What a few month’s time will do.
As the end of 2011 drew near, the Occupy Wall Street movement was in full swing. Cities across America were host to Occupy camps full of protesters willing to make the case that the greed and corporate influence in America had reached the point that they could influence legislation. The rich and powerful would be able to craft laws that benefited themselves at the expense of everyone else.
The system was broken. And it needed to change.
The Democrats, facing an election year of better organized Tea Party grassroots organizations, were only too anxious to look at the Occupy movement as a method to garner support. Support and sympathy:
“I understand the frustrations being expressed in those protests,” Obama told ABC News senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper…
The President goes on to compare the Occupy movement with the Tea Party, and then expresses the need to reach out to the Occupy protester:
“The most important thing we can do right now is those of us in leadership letting people know that we understand their struggles and we are on their side, and that we want to set up a system in which hard work, responsibility, doing what you’re supposed to do, is rewarded,” Obama said. “And that people who are irresponsible, who are reckless, who don’t feel a sense of obligation to their communities and their companies and their workers that those folks aren’t rewarded.”
Similarly, Nancy Pelosi expressed her approval of the movement like this:
During a press conference Thursday afternoon, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi praised those participating in the “Occupy Wall Street” protests. “God bless them,” Pelosi said, “for their spontaneity. It’s independent … it’s young, it’s spontaneous, and it’s focused. And it’s going to be effective.”
“The message of the protesters is a message for the establishment everyplace,” said the House Democrats’ leader. “No longer will the recklessness of some on Wall Street cause massive joblessness on Main Street.”
To be sure, each side is entitled to its foot soldiers, its partisans. And they should be expected to pander to ’em all they want. To think otherwise is rather foolish. But it’s interesting to see how quickly the shine has wore off:
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte, which is hosting this year’s Democratic National Convention, may ban camping on city property, a move that would end an anti-Wall Street demonstration.
…
The ordinances would essentially end the Occupy Charlotte encampment at the old City Hall, where protesters have had a presence for months.
The Democrats don’t want the Occupy folks at the convention. At the convention where people will be seen on TV. Where questions will be asked and answers demanded. It would appear, for the time being, that the Occupy movement has run its course.