‘Occupy Wall Street’ not as ‘fringe’ as some like to believe
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Federal Hall National Memorial was built at the site where Congress held its first session, at the foot of Wall Street in New York City.
The First Amendment, part of the Bill of Rights, was ratified by Congress meeting at Federal Hall in New York City on Sept. 25, 1789. Today, a motley, disorganized group of American citizens is exercising its First Amendment rights to peaceably assemble and to petition their government, literally within steps of where Congress met to acknowledge those rights.
The movement’s goals are at best uncertain, and to the extent they can be determined, in some ways extreme and unrealistic. And as has been demonstrated convincingly with other large political gatherings, it is certainly possible to wade into the crowd to find people whose antics and beliefs can be used to discredit the larger effort.
The protesters are at least pretty clear about what they don’t like: They don’t like the fact that Wall Street and the financial sector benefited enormously from taxpayer-funded bailouts, while insisting that ordinary Americans neither need nor deserve such assistance.
As the protesters like to chant, “The big banks got bailed, but the middle class got left behind.” Rasmussen reports, 79 percent of Americans say they agree with that sentiment. Only 10 percent disagree.
As Rasmussen assesses its poll findings, “The bailouts of the financial industry still leave a sour taste in the mouths of most Americans, who feel as strongly as ever that the government was looking out for bankers rather than taxpayers and that crimes on Wall Street remain unpunished.”
Earlier this year, Gallup conducted what has become an annual polling of Americans on their attitudes toward major corporations. Not surprisingly, given the role that Wall Street greed and arrogance played in creating this economic crisis, the public isn’t all that happy with them.
In fact, two-thirds of Americans say they are dissatisfied with the size and influence of corporations in national life.
But take another look at the charts above and below. This sense of dissatisfaction and distrust began to grow long before the crisis of 2008. Those events merely helped to crystallize sentiments that in fact had been building for years.
In other words, it’s easy to dismiss “Occupy Wall Street” as the work of the radical fringe, because in some ways it is. But what makes it bigger than that is the fact that the misgivings and distrust it is expressing are felt much more broadly, not just in campus coffee houses but in small-town diners, and not just in liberal chat rooms but in Tea Party meetings as well.
You don’t have to agree with the solutions they propose in order to recognize that the problems they dramatize and publicize have merit. Tens of millions of American citizens understand that .
– Jay Bookman
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
658 comments Add your comment
Midori
October 6th, 2011
5:45 pm
Obama calls new GOP voting changes a “big mistake” and instructs DOJ to Investigate
http://www.thenation.com/blog/163774/obama-denounces-new-gop-voting-laws-says-doj-investigating
ryan
October 6th, 2011
5:45 pm
If don’t you like Bank Of America don’t go there its that simple i am sure glad i don’t go BOA .
Trotsky Foxtrot
October 6th, 2011
5:46 pm
md: “Boy, I’ll hire you all day long………free labor is always good.”
Good for whom? And in the short or long run?
As Henry Ford would have told you, you can squeeze the blood out of your workers all day long but without a prosperous class of earning laborers you have no market for your goods, and therefore, you’re back where you started.
Midori
October 6th, 2011
5:48 pm
The American people are angry. What the hell is the matter with you neo-cons that YOU ARE NOT?
they have Rush and Sean’s assurances that all is well and it’s the people they don’t agree with who are wrong.
pogo
October 6th, 2011
5:48 pm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/jonathan-silver-head-of-doe-loan-guarantee-program-to-step-down/2011/10/06/gIQAzQmlQL_story.html
Ah yes, another one thrown under the bus by “Obama the Incompetent”. The next will be Holder for his involvement in Fast and Furious (and for you liberals, no, I am not talking about the Vin Diesel movie). The members of this bunch of pathetic and sleezy Chicago-centric losers currently occupying the Whitehouse have begun to eat their own. Daley today stated that the Obama administrations treatment of women in their administration was “Rhams fault”. As I understand it, that treatment was pretty much comprised of, “yea, yea, I hear what you are saying but go fix me some coffee while us boys talk”. Of course Vallerie Jarrett wasn’t treated this way. She knows way too much on the corruption that is Obama and in many ways is the author of much of it.
Don't Tread
October 6th, 2011
5:48 pm
Well that settles it. Seize the assets of everybody who owns, buys, sells, or holds stock! That’ll fix it.
Joe Mama
October 6th, 2011
5:49 pm
Jm — “Joe I’m done with you until you acknowledge your own words”
Good.
You dishonestly misrepresented what I said. I don’t think I care to speak to you any more, either.
