance. This of course is stupid beyond belief. Most people who made of those living in poverty 10 years ago are no longer living in poverty today. We live in an upwardly mobile country.
2. Government indeed has it’s own money and they have zero responsibility to those of us who they take it from to account for how they spend it and insure us they are doing everything humanly possible to rationally and responsibly husband our resources.
3. The shrinking 51% or so of us who pay all of the income taxes have no right to the dollars they confiscate from us.
3a. In fact, we are the only group of Americans on whom they confer any responsibility at all – the responsibility to row the boat while the rest lay about and gorge themselves on our efforts.
4. Rights DO confer a financial hardship on another. Women’s reproductive rights confer the responsibility of acquiring birth control pills to those of us who pay taxes, to name but one of hundreds of things these jack asses consider to be rights that are actually more properly understood to be in the realm of one’s personal responsibility.
5. Making a lot of money is evil even though no laws were broken in doing so.
5a. The total amount of money is static, therefore:
5b. The only way you can make more money than the mean is for someone else to make less. In other words, wealthy people get that way by stealing money from poor people.
6. Free markets, where people are free to produce whatever they want so long as it is legal and are free to sell it to people at a price both parties find acceptable, where no one is coerced to engage in either side of the transaction is patently evil! (Unless of course you are liberal and you are engaged in writing, movie making or the green industry – Then the free market is perfectly acceptable, although we should probably subsidize people who engage in these activities just in case the rest of us utterly reject their asinine products for being silly, stupid, useless, etc… After all, these folks are enlightened and their message must get out to the masses!)
7. Any mention of God or Jesus is forbidden unless you can take scripture out of context to further a liberal, socialist, progressive position.
8. Who one chooses to associate with is only instructive about one’s character when one is of a conservative/libertarian nature. One can learn nothing from who liberal/progressive/socialists choose to hang out with.
9. Campaign promises are only to be paid attention to when a Republican makes them, Democrats get a free ride.
10. Only white people are capable of being racist or behaving in a racist manner.
The people of the Occupy Movement as unwashed as they were, were the only people who did something about the greed and corruption that created the financial meltdown in 2008. Yes they were unsuccesful in changing the corrupt system that will inevitably lead to more crashes but at least they tried. That’s more than the Obama administration and the GOP opposition did together.
I tried to end world hunger by making a paper airplane. Useless, but at least I did something.
You see how ridiculous that is, right? The behavior of #Occupy has been just as useless.
If you made the paper airplane, then demanded that it fly you to Paris for free, the analogy would be closer.
“ were the only people who did something about the greed and corruption that created the financial meltdown in 2008.”
Really?
What, pray tell, did they ‘do?’
For the record: rape, assault, crapping in public, shouting anti-semitic slurs and harrassing small-business owners who don’t donate enough free food doesn’t count. Unless of course, you can tie that somehow to improving the financial situation of the country…
I honestly do not how OWS could effect Obama one way or another. After screwing up the economy, defense and everything else and being called a genius for doing it I seriously doubt a few thousand miscreants will effect anything one way or another. It seems that Obama followers are members of a cult; he could murder a busload of nuns and be hailed an introspective hero by them for doing so.
I will add to what I wrote above, this election will not be decided on the basis of Obama’s total unsuitability for office or the fact that OWS represents a left that maybe one in 10,000 ever thinks about. What is important is that Obama is cooler than Romney. The only way that Romney can be assured of victory would be if Obama were to become fat, i.e. no longer cool.
Too believe that OWS is a disaster for the Obama administration is incredibly wishful thinking. If the electorate can ignore the debt, Honduras, the surrender of US sovereignty to the UN, the betrayal of allies, the failure to sign a SOFA with Iraq, the weakness in dealing with Iran, the inadequate surge in Afghanistan, the business hampering regulations, etc. why do you think they will pay attention to the antics of a few thousands miscreants who may have received some sort of nebulous moral support from the administration?
