This Is What It’s All About

(Community Matters) “We may be reaching an inflection point, the moment when the terms of the political argument change decisively. . . . [GOP] losing control of the political narrative. . . . efforts to taint Occupy Wall Street as nothing more than a bunch of latter-day hippie radicals haven’t worked. . . . Obama, by sharpening his arguments about what’s fair and what’s unfair, has finally stopped his slide in the polls.”

from Playbook: SNEAK PEEK – E.J. Dionne Jr., in Monday’s [Washington Post] column: “We may be reaching an inflection point, the moment when the terms of the political argument change decisively. Three indicators: An important speech by Rep. Paul Ryan, the increasingly sharp tone of President Obama’s rhetoric, and the success of Occupy Wall Street in resisting attempts to marginalize the movement. … [I]t was jarring to see Ryan used as the principal counterattacker against the president’s efforts to make the injuries of class inequality clear, and to describe the costs of the Republicans’ just-say-no strategy in Congress. … Ryan would not have given this speech if the GOP were not so worried that it is losing control of the political narrative. In particular, growing inequalities of wealth and income — which should have been a central issue in American politics for at least a decade — are now finally at the heart of our discourse.

“We are, at last, discussing the social and economic costs of concentrating ever more resources in the hands of the top sliver of our society. … [E]fforts to taint Occupy Wall Street as nothing more than a bunch of latter-day hippie radicals haven’t worked. … Obama, by sharpening his arguments about what’s fair and what’s unfair, has finally stopped his slide in the polls. … Obama’s aides have a habit of congratulating themselves too much when things start going well. The president has a long way to go, and he is pursuing a strategy now that he resisted for a long time. But it ought to encourage the president that Paul Ryan is terribly upset. Telling the truth about inequality is politically wise, and morally necessary.”