Occupy Movment's Thesis of Complaint

I've discovered a reasonable historical parallel to the Occupy Movement. Ann Coulter compares it to the French Revolution...which IS fair given the "let them eat cake" attitude of the 1%. But it is far more like the 1524 German Peasant Rebellion in the wake of Martin Luther's nailing of his thesis to the church door - which had also happened right around the time of that era's invention of the Internet: the printing press.

The inchoate amorphous nature of the protests is actually a strategic advantage. Ratfucking opposition research by lobbyists in support of the 1% will be unable to discredit the leadership, though they may find victims, because there isn't much in the way of leadership or spokespeople. You can't decapitate what has no head.

The energy of the protests is augmented the militaristic response of law enforcement. The far famed lack of demands sidesteps the traditional method of defanging movements based on protest: Accede to a few of their demands. The radicalism of the 1930s during the Great Depression could easily have gone much further, but were disarmed by FDR's ready willingness to negotiate.

There is the energy, the movement. All that is missing is the focus for these: the thesis of complaint, nailed to the doors of:

• the New York Stock Exchange,
• K Street Lobbyists,
•  C Street House of The Family in D.C,
• every bank that participated in the Wall Street Meltdown and got bailed out,
• the Chamber of Commerce,
• the Supreme Court,
• the House of Representatives,
• the Senate,
• White House.
• every Courthouse
• every capital building in every state
• every state house of representatives, every state senate, every state supreme court 
• the house and office of every elected official
• every local chamber of commerce

And central to Thesis should be this:

• A roll-back of economic, regulatory and educational reforms for over the past 30 years.
• A roll back of tax cuts, financial and anti-trust deregulation.
• An absolute criminalization of Enron type play for pay activities on Wall Street that led to the Housing Crisis and the Meltdown of Wall Street.
• Criminal investigations into the housing crisis, robo-signers, mortgage backed security fraud, hedge fund managers and play for pay rating industries with mandatory minimum sentences.
• An end to the Patriot Act, penalties for phone companies that turned over customer information to the Bush White House.
• Criminal investigations into the Bush/Cheney Administration - including domestic spying, war profiteering, crimes related to torture, hinkiness regarding the federal judges and the purge and installation of staff members in Federal Agencies for political purposes (Dept of Justice for example.)
• An end to all Free Trade Agreements.
• An end to Bush/Cheney era energy policy.
• The claw back of all tax cut and subsidies to energy company on everything NOT related to non-carbon renewable energy development and distribution.
• Back taxes on overseas employees - especially factory workers - to be paid for by American owners of off-shore manufacturers.
• An additional tax on American goods manufactured abroad for sale in the U.S.
• Institute tax based sharecropping, allowing business owners a small return on payroll tax, proportionate to the rate of pay per employee to be increased by benefits provided by employers. Within American borders ONLY. If you want to be rewarded as job creators, you had better be creating jobs!
• Universal Health Care which includes Public Option and Single Payer.
• A rollback of ALL education reform - back to the Johnson Great Society Educational Reforms.
• An end to the War on Drugs. Marijuana legalization and taxation, and AMNESTY for everyone incarcerated for offenses related to marijuana.
• An end to Citizen's United and an investigation in the Supreme Court for Influence peddling by Scalia, Thomas, and Roberts.
• Wall Street surcharge on investment transactions.
• Domestic Marshall Plan. Don't know what that is? Its the deal we gave Germany at end of World War 2 to rebuild infrastructure and reintroduce manufacturing. WE need that  NOW!
• Investigations into war profiteers and war criminals like Haliburton, Blackwater/Xe. Govt contract claw backs and mandatory minimum prison sentences.
• A rollback of all voter suppression attempts. Instances of voter suppression must be investigated and punished by prison. Even if instigated by elected official. They do time too.

This is hardly an extensive list, but I think it gets well at the heart of all that is wrong. Please feel free to add more. Did I miss anything?  Add it to the list and nail it to their goddamn doors!

First draft posted on Maddowblog

#12 - Mon Nov 21, 2011 1:41 PM CST