What's most amazing about OWS – and the support it's receiving – is not that it happened, but frankly why the hell it took so long

the article does a reasonably good job of presenting what i feel is a fair perspective on occupy wall street and the general mood in the u.s. today... the main theme of the piece, however, is to offer his thoughts on how ows might impact the upcoming 2012 election and in particular how it might affect democratic politics... since, at this point, i am almost completely disengaged from even caring about the u.s. political process, i left that part out...

michael cohen of the uk observer writes in the guardian's "comment is free"...

In a nutshell, Americans are ticked off. Millions are struggling financially; many are out of a job or are underemployed. They can't pay their bills. They are falling deeper into personal debt. They are losing hope that things will improve in the foreseeable future. Worst of all, while they are falling further behind a small minority appears to be leaping further ahead.

Wall Street and the big banks caused the market crash that cost millions of jobs and plunged the US economy into near-depression. Yet three years later, the country's financial elite continues to prosper while the other 99% suffers. Meanwhile, Washington, due mainly to the unceasing obstructionism of the Republican party, seems completely incapable of arresting America's decline.

In some ways, what's most amazing about OWS – and the support it's receiving – is not that it happened, but frankly why the hell it took so long.

[...]

OWS has arisen not because of the left's activism, but despite it. Focusing on electoral victories and legislative accomplishments, the left has failed to push an effective populist movement, focusing its energy more on social issues than economic ones. Democratic leaders have stayed at arm's length from the party's activist base for fear of being stained by their perceived political excesses (a position that has rightly alienated a generation of liberals). Considering these larger failures of the left, it seems almost appropriate that OWS has come about in such an organic and ad hoc manner.

i have been itching for many, many years for something like ows to come along... i was getting to the point where i honestly thought either all the like-minded people in my country were either comatose or that i was simply mentally deranged... i still haven't discounted the latter possibility...

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I'll be damned if I stop voicing my 100% justified criticism of the President

i'm 100% committed to seeing my country live up to the ideals it claims to support, the ideals it was founded on, and i'm deathly sick and tired of subtly - and not so subtly - being accused of being anti-american and somehow subversive because i want my country to walk its talk... and please don't tell me that such criticism somehow tarnishes the democrats and the obama administration... if there's one bipartisan effort currently taking place in the united states that can truly be said to be successful, it's the democrats and republicans joining hands with our super-rich elites to plunder the nation and the world to satisfy their own endless needs for more money and power...

glenn...

The country is drowning in a severe and worsening unemployment crisis. People are losing their homes by the millions. Income inequality continues to explode while the last vestiges of middle class security continue to erode. The Obama civil liberties record has been nothing short of a disgrace, usually equaling and sometimes surpassing the worst of the Bush/Cheney abuses. We have to stand by and watch the Commander-in-Chief fire one gay service member after the next for their sexual orientation. The major bills touted by Obama supporters were the by-product of the very corporatist/lobbyist dominance which Obama the candidate repeatedly railed against. Rather than take responsibility for any of this, they instead dismiss criticisms and objections as petulant, childish, "irresponsible whining" -- signaling rather clearly that they think they're doing the right thing and that these criticisms are fundamentally unfair.

as much as i hate to say it, i see the escalating criticisms of the left coming from the obama administration as part and parcel of a general move to limit dissent in any form along with the alarming expansion of any and all means to identify it and root it out no matter how unconstitutional the means...

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Naomi Klein

talking about how to build a strong left... (and that's making the very large assumption that it would make the slightest bit of difference...)

"We have to build that independent left. It has to be so strong and so radical and so militant and so powerful that it becomes irresistible."

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Another left turn in Latin America, this time in El Salvador [UPDATE]

Mauricio Funes,
El Salvador president-elect

there's only a very few right-wing or center-right countries left in latin america, most notably mexico and colombia... most others are heeding the call of their citizens and rejecting the slavish obeisance to unfettered capitalism and wholesale privatization...

A party of former left-wing guerrillas has taken power in El Salvador following presidential elections over the weekend.

The FMLN candidate Mauricio Funes is the latest in a string of leftist politicians to come to power in Latin America in recent years.

He narrowly beat Rodrigo Avila from the ruling conservative Arena party, according to election officials.

The FMLN fought a civil war against the Government of El Salvador from 1981 to 1992, when peace accords were signed.

It subsequently became a left-wing political party, but Mr Funes is a moderate politician and former journalist who was chosen as presidential candidate from outside the FMLN ranks.

good for el salvador...

[UPDATE]

more on funes...

A charismatic former TV journalist promised to build strong ties with President Barack Obama and promote investor confidence Monday as he took El Salvador into uncharted territory by being elected its first leftist president.

Behind Mauricio Funes is a party of former Marxist guerrillas that fought to overthrow U.S.-backed governments in the 1980s and whose rise to power has raised fears of a communist regime in the war-scarred Central American country.

