Bill Maher’s popular New Rules segment from Friday’s ‘Real Time” should serve as an eye-opener for the Occupy movement. In short, camping ain’t going to cut it for Occupy. Maher calls them out to get engaged in the process, register voters, canvass neighborhoods, man phone banks and raise money to elect politicians who have the interests of the 99 percent at heart.
Here’s a partial transcript but please watch the video in the link above as it drips with sarcasm over the “effectiveness” of just camping.
And finally, New Rule: Now that summer is upon us, the Occupy Wall Street movement must think of a more effective form of protest than camping. To be considered a real movement, it has to start moving asses off the streets, and into the voting booth. (audience applause)
Occupy’s motto is “The only solution is world revolution.” OK… but what about setting our sights a little lower, like taking back Wisconsin?
….
Here’s a thought. Instead of organizing interstate hootenannies, maybe it’s time for Occupy Wall Street to actually participate in the American political process. (audience applause) That means boring stuff, like canvassing neighborhoods, raising money, running candidates for office, manning phone banks, and making a baby with John Edwards.
….
Three years ago, the Tea Party was just a few hundred retired diabetics angry at blacks and gays for making them feel old. But now, now they have 62 seats in Congress. And before John Boehner makes any decision, he first has to go outside to the National Mall, and ask the former mental patient dressed as George Washington for permission.
And that’s because the Tea Party took it to the next level. They mobilized. They put on a nice shirt and their best teeth… (audience laughter), and they got out there, and they drafted candidates, registered voters, and did all the stuff that when the left does it, it’s called “using the methods of Saul Alinsky”.
The Occupy movement could do the same thing for the Democrats. In fact, we need Occupy to be our Tea Party. An unwavering bloc that will force things to the left, as relentlessly as a new pair of jeans with a tight inseam.
A solid bloc of far-left intractable Democratic Congressmen, who Obama can point to and say, “You know, I’d love to renew your Bush-era tax cuts, but I have to deal with these crazy motherfuckers.”
Did Maher tell the Occupiers to take a bath first?
Maher doesn’t have a clue. The Dems would never allow a large bloc of real progressives to get elected. Saul Alinsky would know that. The Tea Party had billions of bucks behind them. There is no comparison.
Campaigns are where movements go to die.
And Mudge is right in terms of the faulty comparison Maher pilfers out.