No doubt everyone in the progressive blogosphere and center-left media is talking about a few amazing videos from DailyKos' own star down at the OccupyWallStreet protests, the MINISTRY of TRUTH, aka MOT aka MoT aka Jesse LaGreca. Here he takes on a bozo from Fox "News".
And another off the cuff here
Ok, but WHY has MoT been so successful at connecting lately?
Hint Hint. He's the right person for this job
More after the flip...
Here's the basic problem with the American center-left, especially the institutional center-left: Most members of the institutional center-left are NOT drawn from the same cloth as the people they claim to be representing. Unlike the unions from the New Deal era, most progressive intellectuals of today are comfortably middle-class, even upper-middle class or affluent. In short, progressive wonks have little or no shared experience with the large swatch of struggling Americans
See this quote from Saul Alinksky's seminal Rules for Radicals book
Never go outside the experience of your people
Most wonks can't stay inside their authentic personal experience while advocating pro-working class economic policy because most liberal wonks have never struggled economically in the same way the working class struggles everyday. Sorry. They just can't.
Now, i'm not a frequent diarist here, but I have read some of MoT's material. From what I gather, he truly can identify with the working class or poor, with those who have struggled economically, those who have gotten the worst of our plutocratic, punitive (for the poor/working class) system. Perhaps other diarists can as well, but very few members of the establishment center-left can. I'm just as much of a fan of Ezra Klein as the next guy, but MoT can connect in a way that Ezra and others of his ilk can't
That is not to say that MoT isn't incredibly eloquent and well-informed; As anyone who's read his diaries knows, or seen his videos knows, he's exceptionally well informed! Some media figures are even saying that he's the "Smartest Guy on the Street". The key point is that MoT can articulate himself in way that screams - authentically SCREAMS - "regular guy", in a way that wonks, campaign consultants and most Congressman can't.
The future, the progressive future, is through MoT!
I say, raise a toast and start repeating after me: MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!MoT!!!