Joyce L. Arnold, Liberally Independent, Queer Talk, equality activist, writer.
This will probably dismay some, Occupiers and critics / observers alike. It will please others. Anonymous and some Occupy groups have joined forces to promote “Our Polls.” Most of the Occupy / 99% movement works outside the electoral system. But of course, it’s entirely possible to take actions in that “outside” realm, while also making use of the existing system. And for groups with “outside” and “inside” strategies to support each other, even coordinate joint actions. I also think that kind of coordination and cooperation is something the Duopoly prefers doesn’t happen. It’s to their benefit when efforts are divided.
Via Anonymous:
OUR POLLS — OCCUPY THE VOTE – ELECTION SEASON 2012
Announcing ‘OUR POLLS’ – A new joint effort between Anonymous and the Occupy Movement to hold politicians accountable to the People.
Elected officials serve one purpose – to represent their constituents, the people who voted them into office. Last year, many of our elected officials let us down by giving in to deep-pocketed lobbyists and passing laws meant to boost corporate profits at the expense of individual liberty.
Our Senators and Representatives showed how little they cared about personal freedoms when they voted overwhelmingly to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Of course, it wasn’t just “last year” that this kind of thing happened, but the last couple of years or so have certainly been rich with examples of Electeds representing the “1%,” not their ostensible constituents. It’s also important to point out that while some Occupy groups have joined in this project – Occupy KC, DC, Prov, Pdx, Baltimore and the Nation – most, at least to this point, have not.
“Our Polls” asks an essential question: Will we hold those Electeds accountable on election day? Will it make a difference how votes are cast, when – as “Our Polls” does – we consider who supported NDAA, SOPA, PIPA, HR 1981 and the ACTA treaty?
We are calling on voters, activists and keyboard warriors under all banners to unite as a single force to unseat the elected representatives who threaten our essential freedoms and who were so quick to minimize our individual constitutional rights for a quick corporate profit.
They provide two lists, with both Democratic and Republican members of Congress. The first is of U.S. Senators up for re-election, who voted for NDAA, and “will support PIPA,” and a second of U.S. Representatives who supported NDAA and “will support SOPA.”
It will be interesting to see what happens next with “Our Polls,” as in, what specific actions will they take. Will they endorse candidates? Run candidates? They do include this:
Follow @OurPolls and @AnonPAC for updates, news, leaks, and calls to action.
Yep, they mention a PAC. And they aren’t the first to do so, from the 99% side of things. I don’t know how much attention, much less support, this will receive, but John Paul Thornton, a Decatur, Alabama Occupier noticed Stephen Colbert’s “super-PAC,” and decided Occupy should have one, for real. He’s waiting to hear back from the FEC, but a couple of weeks ago
… Thornton … filed papers with the Federal Election Commission to create…the Occupy Wall Street Political Action Committee. …
Thornton admits that some members of the Occupy movement, which contends that the political system is broken and seeks to work outside of it, might not take kindly to OWS PAC.
‘I will admit it’s not exactly keeping with strict Occupy ideals,’ he says. But Thornton doesn’t subscribe to the movement’s stay-out-of-politics philosophy. ‘The thinking is, if Occupy is going to evolve and to become an actual political player, it needs to participate in major political games.’
Karanja Gacuca, a spokesman for Occupy Wall Street, says it’s not surprising that, as the Occupy movement moves forward, someone like Thornton would jump into the political arena. But that’s not where OWS is headed. ‘Occupy Wall Street as a movement rejects the political system as a broken system that needs to be overhauled from the bottom up,’ Gacuca says. OWS PAC, he adds, is ‘an alternative action which if it were to be voted on at the general assembly would never pass. But individuals are individuals and we understand that people are going to use the Occupy name to do alternative actions.’
I continue to think the questions that need asking are about ways, plural, to “participate,” to change and challenge and “overhaul” the existing disaster of a system. The either/or approach doesn’t work. Or rather, it works quite well, for those whose goal, and income, are all about maintaining the Two Party Front for the Oligarchy.
(Occupy the Vote poster via Your Anonymous News)
One thing about Super-PACs that can’t hurt is that they would be political speech, and if they raise enough money they can get that speech on TV. Most of the people who get their information from television don’t get much useful information. That’s been a problem for a long time, and I don’t see anything that’s changing it. Talk about the Internet all you want, but the sad truth is that a lot of folks don’t use it all that much. Getting TV time is expensive, so if they can do that and say something useful, more power to them.
That’s true … television ads are too expensive for most groups, and I’d guess there are still many people who get their news primarily or exlusively from television.
Sorry to post this off topic comment here, but Taylor’s post on the Michigan primary keeps coming up as the mobile version for some reason. I’d say something there, but I can’t get to the comments, either.