You tried to claim that I said 401ks could own CDO shares, which I didn’t.
You tried to claim that I said that 401ks could own funds that held CDO shares, which I didn’t.
It’s not my fault that you didn’t know what I was talking about and didn’t have the strength of character to ask. So if you don’t want to talk to me any more, then bring it on. (laughing)
jay's friend
October 6th, 2011
5:49 pm
sure jay, the tea party is fringe but these blow holes aren’t – give us a break.
Joe Mama
October 6th, 2011
5:51 pm
I’m out, folks. Y’all go easy on Nitwitticus of Borg up there. He thinks resistance is futile, but y’all know how that episode turns out already, I think. (giggle)
pogo
October 6th, 2011
5:52 pm
And from the AJC:
President Obama declares that if Congress fails to act Americans “will run them out of town.”
No big boy, we are going to run YOUR @$$ out of town and you know it!
AmVet
October 6th, 2011
5:54 pm
ryan, at the risk of being disrespectful, please save me that sanctimonious b*llsh*t about the government’s role in all of this.
OF COURSE they are unindicted co-conspirators in the corporate destruction of capitalism!
EXACTLY as the Republicans wanted it.
Are you gonna sit there and tell me that thirty years of giving these monied monsters pretty much everything they wanted wasn’t part and parcel of the entire fundamental Republican economic policy?
Deregulation is not an idea in the GOP. It is a sacrament! it has turned into such blithering nonsense that we have supposedly respected fools like Grover Norquist wanting to emasculate it to the point where he can “drown our government in a bathtub”.
I can and have listed example after example after example proving this very assertion from that unfortunate little meltdown of September 2008 to Deepwater Horizon.
You work relentlessly to take the cops off of the beat and then when the criminals go crazy, you blame the cops!
The mafia has NOTHING on Wall Street when it comes to bribing the police…
Let's do it twice?
October 6th, 2011
5:55 pm
Hmmm…let’s see…the government (us) bailed out large financial companies and (apparently) put no sort of checks/balances/safeguards in place that those greedy SOBs might pay themselves a lot of money. Now, some people would like to EXPAND the role of government in all sorts of things (stimulus, which is generally inefficiently spent money), healthcare (double ‘gulp!’)…please, the less government is involved in people’s lives (the Constitution is set up to protect the people FROM THE GOVERNMENT) the better off people will be. As long as money determines what is in the tax code, who gets what project, etc., it will never change. So shrink government and its corrosive influence ($) and see how things improve. Very little (Very, Very, Very little) has ever been improved via government taking things over (we’ve had a couple leftist, fascist states in this country already under WIlson and FDR, there was enough trampling of rights then)
Tommy Maddox
October 6th, 2011
5:55 pm
“What the hell is the matter with you neo-cons that YOU ARE NOT?”
We’re angry – did you miss last November 2nd?
Midori
October 6th, 2011
5:56 pm
oh noes!!
Obama will be run out of town and replaced by WHO, exactly?
Ronald McDonald?
Kamchak
October 6th, 2011
5:56 pm
Kamchak @ 509,
It grieves me to say this, but Kucinich is not favoring the occupy nut cases because of democracy.
[...]
In other words, he wants STUFF from the people who in his tiny little mind, he believes are keeping it away from him.
You are such a political naif.
Dennis Kucinich has all the STUFF that he wants. He is a politician, and as such, he is looking to get on board a movement.
Quit trying to project your own petty wealth envy on everyone opposite you.
Guido
October 6th, 2011
5:59 pm
Up for a laugh? Read the official demands of this group of clowns..
Chronos
October 6th, 2011
6:03 pm
You keep using the word Neo-Con. I do not think you know what it means. A Neo-Con was the name given by the press to someone who is a fiscal conservative and a social liberal.
Midori
October 6th, 2011
6:03 pm
actually Gudo – I get more than enough kicks reading posts of yours and your brethren.
USMC
October 6th, 2011
6:04 pm
Hey JM,
How is Florida treating you??
I saw a new E-Class on the road today and thought how good of a job Mercedes did on this newest model..
Keep Up the Good Fight!
October 6th, 2011
6:05 pm
Guido…. the tea party official demands? Do you have a link to those demands or is it just more “keep your government hands off my welfare”?
kayaker 71
October 6th, 2011
6:05 pm
Guido,
Yeah, sounds pretty logical, wouldn’t you say? Bookman won’t go there. Neither will most of the liberals on this blog. It’s just that we should pay attention to this nonsense. Open borders….. forgiveness of all debt….. free college tuition….. 1T dollars spent on infrastructure……
restoration of a living wage, regardless of employment status….. Universal single payer health insurance…. who the hell is going to pay for all of this? We are already 14T in the tank. What nirvana are these people living in?
