Speak Out Network
Take 'Em to Task: Occupy Obama
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Read Mark Taylor-Canfield’s Open Letter to Dr. Cornel West, originally published on dailykos.com. |
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jon Raymond on -
Excellent post Mark on reasons not to vote for Obama. May I reprint it on my blog with your byline?
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Permalink Reply by Maggie Meehan on -
Thanks, Mark, for your thorough assessment of the situation those of us who campaigned for Senator Obama in 2008 face now. I share nearly all of your view. I have also come to the choice to not vote, or vote independent. I have chosen the latter and urge you to give it serious consideration. One of the immediate tasks ahead of many of us is the need to assure that our own state voting procedures permit us to write-in during general elections. And then to do so assiduously.....
Our young people will watch what we do....what do we want them to learn?
Will leave the rest of this conversation to others....
Mark Taylor-Canfield said:This is a fascinating debate!
I've done a lot of guest spots on national media shows lately talking about these issues - the Thom Hartmann Show, Leslie Marshall, Norman Goldman, Mike Malloy, and Brad Bannon.
No one has ever disagreed with me that the election system is broken and that Big Money rules the day.
Even Democratic political consultants like Brad Bannon have agreed with me that the Citizen's United decision by the US Supreme Court has subverted our entire democracy.
Top Ten Reasons I can't vote for the Obama Administration, plus a critique of the lack of justice and accountability in our government:
1) President Barack Obama's Dept of Justice has refused to go after the Bush administration on a number of allegations regarding torture of detainees, extraordinary rendition, illegal surveillance on Americans, etc.
2) Eric Holder and the DOJ have failed to prosecute the Wall Street firms, banks and major corporations who caused the collapse of the US economy through unaccountable loans and corrupt financial and business practices.
3) Vice President Al Gore and the Democrats refused to accept any challenges in the House of Representatives to the Supreme Court's appointment of George W. Bush as President of the United States of America.
4) The voter suppression and miscounts in Ohio and Florida were never challenged by the courts.
5) There have been no consequences for Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Bush, Cheney, etc. despite their lies about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. As a result of the invasion, millions of refugees were forced to leave their homes and perhaps as many as a million civilians have been killed, yet there have been no attempts to hold anyone accountable for war crimes. Over 4,000 US soldiers have lost their lives. In Afghanistan the United Nations estimates that there have been at least 12,700 civilian casualties.
6) Under the Obama administration, Bush's overzealous "War On Terror" has continued unabated with numerous CIA drone attacks in Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc. - also killing innocent civilians.
7) The prison at Guantanamo Bay is still open for business in spite of intense international criticism due to it's violation of international human rights treaties.
8) The president now has the power to assassinate American citizens with absolutely no oversight or accountability. No Habeas Corpus, and no trial by a jury of their peers! It's no longer such an exaggeration to say that the folks in power have "gone Medieval" on us. The Magna Charta from 1215 clearly states that no Lord, King, Knight, or Sheriff shall be given this power over life and death without due process and some kind of oversight by the courts or the people. In this case, the President has simply claimed the powers of an authoritarian dictator!
9) Despite his signing statement, Barack Obama's signature on the National Defense Authorization Act allows for unlimited detention of anyone "suspected" of having ties to terrorist groups. This act has caused many of his previous supporters to finally abandon ship, especially those participants in the national Occupy Wall Street movement.
10) Obama's largest campaign contributors are Goldman-Sachs, JP Morgan/Chase and Wells Fargo - the very same corporate interests who received public bailouts from the taxpayers. After all, why shouldn't Wall Street support the president since he seems to be so committed to serving their best interests instead of protecting the interests of the voters?
So, given these unacceptable circumstances, how can I possibly ask a potential voter to cast their ballot for this administration during the next national election?
The only answer I have ever received is: "We should vote for Barack Obama because the Republican candidate is even more right-wing and reactionary on these issues (civil rights, economics and military intervention)."
It's the same old "good cop" versus "bad cop" strategy that we have all seen a hundred times before...
Well, this time I'm not buying it!
