As the Occupy movement continues to gain strength, despite the concerted efforts of the Powers That Be to make it go away, more and more national figures are flocking to its banner. The latest convert? Sarah Palin?!?
You read that right. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed that reads like a DKos diary the erstwhile Alaska governor, Republican vice presidential candidate, and darling of the Teavangelical set rails against congressional corruption and the influence of big money. From the piece:
How do politicians who arrive in Washington, D.C. as men and women of modest means leave as millionaires? How do they miraculously accumulate wealth at a rate faster than the rest of us? How do politicians' stock portfolios outperform even the best hedge-fund managers'?
She goes on to harshly criticize politicians "accepting sweetheart gifts of IPO stock from companies seeking to influence legislation, practicing insider trading with nonpublic government information, earmarking projects that benefit personal real estate holdings, and even subtly extorting campaign donations through the threat of legislation unfavorable to an industry," continuing:
The corruption isn't confined to one political party or just a few bad apples. It's an endemic problem encompassing leadership on both sides of the aisle. It's an entire system of public servants feathering their own nests.
Palin prescribes a course of "sudden and relentless reform" to treat our ailing body politic, calling for Congress to be made subject to the Freedom of Information Act, as well as whistleblower, conflict-of-interest and insider-trading laws. She also calls for greater transparency in lawmakers' financial dealings, including a requirement that all stock transactions above $5,000 be disclosed within five days.
No more sweetheart land deals with campaign contributors. No gifts of IPO shares. No trading of stocks related to committee assignments. No earmarks where the congressman receives a direct benefit. No accepting campaign contributions while Congress is in session. No lobbyists as family members, and no transitioning into a lobbying career after leaving office. No more revolving door, ever.
I never thought the day would come that I found myself agreeing with Sarah Palin. I mean, this is Sarah Palin we're talking about. It's hard to think of a more reactionary, less progressive public figure. She is the prophetess of the R.J. Rushdoony school of Christian Reconstructionism, after all. Had I read the same words written by Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren, my reaction would have been a resounding HELL YEAH! As it was I was left scratching my head.
Of course, Palin being Palin, the article was rife with self-serving references to her hard-won battles against corruption and her vast political experience. There is more than a whiff of opportunism about the whole thing, as if she thinks jumping aboard the 99% bandwagon will help rekindle her fading public image (which she needs if she is to remain comfortably ensconced in the 1%). She doesn't go quite so far as to embrace the Occupy movement, confining her criticisms to congressional corruption and ignoring the larger issue of income inequality. But still, it's a surprising stance from so regressive a thinker. The reforms she advocates would go a long way toward weakening the hold of big money on politics, a sentiment very much in line with the goals of OWS and progressives in general.
I doubt anyone here thinks very highly of Sarah Palin's politics. I certainly don't. But she is very good at sensing the mood of her conservative followers and adjusting her rhetoric to match. Opportunism or not, her position proves that the Occupy movement has struck a chord with a much wider audience than Fox News would like us to believe.