In his speech to the “Take Back The American Dream” conference Monday, former Obama advisor Van Jones held up the “Occupy Wall Street” movement as an example of what progressives could do to force change. “I’m not mad at [the tea party] for being so loud,” he said. “I’m mad at us for being so quiet the last two years.”
“Something just came across the news wire,” Jones announced. “It’s an extraordinary thing. We know we have the young folks and the struggling folks who are down there on Wall Street… They went down there to the scene of the crime against our future. They went down there and they have been camping in the rain. They’ve been beaten. They’ve been pepper-sprayed. They’ve been falsely arrested. And when they police were dragging them away, they said, We’re out here, the 99 percent, we’re fighting the one percent. You, officer, are part of the 99 percent. We’re fighting for your pensions too. We’re fighting for your pensions too.’ This is a new movement.”
“And because of their courage and the character they showed, today it was announced that in their dress blues, Marines are going to protect them and stand with them. In their dress blues! The Marines! The veterans!”
He added: “This is a movement moment! Something’s happening in America! Something’s happening in America! Don’t you give up on this country! Don’t you give up on this movement!”
“They’re going to stand out there with those young people in their dress uniforms. And one of them had a sign and the sign said, ‘This is the second time I fought for my country… It’s the first time I’ve known who my enemy was.’”
