Occupy Wall Street

I'm late on this, but in general I am sympathetic to OWS. And unlike some who claim otherwise, I think the goal is quite clear: to reverse a radical reordering of American society that has taken place in recent years (and in this sense OWS is essentially a conservative movement). I'm hesitant to give it an open-ended endorsement, because the nature of the movement makes it hard to predict the direction it may ultimately take and the measures it could resort to.

When OWS started, I wondered how effective it could be without at least some practical demands; a "greed is bad" platform is fine, though a tad open-ended in terms of resolution. But I've been surprised by the traction the movement has had. I do think if the goal is actual results, then it's important -- and time -- for OWS to issue some realistic, achievable demands under the largest ideological tent possible. A focus of this must be the Federal Reserve, the main instrument of the economic and social reordering against which OWS stands. Wouldn't it be natural to demand the resignation of an unelected official who is more responsible for the bubble and crash than any current policymaker? Someone who engineered massive covert bailouts while fully expecting the details of his actions to remain forever secret? Every Republican candidate for president has either criticized Bernanke or vowed to replace him. The Fed is a main focus of the Tea Party. Why not tap into that sentiment? In doing so, OWS could divide and conquer by forcing Republicans to either praise or denounce a platform supported by their most passionate grassroots members. I'm not the only one to see how effective -- or, depending on one's perspective, dangerous -- this could be (read the link for the Tea Party mention). More soon, hopefully, on why the protesters must focus on the Fed and what they should demand.

Related, it's outrageous that the Obama administration and congressional Democrats claim any kinship with OWS. Obama reappointed Bernanke, and the White House twisted arms and made threats to get him confirmed in a Democrat-controlled Senate and to block the push for a full Fed audit. If you don't know who voted in favor of Bernanke's post-bailout reappointment, scroll to the bottom of this post -- some OWS-friendly Democrats hope you won't.

The situation in Egypt has changed in recent days, but after Mubarak's fall, I wrote about the conduct of the military and asked: "Is this type of moderation and restraint during a crisis part of our own national character?" While there are of course institutional differences in the U.S. between local law enforcement and the military, I fear we may have gotten a glimpse of the answer. The actions of some police -- don't miss this new video -- have been despicable and chilling. A few New York cops have done a great job of destroying what remained of the public's 9/11-forged goodwill. This thuggery must be turned back.

Finally, I can report that a few videos have been pinging up and down Manhattan's canyons. Two of them are below, and they have some of the right people nervous -- the first one for obvious reasons.