OK – it’s really the “Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada”. But while their acronym is catchier and far less awkward (oh, thesaurus, you totally left me hangin’), mine is much more accurate.
Consider this recent post about the #Occupy “movement” by PLAN’s state director, Bob Fulkerson, wherein he:
- Openly advocates criminal activity;
- Equates the protesters with “hobos”;
- Brags about his compatriots’ efforts to raise gas prices and kill jobs;
- Criticizes attempts to clean up after themselves or others as “weak”;
- Acknowledges the participants of the movement are parasites;
- Calls upon the Occupiers to be MORE parasitic; and
- Calls lawmakers racists (as well as “cruel” and “inhumane”!) if they didn’t vote for watering down high school graduation requirements. (Oh, wait, that was another ridiculous proclamation from PLAN. It’s hard to keep them straight.)
"You see Mr. Bond, not only did I just tell YOU my secret yet highly ridiculous and improbable evil plan before I walk away allowing you to escape, but I'm going to post it on line! Mwoohahaha!" Say - come to think of it, S.P.E.C.T.R.E. had a cool acronym, too... Hmmmm...
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In Fulkerson’s post, he insists in the face of all evidence to the contrary that the Occupy movement has “broken through the American consciousness” in a way nothing else in his lifetime has. His proposition is that the “professional left” (his phrase) should “collaborate” with the leaderless movement to do… something. Apparently, pitching a tent in a public park, committing and/or covering up a few rapes, and refusing to shower is going to increase access to Medicare somehow, while also amending the State Constitution a couple of times.
Fortunately, though, Fulkerson does us the favor of being a little too honest about what his group is really all about.
Lawbreaking
Fulkerson is all for marching and all of that, of course, but clearly feels that marching has an upper effective limit to it. “From this point,” he writes, “it seems we could sustain different kinds of creative actions and mix it up to build the movement.”
His ideas?
Perhaps we could do flash mobs at banks (December 6 is National Bank Action Day), occupy foreclosed houses or other more focused– if less frequent—actions. These actions could have clear results such as forcing banks to consider principal reduction to allow people to remain in their homes.
So – he wants a bunch of people to go trespass at various banks, get whipped up as a “mob”, and disrupt the business going on there. Grandma wants to cash her pension check in peace? Bill wants to take out a loan to start a small business and hire a couple of people? No way – it’s unruly mob time! (Granny’s probably in the 1% anyway, whatever THAT means.) Sure – THAT will change people’s minds. Well, it probably will, just not in quite the way PLAN and their mob intends.
I can’t believe someone actually thinks inciting a mob is a legitimate form of political activity. Has anyone ever actually tried that before? If so, what were the results?
Oh.
And then there is this business about “occupying” foreclosed houses, also criminal trespass.
What is it with these people and inappropriate squatting?
Notice he doesn’t say which homes – I have sympathy for people who are losing their homes, and simply stick around and wait for the banks to get their acts together. And I have nothing but contempt for the banks who are unwilling to work with people to refinance. But squatting in just any old empty foreclosure home? Breaking the law and taking property that doesn’t legally belong to you in order to “force” another party to renegotiate a deal signed years ago? That’s a little too close to extortion for me.
And then you have to wonder what other “focused action” Fulkerson has in mind. A few molotov cocktails, perhaps? It certainly wouldn’t be the first time prominent lefty activists have decided to take it to that level. Perhaps we should take people wearing Guy Fawkes masks at “face” value.
Parasites
To me, though, the most vivid and important imagery in his post is this:
As occupations around the country are proving, the movement is about smaller, decentralized hard-hitting actions that, like mistletoe killing an oak, will bring down corporate dominance.
Before mistletoe can help create awkward moments at office Christmas parties, it has to grow somewhere. That somewhere is some other tree – mistletoe is a parasite.
This actually would have been just as apt an analogy, and more relatable to us animals!
Like most parasites, the mistletoe can’t survive on its own. It doesn’t collect its own water or nutrients, it sucks it from the oak tree that’s actually doing all the work. If left unchecked, mistletoe will kill branches, stunt growth, and ultimately kill the host tree.
And what happens when the oak is killed? Sucks to be the mistletoe, since it can’t live without the host. So it dies, too, except that its sticky seeds go #occupy some bird’s GI tract and go looking for some other tree to squat on.
It’s astounding to me that Fulkerson would openly use such an analogy. The obvious question he doesn’t answer is what happens when ALL the oak trees are dead? Then where do you get your nutrients? Then who do you occupy? At the very least, if all the corporations are gone, who will make your sweet iPad or iPhone? Who will maintain the servers that keep their Twitter accounts active?
And believe me – Fulkerson wants all the oak trees dead. Heck, don’t believe me. He says so himself.
When will lefties understand that when you attack and kill the people who create jobs, innovate, expand, produce, and underwrite, you destroy an entire productive economy? How many times does Communism or even just plain old vanilla socialism have to fail before people understand this?
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A recent column in the Washington Post proclaimed that “OWS is Over.” As contemptuous as I am of the entire “occupy” thing, I sincerely hope they’re wrong.
I want both them and their enablers among the “professional left” like PLAN to stay exposed. I want them to stay in the open, and to stay honest. Because the more people see and understand what unvarnished leftism is really about, the more people will reject it at every level.
