The left tends to put far more stock in marches, rallies, and other types of group protest than the right does. For example, last winter demonstrators in Madison, Wisconsin fighting against Scott Walker's budget reforms chanted, "This is what democracy looks like!" -- as opposed to, say, the actual election a few months before, in which the state's voters chose as their governor...Scott Walker.
Unsurprisingly, then, Occupy Wall Street has captured the attention of a great many Kossacks, some of whose reflections on the protests and related issues are found below. As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.
Ray Pensador: Watch out, OWS -- your enemies are sociopathic
...An innocent, good-hearted, (and I would venture to say, naive) person can never, ever, be a match to a ruthless sociopath.
And that's what you have in the ruling class of the United States of America today: Sociopaths to the max (Wall Street, Multinational Corporations, Sycophantic Politicians)...
Who has the power? Who has the guns? Who has the for-profit private detention camps with hundreds of thousands of beds across the entire country, on the ready?...
Bill in Portland Maine: Conservative media bias strikes again...
...Now we know the rules for getting a movement covered by the media. If you're a bunch of angry old conservatives with kooky, regressive ideas...all it takes is a handful of "Don’t Tread on Me" flags, some lawn chairs, a dash of overt racism, an occasional weekend to rally, opportunistic politicians who immediately take up your cause, and millions of dollars in corporate support. On the other hand, if you're a bunch of angry young liberals with sensible, middle-class-reviving solutions to severe economic inequality, all you need is some random police brutality, several hundred arrests and a weeks-long, round-the-clock occupation of a public square in the middle of New York's financial district...
...You seriously don't get how the media operates and who is behind the positive and negative imagery of each? Promoting the fake one [the Tea Party] for a political/financial purpose, and surpressing and distorting the real one [Occupy Wall Street] for the same political/financial purpose...
Hunter: At last, people are wise to the Republicans' scam
...I'm taking the increasing GOP cries of "class warfare" as evidence that the GOP sees the public's increasing hostility towards the richest Americans (and Wall Street, large corporations) as a real problem for them. It's difficult to base a legislative strategy around give rich people all the money if Americans in general are fed up with the notion...
swellsman: We've got the momentum now
...Every time a Republican, every time a 1-percenter accuses us of “class warfare,” the only appropriate response from now on should be: Yeah. It is. You started it, and WE’RE gonna finish it.
LaFeminista: GOPers should have boycotted the Values Voter Summit
...These [presidential candidates] are running for an office that represents every American; yet they are participating in an organization designed to exclude all but white straight Christians, so what the hell Cain thinks he is going to achieve beats me. Perhaps Cain thinks he meets their bar; barely tolerated since he is rich whilst being African American?
If they were offering their candidacy for "Stormfront Receptionist" I could understand the need to participate, but wanting to be President of a America requires that they avoid this hateful mire and be willing to embrace the US in all its wonderful diversity...
Bill in Portland Maine: Sarah Palin, David Duke...what's the difference?
...Palin made it official this week, choosing the life of a grifter over one of public service...But fear not! For those of you still pinin' for the ultimate in batshittyness in the 2012 campaign, there may still be hope. I remembered today that one person who said he was thinking about running is David Duke. In fairness, though, the two have some slight differences. For instance, Palin likes to "go rogue," while Duke prefers to "go robe"...
