Some Occupiers are socialists and some are anarchists, some are communists and some are Democrats. Some of them even believe that the goal of Occupy should be to ensure the electoral success of the Democratic Party, on the grounds that the Democrats would do any number of wonderful things, if only they weren't held back by the Republicans. This view is a fallacy, and it serves to drain away energy from the only thing that has any hope of saving American democracy, which is direct action in the streets. Why do I say this? Consider these facts:
1- Jean Quan, the Mayor of Oakland, is a Democratic politician. She ordered the brutal assault by riot police on the Occupy Oakland camp, resulting in the shooting of Scott Olsen.
2- Rahm Emmanuel, the Mayor of Chicago, is also a Democrat. He just tried to pass an entire package of oppressive laws, specifically designed to make it too expensive, too complicated and too dangerous for anyone to exercise the First Amendment right to freedom of assembly in the city of Chicago.
3- Chicago's city council is entirely controlled by Democrats, including some who are considered “progressive” Democrats. They removed a few of the very worst provisions from Rahm Emmanuel's proposal, but they still gave him most of what he wanted.
4- Democrats and Republicans joined together to draft the NDAA, giving the President the authority to use the military on American soil, detaining American citizens without trial. The vast majority of Democrats in both the Senate and the House supported this law.
5- President Obama, a Democrat, signed the NDAA into law. While many Democrats would like to believe he did so reluctantly, the Senators who drafted the legislation have stated in no uncertain terms that the President personally requested them to include the provisions on military detention.
6- We currently have a Democratic President, yet our Department of Defense is still using training materials that describe protests- any kind of protests- as a form of “low-level terrorism.” The President, as the Commander in Chief, could change this with a single memo, yet he has not.
7- Our Democratic President just signed a new set of FAA regulations giving law enforcement agencies permission to fly surveillance drones almost anywhere in the US in order to monitor Americans from above.
8- Our Democratic President has neither closed Guantanamo as he promised to do, nor rolled back any of the oppressive powers of the Patriot Act. Even when Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate, they did nothing to change this act.
9- Our Democratic President just pushed through a settlement with the banks that gives them extensive immunity from criminal prosecution over the robosigning scandal, while requiring them to pay back a tiny fraction of what they stole from the American people.
10- To date, more than 6,000 Occupiers have been arrested. Many have been beaten. Many have been tear-gassed and pepper-sprayed. Some have been shot with so-called less-lethal rounds. On this President's watch, no bankers have been convicted for their role in destroying the world economy. They continue to operate with virtual impunity. The Democratic Party says nothing.
Many local Democratic activists and politicians are honorable, idealistic and hard-working people. If we are to save this country from corporate rule, we need their help. The answer is not for Occupy to work within the system. The answer is for real Democrats to abandon it, and to join us in the streets.