Who Can the Left Dance With?

Bulletin The Police clean up brigade backed away and the protesters are still there. Hurray for them.

The Occupy Wall Street is now going full blast. As I write, there is a threatened showdown for this morning. The billionaire Mayor of New York City says he needs to clean the Park. The occupiers say they have been cleaning it and its just fine. The NYPD will be sent in on the pretext of a clean up brigade. I have always felt that Bloomberg was just waiting for the moment to get tough with that “disorderly bunch of protesters.” We got us an, anal billionaire Mayor.” Who would've guessed?

As I have been watching and reading about Occupy Wall Street, O.W.S. I have been struck by how the left is trying to find a way to tie the nation wide demonstrations to a political strategy. There have been blistering attacks on Obama from people like Greenwald, Olberman, Maddow. Very serious voices on the left. Other left web-sights have been running pieces showing how Obama is a complete product and friend and of Wall Street. They sight his present fund raising efforts from the very sources that the O.W.S. folks are going after all hammer and tongs. A paradox indeed.

Herein lies the problem. If the O.W.S. protests are to succeed it needs to tie itself to some political organization or create an entirely new one. At this point I don’t see any potential for the latter.I hope I am wrong. That brings me to the Left’s dilemma with Obama. For an assortment of reasons early on the Left was very ecstatic about the President. Look, it was very hard to resist the simple fact that we had ELECTED A BLACK PRESIDENT. There was a few folks even during the, “hale the conquering hero stage” who suggested we calm our enthusiasm because “He aint what we think he is.”

There was absolutely nothing in his background that would suggest that he would take on a real fight for social and economic justice for working people. They were right. Yes there were some achievements. They have become lost in Obama’s obsession to compromise. Which he did and got bubkas in return. Look, on the other hand that’s exactly how he made it in the white mans world. Has he learned from his new experience? We’ll see. (There are so many WE’LL SEE’S these days.)

My own view. What is non existent is any kind of movement that would PUSH Obama AND SUPPORT HIM AT THE SAME TIME. That basically grew out of my experience through the 1930s and 40s. Sighting F.D.R’s rejoinder to A Philip Randolfrs complaint the Black workers were not receiving their fare share of the New Deal. F.D.R’s reply was,. “Philip you go out there and make me do it.” Keeping in mind that back then there was a most powerful Labor and Left wing political movements that could mobilize millions of workers at short notice. That’s what I felt Obama lacked. An organized left that could, “make him do it.” Is this just wishful thinking? Maybe.

Okay, so leaves me with the original question. Who is the present day Left going to dance with? (No I only watched Dancing With Stars” once.) If the O.W.S. folks want some way to put their demands to get the control of the US economy out of the hands of the big bankers they need a dancing partner some-where's in the political spectrum. Oh, wait a minute. If they want to basically change the system from capitalism to something else. That’s a horse of a different color. I simply don;t see any sign of that.

We on the left are continuing to wring more concessions out of capitalism to make it more friendly to working people. Heah, that’s what we’ve been doing for the last, close to 100 years. Yes, we always had to find partners in Washington to dance with. That’s the O.W.S. dilemma. If and when they emerge the O.W.S. strategists,, will have to deal with the problem. Otherwise the great O.W.S. protest will quickly fade with the fall leaves while the 2012 elections beckon. What do they do then? Romney or Perry against Obama? Ouch!