I have met the president briefly while he was in Seattle and I believe that he is basically a very intelligent and compassionate man. But regardless of his personal integrity, he has made far too many compromises on issues of vital importance to the nation and to each one of us as individuals.
His decisions on national security and intelligence gathering may be with us for many decades to come and I fear that future right-wing Commanders in Chief will take advantage of the NDAA and Obama's executive orders to abuse these powers mercilessly. Since there are no accountability measures in place, there's absolutely no way for us to stop that from happening!
And who will we have to blame for allowing all of this to take place during his administration?
The answer is, of course, President Barack Obama - the man I campaigned for in the last election.
Does anyone dispute that?How can I, in good conscience, vote for someone who has potentially sold our freedoms to the highest bidder for the sake of political expediency?
I am once again asking for a response to my question, not just from Dr. Cornel West, but from the listeners this time. I certainly appreciate Dr. West's respectful and thoughtful response to my question on the air, but now I also want to know what other folks are thinking.
I do not support Mitt Romney or any of the other Republican candidates for US President - but that is not a good enough reason for me to compromise my own personal values by voting for a man whose policies have caused me to question whether democracy still exists in America. Barack Obama is certainly not responsible for every problem in our country today, but his actions have ruined the sense of inspired optimism I experienced after his election.
I just don't see the changes he promised us - do you?
Most if us are still struggling to afford healthcare and education for ourselves and our children because we lack access to economic opportunity. Exxon/Mobile is still making historic profits never seen before in the history of the world while many Americans are unemployed, under employed or completely destitute and homeless. Tax breaks for the wealthy continue to benefit the rich while funding for social programs are being slashed to the bone or cut entirely by our local and federal governments. The middle class and the poor are being forced t pay for the national debt while those who have helped cause the economic downturn are now back in the stock market still reaping huge profits whie riding on the backs of the working folks.
The wars are still continuing - innocent civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan are still dying, and veterans are still being ignored and abandoned by our government .
And despite our best efforts and our authentically altruistic hopes for the future of society, overt racism obviously still exists in the US.
My only choice now is to become an Independent or to avoid voting altogether.
And can you really blame me for feeling this way?
I realize that politics is all about compromise, but not to the extent that it begins to dismantle the very principles which we are all obligated to protect: personal liberties, economic justice and democratic values!
I hope this dialogue continues. I look forward to reading everyone's comments.
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Permalink Reply by Jon Raymond on
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I don't get it. Since an independent has no chance, it seems a waste of time. What is the point? The system works by media publicity, which means only the big money gets the votes. Are you exemplifying to our youth that futility is their future? What makes you think the youth learn from elders? The elder generation has failed. The American dream is dead. What's so wonderful about your life (or any elder American) that anyone would want to follow in your footsteps, including you? If you could be 18 again, would you relive your life the same way? I certainly wouldn't. Neither would my kids. The youth find the example of their elders an example of what not to do. Do you now find your elders lives good examples to have patterned your life after?
Would you vote the same way in every election, knowing what the outcome has been? Did your vote really make a difference, or did you simply validate the corporatist status quo?
The reality is that the youth are giving us the example to follow with the ant-government leaderless anarchy success of occupy. Stay tuned. Learn by example.
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Permalink Reply by Maggie Meehan on
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"Since an independent has no change, it seems a waste of time..." No one has much of a chance if all they do is complain and vote or not. You are working on informing us all of the need for health care reform; that is a good thing....several days ago when I first began to follow this thread I copied the phrase "nonviolent accelerated evolution" from one of of your posts hoping to find elaborations on the theme in one or more areas...."If I could be 18 again?"...."Were my parents good examples?"...I would still be taking stock from time to time about the wise use of my time...I might have spoken out publicly more often and do more writing, although I have always done plenty....And I find many youngsters giving credit to their parents, and carrying on their examples....of,Jon, "nonviolent accelerated evolution...." keep the faith and be good to yourself.
