A Handful of Oligarchs Can't Stop History

A few days ago it became clear that the memo had been written and distributed to all corporate news outlets, including PBS's The News Hour, which bows to the Gates Foundation, one of its chief underwriters.  The same talking points, the same smears, the same alarm bells: the Occupy Encampments Have to Go.

And at the same time, the Oligarch$ funding the poster boy of corporate fascism, Scott Brown, released a smear ad against Elizabeth Warren with essentially the same talking points.  From Sourcewatch:

In November 2011, Crossroads GPS ran an ad in Massachusetts criticizing Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren for supporting Occupy Wall Street, and claiming the Occupy protesters “attack police, do drugs and trash public parks. They support radical redistribution of wealth and violence.”

The source for the ad's "radical redistribution of wealth" claim comes from an article critical of the protests in the Wall Street Journal by pollster Douglas Schoen. ^[9] Schoen wrote in the article that the protesters supported "radical redistribution," but his own numbers actually showed only 4% of those polled supported the concept. ^[10] In contrast, 35% of those polled said they'd like to influence the Democratic party (and 5% said they wanted a flat tax, a policy typically supported by conservatives). ^[10]

The ad quotes the Schoen article over the image of a sign that says "fight for socialism, abolish capitalism," apparently implying that the Occupy protesters were socialists and Warren was one of them. However, a section of the Schoen poll not superimposed over the "socialist" image showed an even number of protesters identified with the socialist and libertarian parties. ^[11]

The ad also uses a quote from Warren where she says “I created much of the intellectual foundation for what they do” to imply she was responsible for any violence that happens at the Occupy protests. What she actually said in an interview with The Daily Beast was this:

EW: Look, everybody has to follow the law. That’s the starting point. I’ve been fighting this fight for years and years now. As I see it, this is about two central points: one, this is about the lack of accountability. That Wall Street has not been held accountable for how they broke the economy. The second is a values question, a fundamental fairness around the way that markets have been distorted and families have been hurt. I’m still fighting that fight. I’m just fighting it from this angle…I want to fight it from the floor of the United States Senate. I think that is a place to make this difference.

TDB: Is showing solidarity with them going to get in the way of that?

EW: It’s not a question of solidarity. I just don’t think that’s the right way to say it. I support what they do. I want to say this in a way that doesn’t sound puffy. I created much of the intellectual foundation for what they do. That’s the right thing. There has to be multiple ways for people to get involved and take back our country. The fight that I’m fighting now is one that is directed towards the United State Senate. That’s just how I see it. ^[12]

The ad:

What the Kochs, Bloombergs, and their likenesses must know is that history will only be further roused by their police actions.  With nothing less at stake than the history of human civilization, a few men with a lot of worthless money cannot stop the movement, any more than they can stop the tide.  They can break up some nylon tents, but they cannot rip up the ideas that are secure in the minds of billions of citizens around the world who have read the writing on the wall.  The forces of Death must go--life deserves a chance to save itself. 
;
It is time to think beyond Obama or the Nutjobs on the Farther Right.   How about a Unity Party in 2016? Wonder what Elizabeth Warren is doing in '16?