Meanwhile, the Super Committee, the most undemocratic construct, is about to make some huge decisions.  

OWS yes, woke people up from the slumber of isolation.  But, seriously, this is not about Utopian imaginary societies.  This is real hardcore politics.  Yes, the electoral process is flawed and will not be changed by those in power.  But, I don't see where we are going.  

Occupying Oakland and making the inept, "activist, community organizer" mayor the focus of anger is so reminiscent of the past lefty mistakes.  Invent martyrs and monsters.  

The other problem I have is that it's still about the middle class.  Yes, when your kids could not enter the system, you got pissed.  When for decades the system shut out millions of people, the poor etc, no one talked.  

I needed to vent and this is not all.  

Jonathan Blum, deputy administrator for Medicare said that they were seeing "much lower utilization and spending growth" than expected.  In May of this year, it was predicted that most beneficiaries would be paying premiums of $106.60/month in 2012. However, the rise next year will be much smaller ($99.90, an increase of $3.50).  Secretary Sebelius said that the increase in premiums was less than 4%  in four years. According to the Kaiser Foundation, average premiums paid by workers for employer-sponsored plans was well over 20% since 2008. About 5% of Medicare beneficiaries now pay higher higher premiums based on income--a sliding scale up to $319.70 per month.

Any upbeat view of Medicare officials is in stark contrast to the grim picture prevailing in Washington where ways and means are being considered to rein in the growth of the program that they consider unsustainable, or, in need of privatization and "cost shifting".  

Ezekiel Emanuel, former WH advisor, offers a little help to the Super-dupers  in his  Sunday NYT opinion piece (the first of a series we are warned), by noting that the US spends the most on health care per person, and wonders if it is worth it--if we spend more on heath care just to stay healthy, we will have less to spend on unnamed "other things."   And, he claims that we are spending more than other countries and do not see better results.  

"You can make demands, but I've seen coalition after coalition marching and marching and making demands, yelling mostly, and then going home," said Janet Kobren, an experienced activist who left Occupy Wall Street's San Francisco outlet to join the New York hub.

"Who are they talking to?" Kobren, 68, asked of protestors who habitually stand outside barricaded government offices asking for something specific. "I see them as kind of teenagers saying, 'I want, I want,' to their parents."

Kobren reflected the purist Occupy Wall Street philosophy: that there's no point demanding change from the government or the financial industry when those institutions are rotten. "We need to do it (bring change)," she said.

The other Demands Working Group member was also in no hurry.

"The process is supposed to help us understand the variety of perspectives in the group and consider them," said James, an activist from Chicago, asking that his last name not be used.

Mysteriously, James added: "The Demands Group could also have a discussion of what are 'demands'?... Part of demands has to be understanding what demands mean to the development of a democratic culture."

[snip]

But few in Occupy Wall Street see their failure to issue demands as a failure at all.

The goal, explained Patrick Wilson, volunteering at the camp's media desk, goes far beyond what any single demand could articulate.

"What we have in the United States is an oligarchy and what we need is a people's democracy.... So we're occupying this country. We start out at Wall Street, then we spread out and occupy the country and take it back," he said.

"The only demand," he said, "is: give the country back to the people."

-- Occupy Wall Street's demand? No demands

The point being, of course, is that issuing "demands" to corrupt organizations and systems would be just playing into their hands - and giving away the power the Occupy movement has.

Issuing demands would be begging psychopaths to play nice.

There are 310 million Americans who, before Occupy, were acting like they were outnumbered by a few thousand wall streeters, media moguls, insurance company and weapons manufacturer execs and other assorted 'plutocrats', 100 senators, 435 congresspeople, and maybe a couple of hundred in the US Administration.

No longer are they acting like they are outnumbered.

Phuck make demands. Make those few thousand issue demands instead. And then reject them.

Require total and complete surrender instead.

If you wanna get to heaven, you've gotta raise a little hell.

them: when are you going to go to grad school?
me: I dunno, when I need a master's degree for whatever I want to do.
them: why don't you get an mba?
me: what do I want an mba for?
them: to work in finance and make a lot of money.
me: ummm, that's not what I want to do with my life.
them: what do you mean?

Watch now as the pressure mounts on poor Romney to campaign out there in earnest, which is a small town in Calhoun County, I believe. Romney made the very logical decision to give Iowa a slide, build a firewall in New Hampshire -- which shouldn't count as much as it does, either, but that's another story for another day -- and then use that momentum to carry him along. If he's smart, he'll stand firm on that strategy even given these latest numbers. Of course, Mitt Romney couldn't stand firm on a metal plate in magnetized boots. He'll be petting the pig very soon, I'm betting.