Jon Raymond said:I don't get it. Since an independent has no chance, it seems a waste of time. What is the point? The system works by media publicity, which means only the big money gets the votes. Are you exemplifying to our youth that futility is their future? What makes you think the youth learn from elders? The elder generation has failed. The American dream is dead. What's so wonderful about your life (or any elder American) that anyone would want to follow in your footsteps, including you? If you could be 18 again, would you relive your life the same way? I certainly wouldn't. Neither would my kids. The youth find the example of their elders an example of what not to do. Do you now find your elders lives good examples to have patterned your life after?
Would you vote the same way in every election, knowing what the outcome has been? Did your vote really make a difference, or did you simply validate the corporatist status quo?
The reality is that the youth are giving us the example to follow with the ant-government leaderless anarchy success of occupy. Stay tuned. Learn by example.
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Permalink Reply by Jon Raymond on
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OK. I don't really see any answer to my important questions there, like "What's the point?" And I don't expect you to have any answers, because I doubt you do. I don't think you understand the problem, because the problem is this government; its very structure. That is not going to change from within. So you don't understand that the solution has to come from outside government. The insiders will only band-aid the fatal wounds. Even if they sincerely want to, they'll be marginalized, just as some of the few voices for change in Congress have been.
You explain why you do what you do, and why you think the way you do. But it all seems just conventional tradition for the sake of tradition and convention. America gets worse and worse with each election. Tradition and convention have failed. Now what? Following traditional conventions is last thing we need to do. In fact, it is the thing that will bring this country down even faster, because it makes us complacent to believe something is being done.
I listened to a discussion the other day among active occupy people. One thing in particular hit home. Someone said that in order to get real attention and participation from others to join occupy actions, we have to bring along someone who is actually facing the issues, like someone being foreclosed on, or students who can't afford their 30% tuition hikes, or can't get a job in this economy.
These people are not necessarily giving credit to their parents, unless their parents were 60s revolutionaries maybe. They are not looking to government or elections at all. Have you seen any occupy political party spring up? No. Because occupy has no time for this government. There are no answers there. It is the government and people who choose government who need to court the occupy people and address their concerns. It is not occupy who need to settle on the Wall Street funded one percent choices available to run for office. But simply making promises won't work. Occupy won't respond to this government until change actually happens, tuition becomes affordable, foreclosures stop, and so on.
I don't think you spend much time actually listening to real occupy people, and you won't find them anywhere in the media. You have to seek them out in their own groups on the web, and their videos and live streams they make. You have to maybe join a local chapter, if only just to be educated.
Nonviolent organic accelerated evolution is simply my definition of what is happening right now. Occupiers are peaceful and seek no violence. But they do consider themselves a revolution. And because the term revolution carries with it images of violent overthrow, I prefer to clarify that it really is an evolution, but an accelerated one. It's an evolution because it is organic and comes out of necessity. These people are not protesting and living in camps for the fun of it. They do it out of necessity.
They live without money because they have none. They organize without top down leadership and decide by consensus because top down leadership fails and consensus works. They live outside the government because the government marginalizes them, and throws them in jail for simply gathering. They have no choice. The government has forced this evolution upon itself. For these reasons, it is more an organic evolution than it is a revolution. It will continue regardless of how much it is repressed, because people have no other alternatives.
It's all nice and warm and fuzzy to look to this remnant of a supposed democratic government and to its elected leaders to make changes for us. Ain't gonna happen. That's not cynicism. That's pure and simple truth based on historical fact.
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Permalink Reply by Ricardo Jones on -
Occupy needs someone who understands dictatorship and faults leadership. The government is in bed with big corrupt business/Law firms who believe they run this country and make the government. Jon if you and others are serious please watch the following Utube video parts 1 and 2. The following applies to all. We must stop fighting each other and unite for a common good and/or accept the ruling class.
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Permalink Reply by Jon Raymond on
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No time to watch the entire thing, but I watched enough to suggest that the government obviously does not work. So why support the government by voting in yet more useless officials. Occupy is where we can unite. Unite to bring about change from outside the government, not from within.
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Permalink Reply by Kris Buxenbaum aka Chemoninja on -
I think that I'll weigh in on this since I'm getting all these emails on this thread. The reason that every few months there's another internet censorship bill, and they will continue until people give up or finally wake up to the fact that Ghandi's non-cooperation worked because it pierced the illusion of control, and the limitations of force.