Kamchak
October 6th, 2011
6:07 pm
…or is it just more “keep your government hands off my welfare”?
I expect to see a demand concerning hoveround batteries in the near future.
Midori
October 6th, 2011
6:07 pm
LOL
Good one, Keep.
Tommy Maddox
October 6th, 2011
6:08 pm
Those “demands” appear similar to those of that guy with the shotgun at the beginning of the movie “Cobra”.
USASoSad
October 6th, 2011
6:11 pm
I find the comments and thoughts across the media about the “Occupy Wall Street” a true reflection of how the goverment has truly beaten down the spirit of America.
Years ago standing up for what you believed in meant the “Boston Tea Party”, “Stamp Act Protests” “Vietman Protests” “Civil Rights March” the rise of such figures as “Martin Luther King” and “Paul Revere” “Abraham Lincoln” more…
Today..standing up for the American Dream which is slowly being erased by the greed of Wall Street and the Power of Corporations means being labeled a “deadbeat”, told “why are you protesting get a job”.. and more..
I have a job fortunately yet I know many who don’t…I have seen them try to hang onto their homes(yes HOME..they didn’t buy a McMansion or play the REFI/Equity game)..I have seen family members who are seniors who saved their whole life have to change plans that they dreamed of because their retirement money is earning next to nothing…
The American Spirit is like many things in this world..facing true extinction…
Char'Donay
October 6th, 2011
6:11 pm
“The movement’s goals are at best uncertain,…”
And for that reason their protests won’t amount to a hill ‘o beans.
I’m reminded of the reliable standbye answer Miss America candidates used to reel off when asked what they wished for: “world peace”. LOL
AmVet
October 6th, 2011
6:12 pm
Chronos, LOL.
I know it rubs fake conservatives the wrong way but if the PNAC foo sh*ts, you have to wear it…
ragnar danneskjold
October 6th, 2011
6:14 pm
I think the Occupy Wall Streetpeople are mainstream democrats.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
October 6th, 2011
6:14 pm
1T on infrastructure — great!
Universal single payer health care — great!
Republican ideas:
Eliminate EPA — dumb and dumber!
Eliminate all regulations — how stupid!
Build the dang wall! — how silly
There you go.
Tommy Maddox
October 6th, 2011
6:15 pm
Oh brother.
Jay
October 6th, 2011
6:16 pm
Guido, I take it that you are unaware that there is no list of OWS demands? There is only a list of proposed demands posted by a single individual on a blog that the right then ordained the “official” list as a means to discredit the entire enterprise.
USMC
October 6th, 2011
6:16 pm
“I think the Occupy Wall Streetpeople are mainstream democrats.”–Ragnar
Yes, I think the High Priest of Socialism, Jay, would fit right in at these rallies.
AmVet
October 6th, 2011
6:17 pm
oldguy, you’d be the new Barney Fife on the scene.
You’d probably just shoot your foot off, everyone knows it and won’t give you your one bullet…
John Galt
October 6th, 2011
6:18 pm
To become less fringe someone will have to explain to most of the protesters why they are there-
USMC
October 6th, 2011
6:18 pm
“Guido, I take it that you are unaware that there is no list of OWS demands? There is only a list of proposed demands posted by a single individual on a blog that the right then ordained the “official” list as a means to discredit the entire enterprise.”–JAY
Yeah, it’s all MADE UP stuff from Fox News. LOL!
Kamchak
October 6th, 2011
6:19 pm
Give me an M60 and a few belts of ammo and I will show you how I feel about this scum.
WOLVERINES!
Oh, and
FREEBIRD!
oldguy
October 6th, 2011
6:20 pm
Did fairly well in Nam Amvet, where did you serve. Ft gordon?
Keep Up the Good Fight!
October 6th, 2011
6:22 pm
Kam —
Midori — thanks!
Oldguy — I hope you’ll soon be visited by your local police. That is just unacceptable and stupid. Why do you hate America?
TaxPayer
October 6th, 2011
6:22 pm
miss the 60’s ? go back and rent a few old Woodstock movies!
Give me an M60 and a few belts of ammo and I will show you how I feel about this scum.
Watch out for the old guy. When he gets all fired up, he huffs and he puffs and he… blows.