Funes, who gave up journalism less than two years ago to become the presidential candidate of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, or FMLN, sought to quell those concerns after his historic victory Sunday.

"Nothing traumatizing is going to happen here," he said in an interview with local Megavision television. "We will not reverse any privatizations. We will not jeopardize private property. There is no reason at this moment for fear."

and here...

The apparent victory of leftist candidate Maurico Funes in Sunday's presidential election in El Salvador finally closes out the Cold War in Central America and raises some serious questions about the long term goals of U.S. foreign policy.

With Funes' election, history has come full cycle. Both El Salvador and neighboring Nicaragua will now be governed by two former guerrilla fronts against which the Reagan administration spared no efforts in trying to defeat during the entire course of the 1980's. We will now coexist with those we once branded as the greatest of threats to our national security. Those we branded as "international terrorists" now democratically govern much of Central America.

Funes, once a commentator for CNN's Spanish-language service, comes to power representing the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), a Marxist guerrilla group-turned-political -party, an organization that the U.S. government once described in terms now reserved for Al Qaeda and Hizbollah.

el salvador has had to deal with some very, very rough times over the years, not the least of which was the horrific slaughter wreaked by its involvement with operation condor and the school of the americas (see my previous posts here, here, and here...)

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Great news: meet Paraguay's new president, Fernando Lugo

i posted yesterday about paraguay's presidential election... voting concluded last night with fernando lugo the resounding winner... this is great news and means that the entire "south cone" of south america now presents a solid bloc of center-left, populist leaders... after the 35-year stroessner regime ended in 1989, paraguay had continued to be ruled by members of stroessner's colorado party, but that era died a long overdue death yesterday...


Fernando Lugo

Former Roman Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo won a historic victory in Paraguay's presidential election Sunday, ending more than six decades of one-party rule with a mandate to help the nation's poor and indigenous.

His rival, Blanca Ovelar, conceded defeat after a closely fought race to lead this poor, agrarian nation where Ovelar's Colorado Party is the only ruling party most people have ever known.

News of the win by Lugo, dubbed the "bishop of the poor," set off massive parties in cities across Paraguay with horn-honking caravans of cars blaring music. Others stamped on torn-down banners of the Colorado Party, which many Paraguayans blame for decades of corruption by political elites.

The triumph by Lugo's eclectic opposition alliance also marked the latest in a series of election wins by leftist, or center-left, leaders in South America.

great news on a monday morning, unless of course you're george bush, who had plans for a safe haven in paraguay in case he's ever brought up on war crimes charges...

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Paraguay votes today - could a left turn scuttle Bush's military (and personal) plans?

paraguay is still shaking off the lingering aftereffects of the 35-year dictatorship of alfredo stroessner* who ruled the country with an iron hand from 1954 to 1989... since then, paraguay has been presided over exclusively by presidents from stroessner's colorado party up until, perhaps, today... we'll have the results of today's election, hopefully, by late tonight, paraguay time... (see my previous posts about the bush administration and paraguay here...)

from afp...


Fernando Lugo

Paraguay votes Sunday in a landmark presidential election in which a woman is competing for the first time but polls indicate the favorite is a suspended Catholic bishop.

Voters will also select a new congress in the relatively new democracy, which emerged from a 35-year military dictatorship in 1989 and elected its first civilian president in 1993.

The winner of the presidential poll will replace outgoing President Nicanor Duarte who constitutionally cannot seek re-election after serving a five-year term.

Fernando Lugo, a 56-year-old former bishop suspended by the Vatican for his bid to take over from Duarte, is seen as the frontrunner.

"We are going to win," a confident Lugo told reporters Friday.

Lugo represents the opposition Patriotic Alliance for Change, and is an avowed admirer of Latin American leftwing firebrands Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia and their programs to empower the poor.

However the race has been close, with opponents Blanca Ovelar, 51, a former education minister, and Lino Oviedo, 64, a retired army chief who helped stage a coup, mounting a serious challenge.

The latest polls show Lugo is favored by 34 percent of voters, while Ovelar has 28.5 percent and Oviedo 29 percent. There is no runoff vote.

Ovelar, the anointed candidate for the conservative Colorado Party which has ruled Paraguay for the past six decades, this week asked voters to show her the same consideration as her male counterparts.

"If I lose the election, I will accept the result. But I ask for the same openness and the same objectivity as the other candidates," she said.

Oviedo, who helped overthrow dictator Alfredo Stroessner in 1989 and who has spent much of the past decade in and out of military prisons, told AFP he was optimistic of a "triumph."

Oviedo was released from his last stint behind bars last September by a court that found he had been the victim of political persecution, leaving him able to pursue his long-held ambition of becoming head-of-state.

Political analyst Francisco Capli said that despite the closeness of the race, Lugo was likely to cling to his advantage.