We MUST vote for Obama both because of the perilous state of the world, and because the Republicans will gut the country, and bleed us dry in seconds. As we've seen by Obama's backing down the Keystone XL pipeline when there was a clear will of the people saying this was a bad idea due to guaranteed environmental damage that even a simpleton can do the math on by just looking at the continuing disaster in the gulf. That shows that just like the reversal of the FDA's dodge on GMO labeling trying to count 1.1 million americans signatures as one complaint just won't fly in an internet world that demands accountability.
We have leverage with Obama to keep 2008 pledges, and to restore our constitutional rights ASAP if he wants our vote's. As far as health care this bill was shyt, and we NEED single payer, as a stage 4 pancreatic survivor that's beating cancer in large part through organic food and distilled water used to eliminate the threat's from our increasingly toxic world. I can tell you the chemo was worse than the cancer, and the bills make surviving a terrifying prospect if you're not earning $300 an hour. We need time for occupy to spread, and we're another crisis away from martial law with no legal recourse due to the patriot act, and NDAA the Republicans almost guarantee that occurrence.
We must get off our butt's, and continue to use what's making the internet the serious threat to tyranny it's becoming. Petition's, challenging conversations that build a meritocracy of ideas, and for your own sakes realize that those that are trying to clamp down on freedom have only a tenuous hold on control. That's why they're so desperate to monitor, censor and shut down these social media sites, and we can't let that happen!
Rather than debate how hopeless things are lets start by passing some petitions around daily, because if fourth graders can petition and change "The Lorax" with signatures. Then perhaps us adults can learn to do more, march more, write salient comments to articles and blogg's (Ya, like this one ). This IS the de-facto tool for rebuilding american democracy, and we have a small window to be effective in spearheading the WORLD's social evolutionary movement towards representational government's.
We need to fight for the trampled rights of the Individual, you know the rugged american INDIVIDUAL? The archetype, that all other modern archetypes are measured against. Well, that guy is being incarcerated out of existence, and has lost the right to "Habeas Corpus," so now the police can take down your door and shoot you for refusing help, and not allowing them entrance. If the police serve a warrant INCORRECTLY, and you pull any weapon to defend yourself, they CAN, and are TRAINED to kill you, legally you have no recourse...even if your's was the WRONG home, and not on the warrant. Restoring our CONSTITUTION must be the main focus, upon that all our other rights may either stand or fall!
We need to restart those progressive breakfast programs....But with ORGANIC food's, that won't continue the world wide sterilization through chemical food additives, and toxic GMO foods, and the american cancer rate thats exploded to 1 in 3! That's just crazy and unacceptable! We need to start GMO free zones in our communities across america. We need to stand shoulder to shoulder with americans of ALL colors who are victims of police violence at the hands of those who should be taken off our streets, not out giving the honest police officers a bad name by abusing their power. We need it established that the police are here to protect us and should be given additional sentences when violating the public trust they swear to serve.
These ideas, and more can gain the momentum of public opinion that bypasses the farce of corporate media as long as we stay positive and look for the many things that CAN be done, and connect with those like us that are concerned with the state of the union. If I can beat the odds to make it into the 2% of pancreatic cancer survivors we the 99% can thwart the 1% with commonsense and shear numbers. There IS no other force more powerful than Evolution that this planet has ever seen, and the 1% are on the wrong side of that force...
My answer is YES take Obama to Task, and make him EARN our support this time!
Just my opinion,
~Kris aka Chemoninja
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Permalink Reply by UMOJA on -
I agree with Jeff 4 Justice on this. Americans who are fed up of the two traditional right-wing party system we have should put their mouth, money, and feet in the service of The Green Party(we should have already helped organize and popularize them, since their access to corporate media is limited). Otherwise, we're back to the same old illusion of choice in this two-party system which, in reality, is truly a one-party system, both beholden to their corporate masters who don't give a fiddlers' fart about our rights. We've got a third choice, Green Party, that the corporate media narrative doesn't want us to seriously consider, and we let them manipulate and limit our choices!
