Reply #79: The last 2 paragraphs are important

[loyalsister]

The turbulence that this movement created in 1933 and 1934 led to a landslide election for left-leaning congressmen in 1934. It created an opportunity for the left that resembles the opportunity generated by the Tea Party for the right in 2010. Suddenly Franklin Roosevelt had a much more militant Congress to deal with, and, for the sake of his reelection, he moved left. Out of that move came a reorientation of American politics: major national legislation giving workers the right to organize, generating jobs programs that put millions of Americans to work, establishing Social Security and the welfare state, and raising tax rates on the wealthiest Americans.

If Obama is going to be the president to leave a similarly lasting mark, he’s going to need a popular movement that impels him to pivot more to the left. We don’t know yet whether Occupy Wall Street — in conjunction with what happened in Wisconsin and drawing energy from events abroad and from a deepening capitalist crisis — will be that movement. But we do know that past insurgencies that became very important and transformative began in very fragmented, unexpected and surprising ways.

Speaking of picking up a book.
In order to know where this actually could go, it should be compared accurately. This is nothing like any civil rights movement. The civil rights movements were extremely organized. Rosa Parks did not come out of nowhere. There were other people who resisted bus segregation. She was chosen to be front and center, because of her presentation as an "upstanding woman."

Who has heard of Claudette Colvin?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudette_Colvin

Then there was Elizabeth Jennings Graham.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Jennings_Graham

who was represented by eventual president Chester Arthur in an 1854 lawsuit that would desegregate NY streetcars.

The students who resisted segregated lunch counters were dressed in their sunday best. Representatives were chosen based on their demeanor and appearance.
The Freedom Rides were also carefully organized.
MLK met with legislators and other governmental representatives.

It would be useful to use a clear and accurate historical model to refer to when describing this movement. Hooverville and the 1930s labor movements seem to me to be more accurate.
Knowing these historical successful references (including the tea party- whose goal was to be disruptive and damaging to President Obama), dismissing the role an allied government could play is a mistake.