"Lugo has had a five point lead over the others for three months," Capli said. "He could win."

if lugo wins, it will mean the entire "south cone" of latin america - argentina, bolivia, brazil, chile, paraguay, and uruguay - will have shifted to center-left leadership over the past ten years... in fact, it's really only colombia and ecuador - and not so much ecuador - in the entire continent (which excludes the mixed bag of central america, the caribbean, and mexico, AND those other countries ON the continent that no one ever seems to mention or know anything about, suriname, french guiana, and guyana) that remain in the u.s. camp... i won't conceal my delight over this turn of events... a left turn in paraguay might even mean that u.s. troops will be shown the door and the bush family's hopes for a sanctuary in paraguay** could be dashed...

* [Stroessner's] regime is also blamed for torture, kidnappings and corruption, of which the "terror archives", discovered in 1992 in Lambaré suburb of Asunción, gave proof; he did not dispute charges of corruption at some levels in his government. Corruption even extended to the highest echelons of the government, including Stroessner himself; estimates of the Stroessner family fortune run as high as $300 million. He did become more tolerant of opposition as the years passed, but there was no change in the regime's basic character.

Furthermore, Stroessner's Paraguay became a haven for Nazi war criminals, non communist peaceful opposition was crushed and the indigenous population was persecuted including forcibly assimilating the Ache population, a policy which ended in bloodshed, sexual slavery and servitude.

[...]

Paraguayans remain divided on Stroessner and his controversial legacy. Most feel a strong sense of distaste toward him, perceiving him as a widely corrupt, authoritarian dictator. Those who defend his legacy cite the political stability and economic progress that prevailed under his rule, despite the gross violations to human rights that his regime promoted and encovered, such as the infamous Operation Condor.

** now, about u.s. troops and that planned bush family "sanctuary"...

from august of last year...

Controversy is raging in Paraguay, where the US military is conducting secretive operations. 500 US troops arrived in the country on July 1st with planes, weapons and ammunition. Eyewitness reports prove that an airbase exists in Mariscal Estigarribia, Paraguay, which is 200 kilometers from the border with Bolivia and may be utilized by the US military. Officials in Paraguay claim the military operations are routine humanitarian efforts and deny that any plans are underway for a US base. Yet human rights groups in the area are deeply worried.

White House officials are using rhetoric about terrorist threats in the tri-border region (where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet) in order to build their case for military operations, in many ways reminiscent to the build up to the invasion of Iraq.

The tri-border area is home to the Guarani Aquifer, one of the world's largest reserves of water. Near the Estigarribia airbase are Bolivia's natural gas reserves, the second largest in Latin America. Political analysts believe US operations in Paraguay are part of a preventative war to control these natural resources and suppress social uprisings in Bolivia.

and this...

The land grab project of U.S. President George W. Bush in Chaco, Paraguay, has generated considerable discomfort both politically and environmentally.

The news circulating the continent about plans to buy 98,840 acres of land in Chaco, Paraguay, near the Triple Frontier (Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay) is the talk of the town in these countries.

Although official sources have not confirmed the information that is already public, the land is reportedly located in Paso de Patria, near Bolivian gas reserves and the Guarani indigenous water region, within the Triple Border.

things continue to look gloomy for george... if he loses his safe haven in paraguay, goodness knows, he might just have to face those dreaded war crimes charges...

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"The Leftist doctrine called 'law' " and supporting the Constitution as a subversive activity

one more step along the path to viewing support for the united states constitution and the rule of law as a subversive activity...

glenn greenwald in today's salon...

As our Congress works heroically to make permanent the vast new warrantless eavesdropping powers it vested in the President two months ago and to protect the corporations which allowed warrantless surveillance in violation of the Leftist doctrine called "law," it is clearly understood in the Beltway that only the fringe Leftists -- the shrill partisan "activists" -- actually subscribe to this radical new agenda of "warrants," as well as the accompanying extremist doctrines such as the "rule of law"; "lawyers" for those we imprison permanently; and prohibitions on freezing people and keeping them cold and naked and chained to the floor.

So for now, the Republic is safe from this Far Leftist agenda, thanks to the joint efforts of our media elite and responsible Congressional sheperds. But vigilance is always required. Far Leftist leaders like John Edwards are openly agitating for "no coerced interrogation, civilian lawyers in courts for captured overseas terrorists and no phone surveillance without a specific warrant." If they have their way, America will be set back decades, even centuries, to that dark and shameful period when the above-quoted roster of Far Leftist radicals ran amok.

[...]

[I]f you believe that the Government should have to get warrants before eavesdropping on the conversations and reading the emails of Americans, then you are -- for that reason alone -- a radical, shrill, obstreperous fringe partisan interfering with the Serious, responsible policy-makers in the Beltway.

< sigh > another in an endless string of wake-up calls...

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