Are we in denial? Election after election we keep doing the same thing, voting Democrat or Republican, and expecting different results. When will we stop ignoring evidence( like the Republicans) and see the reality that this two party system does not work, and all the failed attempts at resuscitating it have and is costing us dearly? We are the authors of our own oppression. Let's try, this time, to get out of our own way.
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Permalink Reply by Jon Raymond on
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Kris, you say we must vote for Obama and then you say we have lost rights like Habeas Corpus, he backed down on the pipeline, Gitmo remains open, war never ends, Wall Street owns your healthcare and makes you pay through the nose, and you know that list goes on and on. Now you want to take him to task?
There is only one way to do that. Don't vote for him. You say the Republicans will gut this country? Obama is doing it now just as the Republicans would. The difference is that people are complacent when Obama does it, but they will rebel to no end if Republicans gain control. Either way we loose. The Green party stands no chance. A vote for anyone simply ratifies the corrupt system. Anyway, it doesn't matter how you vote. Obama will win because Wall Street wants him to win and you will become complacent because you had your say in the rigged election.
If something doesn't work in business it is retooled, replaced, redone. In baseball, its three strikes. If you keep getting bad meat at the store, you go to a different store. Yet in politics we keep saying every election to get out and vote. How many times are you going to beat that dead horse?
That's not cynicism. That's reality.
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Permalink Reply by Ricardo Jones on
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Jon, there's a process in this country called government by the people for the people. We need to stand together to send a clear message to those so called politicians to include obama. Politicians soldout this country in the middle of the night. Many of us are disillusioned with the corruptions, broken promises and frauds of the obama adminstration. Because obama looks Black we are affaid to hold him and his adminstration accountabled. The media Black and white have given the president a pass based on his color. We must hold all our politicians accountable and if they're corrupt then vote them out to include obama. Devil we know verses the devil we don't know, doesn't work either. The president plateform will change once he knows the people aren't sheep.
Power of the people
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Permalink Reply by Mark Taylor-Canfield on -
My proposed resolution to the Democrats:
General Endorsement of the Occupy Wall Street Movement
WHEREAS, In September 2011 The Occupy Wall Street movement was established in NYC to address major economic and social inequities in the United States;
WHEREAS, the Occupy Wall Street movement has succeeded in changing the public and political dialogue in the US, highlighting the increasing divide in income, opportunity and resources between the majority of the population (the 99%) and the very wealthy (the 1%);
WHEREAS, the Occupy Wall Street movement has spread across the country to over 900 communities, becoming a national movement for social and economic justice;
WHEREAS, the issues of the Occupy Wall Street movement coincide with traditional Democratic Party values and focus on many of our same goals including:
1) Efforts to stop home foreclosures
2) Ending the massive outsourcing of US jobs
3) Reversing the deterioration of our industrial infrastructure
4) Stopping the government bail outs of major corporate interests
5) Withdrawal of US troops from foreign military conflicts
6) Major tax reforms including closure of loopholes for corporations and the wealthiest members of society
7) Campaign finance reforms – (getting big money out of politics)
8) Investment in local economies – (including investment of public money in local community and publicly owned state banks and credit unions)
9) Tax breaks and economic relief for the middle class and unemployed
10) Accessible and affordable healthcare and education for all
11) Financial reforms and public accountability on Wall Street
12) Protection of our fundamental constitutional rights and individual liberties
13) Energy independence from fossil fuels including middle-eastern oil reserves
14) Economic opportunity for all Americans;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that we, the Washington State Democratic Party (WSDCC), endorse the national Occupy Wall Street movement and its goals;
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we recognize Occupy Wall Street as an authentic grassroots populist movement in the US which is part of the current world-wide movement for social and economic justice.
THEREFORE, BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Democratic Party shall include the specific list of aforementioned Occupy Wall Street movement goals in its national party platform.
Introduced at the Washington State Democratic Precinct Caucuses held on
Sunday, April 15, 2012
© 2013 Created by Smiley and West.