USMC
October 6th, 2011
6:23 pm
I am not saying that these are OFFICIAL demands from the Socialist/Anarchist protest at Occupy Wall Street, but I have heard on more than one occasion these same demands from the mouths of individual protesters. Unbelievable LUNACY and Jay is getting sucked right into it. At least these folks are admitting that they want to get rid of Capitalism in favor of Socialism and Communism…
Demands from Occupy Wall street
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2011/10/good-lord-the-occupy-wall-street-imbeciles-release-their-idiotic-demands-20-minimum-wage-and-across-the-board-debt-forgiveness-for-all/
Jay
October 6th, 2011
6:23 pm
Old guy, I’ll give you a chance to withdraw that highly inappropriate comment. The alternative is to be banned for a few days.
oldguy
October 6th, 2011
6:24 pm
Keep,
With the Obama justice Dept I wouldn’t be surprised; they are the political police you know!
kayaker 71
October 6th, 2011
6:24 pm
Keep,
You didn’t address all of what they want. How do you feel about open borders….. forgiveness of all debt….. a standardized wage, regardless of employment status…..free college tuition? Or are these things just too ridiculous to comment on?
Trotsky Foxtrot
October 6th, 2011
6:24 pm
Char’Donay : ““The movement’s goals are at best uncertain,…” / And for that reason their protests won’t amount to a hill ‘o beans. ”
Really? You sure about that?
Would you deny that the Tea Party has amounted to a hill of beans? A movement that now has 55 or so representatives in Congress?
I would NOT bet against the power of these movements to shake the political order in profound ways.
Midori
October 6th, 2011
6:25 pm
looks like Old Guy has severe anger management issues.
oldguy
October 6th, 2011
6:26 pm
Jay,
please explain what is inappropate the M60 or the scum
pogo
October 6th, 2011
6:30 pm
I made a protest statement of my own today. I ordered my second Gibson American made electric guitar in protest of the Obama administrations Justice Department raid of that company. The administrations extreme interpretation of exotic wood importation regulations and its far reaching implications makes one wonder if this administration is hellbent on destroying every American job, no matter how small the market. Gibson guitars have been responsible for some of the best guitar riffs that the musicians in this world have ever produced. And here is the Obama administration trying to shut them down. Gibson will not compromise on the quality of their instruments and they shouldn’t even if that means shutting down. And think of all the other small luthier’s out there that because they can ‘t get the woods they need for their trade, will simply quit.
BADA BING
October 6th, 2011
6:30 pm
Occupy Wall Street has inspired me. I am going to Occupy the Cheetah 3, then I will Occupy Chris Steak House, and then Occupy As Many Bars As I Can Find. Then I will hit Costa Rica and Occupy the Tabacon Hot Springs and sit in the natural hot springs and watch the Arenal Volcano erupt at night while drinking a Marguarita. Thanx Guys !!
Keep Up the Good Fight!
October 6th, 2011
6:31 pm
k71… I have not read their positions to comment appropriately. I suspect you have not either, only the recap from some rightnutwing blog. And not sure if there is any “official” position. So they are not “too ridiculous”. I want more info to understand the reasoning. Educating Americans is generally a great idea. In fact, I believe that is one reason we have many state colleges and university and until recently Hope scholarships.
However I have heard the Eliminate the EPA and No Regulations from the Republican candidates and many other ideas which are just dumb and nonsense. Were those too ridiculous for you to comment on?
Steve - USA
October 6th, 2011
6:32 pm
Just a suggestion, if you want an unfiltered view of the protests rather than a Left or Right view go to their web site and look at some of their minutes of their meeting. A lot of it is just about finding the next dollar but some of it is quite fascinating.
oldguy
October 6th, 2011
6:33 pm
I fought Communists in Nam and I see these as the same, I, of course, would not shoot the place up, but I object to their taking over public rightaway and harrassing others who don’t agree.
kayaker 71
October 6th, 2011
6:35 pm
Pogo,
the CEO of Gibson is a contributor to Republican politicians. the DOJ should be more interested in failed schemes to give Mexican drug dealers weapons and then deny that they had any knowledge of it. No comment from Bookman on this one….. I doubt that we will ever see any.
oldguy
October 6th, 2011
6:36 pm
Jay,
I respect you and your opinions and many of the people who post here but I was there for the 60’s radical riots and I don’t like where the protests are likely to go.
Chronos
October 6th, 2011
6:36 pm
AmVet,you jump to conclusions. I am a Libertarian not a conservative.
Midori
October 6th, 2011
6:38 pm
I don’t know which is sadder Old guy – that you refuse to apologize for your over the top comments, or the fact that you see your fellow Americans as the enemy.
been hanging around with Hank Jr.? