Pelosi: Actually, we don't have much of a connection to Occupy Wall Street

Via Fox Nation, is this Pelosi seizing an opportunity to inch away from a fading “Occupy” movement or simply taking care not to offend the screeching “99 percent” by purporting to speak for them? She’s correct on the merits: For all the slobbering over OWS in lefty media, Democratic leaders haven’t embraced the brand yet as robustly as Republicans have embraced the tea-party label. But how could they? Once they call themselves proud occupiers they’ll get all the baggage that comes with it, starting with questions about tent-city rapes and occasional violent confrontations with police. Then again, that baggage hasn’t deterred them from effusive statements of sympathy with the movement. Remember this one?

During a press conference Thursday afternoon, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi praised those participating in the “Occupy Wall Street” protests. “God bless them,” Pelosi said, “for their spontaneity. It’s independent … it’s young, it’s spontaneous, and it’s focused. And it’s going to be effective.”

“The message of the protesters is a message for the establishment everyplace,” said the House Democrats’ leader. “No longer will the recklessness of some on Wall Street cause massive joblessness on Main Street.”

That was back in early October, before news stories about behavior in the camps started picking up. Six weeks later, though, not only was she still in OWS’s corner, she was mentioning them in fundraising e-mails — sort of:

If you need further proof that Congressional Republicans are putting big Wall Street banks before middle class families, look no further than an explosive memo prepared by former John Boehner staffers-turned-banking lobbyists.

This just-leaked memo details an $850,000 “message war” plan to attack and discredit grassroots citizen movements working to hold special interests accountable…

It was perfectly clear who she meant in that boldfaced part, yet the words “Occupy Wall Street” were never used. Why not? Well, because public opinion had already begun to turn against OWS by that point. Pelosi loves their agenda but she’s obviously attuned to problems with the brand, so yeah, it’s fair to say that today’s comment about there being not much of a connection to the Democrats is no idle aside. Check back with her in the spring, though, if a new, coopted, professionally organized OWS emerges as a foil for the DNC’s plutocratic caricature of Mitt Romney. Maybe they’ll keep the violence minimal enough this time to make Democratic leaders comfortable enough to say their name.

Exit question: How could a movement that takes communes as its organizational model be running out of money? Quote: “There was a receipt for $1,101.07 to purchase herbs for homeopathic medicine as well as a few hundred dollars used to purchase rolling paper and tobacco for the “Nic at Night” cigarette station at the park.”