OWS / Tea Party: Two sides of the same coin

I happened upon this post after following a couple of links on the subject of OWS and the Tea Party.

I mentioned in a post a couple of days ago my belief that moneyed interest were able to hijack the sentiment and passion of the Tea Party Movement and misdirect it through slight of hand.

"Voters can be persuaded that their moral well being is more important than their financial well being. What I have been amazed at and confused by was how successful the Rick Santellis, Koch Brothers, Karl Roves, Grover Norquists etc could fool these voters with financial issues."

Blogger James Sinclair posits his opinions on the similarities of the two movements in his post Occupy Wall Street vs. The Tea Party.

"We should pay less attention to the individual lunatics, and more attention to what a movement is really about. Occupy Wall Street, at its core, is a reaction to the increasing power and influence of large corporations. The Tea Party, at its core, is a reaction to the government's constant interference with private enterprise. But wait a minute—aren't those things connected?"

The fact that there is a very large group of people in America that are reacting to the increasingly "large and powerful influence of large corporations" scare politicians that rely on said powerful large corporations. This is one major reason you will see the establishment right wing and the corporatist attempt divide the two movements. You will see the elite attempt to dismiss and undermine the validity of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

If the supporters of these two movements were to combine their anger and energy in the same direction it would be a force for true change in America.

Maybe the best part of Mr. Sinclair's post was his third footnote.

By all means, leave a comment if you think I'm wrong, but it's a myth that big corporations are anti-government, right? They don't want to have to compete in a free market, they want to "compete" in an artificially restricted market.

An attempt to dismiss Occupy Wall Street: Rebutted

5 Myths of Occupy Wall Street

1) Myth: The protesters are pushing for anarchy, support violence and communism.

2) Myth: Most Occupy Wall Street protesters don’t know what they’re protesting.

3) Myth: The protest is simply a liberal tea party.

4) Myth: Occupy Wall Street is a paid group aimed at re-electing Obama.

5) Myth: The protesters are hypocrites. They say they hate the banks, but they bank. They buy from big corporations. They’ve been spotted at McDonalds.

David Weidner of MarketWatch debunks the 5 basic myths

The devils greatest trick was convincing the world he didn't exist

The greatest hoax of the last couple of decades has been the ability of the right wing to co-opt members of the struggling lower middle class and lower class and pretend they speak for them while enacting policies that enable the super-rich.

I understand how the super rich have been able to use social issues to achieve this goal. Voters can be persuaded that their moral well being is more important than their financial well being. What I have been amazed at and confused by was how successful the Rick Santellis, Koch Brothers, Karl Roves, Grover Norquists etc could fool these voters with financial issues.

The quote above comes from John Cole over at www.balloon-juice.com and his post title Long Division


To clarify for those that need clarifying, I am not suggesting that rich = devil. There is just a familiarity with what has occurred over the past 30 years and the old saying about the devil.

Understanding Occupy Wall Street

Moderate to Conservative Blogger Andrew Sullivan discusses the movement and it's necessity.


Why Occupy Wall Street is here to Stay

This is not socialism. It's pointing out how capitalism, unchecked by government, can kill itself. But if this issue is left unresolved or defended in the brain-dead fashion of many in the GOP, it will soon become so.

Impassioned, Informed, Enraged.

Is America primed for a progressive populist movement. I often felt that much of the rage of the tea party was reasonable but somehow misdirected. I will suggest that the Koch Brothers, Dick Armey, Grover Norquist's etc. were successful in manipulating outrage at Wall street and outrage about Barack Obama's election intertwined it and directed the outrage away from the root cause.

Occupy Wall Street is redirecting the rage back toward the causes of our current situation. Now when you have a movement that is as open as suggesting we are the 99% there are going to be people on the fringes speaking out and many members of a media that are ruled by ratings will be focusing on these few.

Right now there are few people speaking to the rage with as much knowledge and passion as Elizabeth Warren. Check out this latest video where Warren provides a historical breakdown:

What do Presidents Reagan, Obama and 73% of Americans have in common

A Picture is worth a alot of Elizabeth Warren's Words

Created by: Online MBA Programs

Herman Cain takes the lead

Public Policy Polling (a democratic, but highly accurate polling firm) has ran 3 state polls over the past week and Herman Cain has used his bounce from the Florida straw poll to take the lead in all three.

West Virginia, Nebraska,and North Carolina shows Cain in the lead over Gingrich and followed by the field. This tells us a couple of important things, 1) the GOP base has not settled on anyone (specially on Romney) and is still looking 2) that debates matter.

June 2nd. That was when I wrote my post about watching out of Cain. We will have to see how things play out in the next couple of weeks to see if his bounce lasts or if Christie might burst his bubble.

Herman Cain may have put the nail in Perry's short lived misadventure into national politics. The story of Perry's hunting camp the racist signage present might have been manageable with the GOP base that would instinctively rallied around Perry as being the victim of a liberal media witch hunt. Herman Cain spoke up and has put Perry in a corner on the is story and more importantly Perry's supporters. This could be a very good sign of Cain's ability to go for the kill.

The Question remains is Cain simply the latest Palin, Trump, Bachmann, Perry or will he maintain his upper level of support once he weathers increased media scrutiny. My biggest question is in all his time on the radio subbing for Neil Bortz is there audio that is going to be difficult to defend.


Here are some thoughts on some of the questions I asked above. They come from progressive organization Mother Jones , but are quoting leading conservatives.
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/10/herman-cain-rick-perry-niggerhead-controversy

RedState, Erick Erickson concluded, "It also seems to be a slander Herman Cain is picking up and running with as a way to get into second place." Glenn Reynolds remarked that until now, Cain's "big appeal is that he's not just another black race-card-playing politician." Over at the Daily Caller, Matt Lewis called Cain's remarks "a cheap shot, and, perhaps a signal that Cain is willing to play the race card against a fellow Republican when it benefits him."

Must watch video of the day

Is the perfect GOP candidate out there?

Bill Maher analyzes the prospects.