The OWS Are Obama's Challenge Or Maybe His Challenger

This video takes up where the refusal to hear Congressman John Lewis left off. The participants in the video are mostly too young to know that we've seen this act before. Unlike the Tea Party, this group can't distinguish between camaraderie and collectivism. I seriously doubt if they can feel camaraderie. Eric Hoffer, the longshoreman philosopher wrote about the "True Believer" which he called " a guilt-ridden hitchhiker who thumbs a ride on every cause from Christianity to Communism. He’s a fanatic, needing a Stalin (or a Christ) to worship and die for.” These people desperately need to follow. They are waiting for George McGovern or Robespierre; whoever shows up first. I have to confess absolute fascination with the video my partner posted. I've watched it several times and find it simultaneously amusing and appalling. The idiotic egalitarianism elevated to the point of some unholy ritual is scary. Ask yourself why these bright young people are unemployed? Bleak macroeconomics? Or is it they are unemployable? Are they constitutionally incapable of engaging in any cooperative effort that does not have a Messiah leading it? I was not surprised that they professed a profound admiration for Steve Jobs. In the early days he ran Apple like a cult but it was his managerial style not his philosophy. The point is Steve Jobs was a leader the likes of which we seldom see and these people need a leader. Besides a leader they are seeking freedom. As Hoffer says, “When we lose our individual independence in the incorporateness of a mass movement, we find a new freedom—freedom to hate, bully, lie, torture, murder and betray without shame and remorse.”

While the country can probably survive the upcoming scourge of the helpless, one person who should worry is Barack Obama. This may be the beginning of a move to take him down and replace him with a real marxist totalitarian. To them this is 1968. Notice that some of the left in Congress have already tried to make common cause with them, Lewis being the prime example. Lewis, Kucinich, and Ellison aren't true believers but the do want to win and they smell blood. It should not be lost on readers that as my partner has pointed out that Zuccotti Park is owned by a politically connected Brookfield Office Properties that received a loan guarantee from the Department of Energy. If the OWS want to be compared to the Tea Party they should follow its example. The GOP doesn't love the Tea Party; they fear it. Instead looking to the Democrats for support they should pick a few Democrats, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand would be a good example, and wage a primary challenge to her and anyone else who takes money from Wall Street. They should demand that Timothy Geithner be sacked and Ben Bernanke be removed along with any other Democrat involved in the bank bailout. Don't hold your breath! Given a little time a demagogue will emerge but until then they will be content to piss on police cars and chant slogans.