Remember 60 years of affluence has rendered the contemporary American electorate as probably the most immature group of adults in history. Children will vote for what’s fun, not what’s important.
You are right. Adolescence is lasting well into the 30s nowadays. A good example of that is obamacare allowing “kids” to stay on their parents’ health insurance until age 26. By age 26, my parents had been married for five years and had two children. My husband’s parents had been married for eight years and had three children.
I believe that only people who pay taxes should have the right to vote. These immature people who have never contributed a thing to society and have the brain of a 10-year-old shouldn’t have the right to possibly cancel out my vote.
I’ll second that.
Our (i.e. we Conservatives’) large problem is that we’re outnumbered by these holders of the “attitude” that the world owes them a living. They’re Socialists, but I’d bet that they really don’t know that Socialism is the last step before Communism…..maybe that’s the undeclared aim. Any means justifies the end of re-election Chameleon In Chief.
We’re witnessing terrible precedents in our Attorney General and President, they’re actually a disservice to their race; or, in Obama’s case, his chosen identity. We can’t sell that idea very far, however.
We must sweat out the Electoral College this Election Cycle.
The Soviet’s collapse of 23 years ago is near-Jurassic in their (Obama’s sought after base-consituency) attention spans. They were children then, and remain still mired in their self-centered adolescent bubbles.
To paraphrase a great old chestnut, if a bridge in Cleveland almost blows up and the MSM doesn’t make a sound, did it really happen?
All 5 were members AND ORGANIZERS of the local OWS. Not one mention of that fact on the major networks. None. And Juan WIlliams dares equivocate OWS and the Tea Party movement.
http://dailycaller.com/2012/05/02/repeat-the-cleveland-5-the-geniuses-who-tried-to-blow-up-a-bridge-for-the-99-were-all-occupiers/
“about how the far left first hijacked liberalism and key institutions”
Overly charitable. Liberalism is now and always was communism lite. No violent hijacking needed, only natural evolution from opaque motives, duplicitous means, and occult goals to naked social justice. A liberal who doesn’t lie about the perfect society she desires is a nazi (if she believes in social justice and hates Israel) or a communist (is she believes in environmentalism and hates everyone).
reached critical mass in 2008 and the election turned on that.
people no longer believe their eyes, and their minds no longer think, but salivate on cue.
to penetrate their skulls and break the spell they’re under now won’t be easy.
a pussy-footed mr. nice guy romney is way too soft to do it.
Round up as many “Occupiers” as possible fly them to Fallujah and let them
Occupy Islam “. No return flight.
In the past, the Left has cavorted to provoke the government into some showy violence against them. They still try for footage and get some from time to time. Remember that poor IDF LTC that was the subject of a photo op and almost got tossed. It was so staged, but Israelis tend to be blind to such things.
Now when we have OWS, the authorities do little, but let them run with it, which creates tremendous ill-will in the community. OWS just keeps pushing and just creates more real grassroots anger against the movement.
At some point, the locals will start catching some of them in the shadows, leaving them where they found them. Of course OWS generates so much violence of their own, that it would be difficult for anyone to develop much interest in the case.
Bradley Manning, under different circumstances has not generated much sympathy even on the Left. Salon has lamented this lack of interest for one of their heroes.
Let us all hope that they keep pushing their luck.
Romney Obama the Same?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWDJEc92d38
An idea: Why not gather our forces and “occupy” Hollywood to protest its hypocritical leftism and vicious anti-americanism.Imagine 1000 tea partiers defecating on Larry David’s lawn!
Barry, You are operating under the misconception that the Obama team are political pros making political judgements. That would be the Clinton Family, not the Obamas. The Obamas are sincere leftists who place a much higher priority on social justice than on political coalition-building. Obama could easily have become Boehner’s and McConnell’s golfing buddies. Michelle could be gal-friends with their wives. The reason that didn’t happen was not by mistake. They are sincere. They agree with OWS. Obama would much prefer to go down in history as the President who fought for social justice, rather than as Clinton Part Two.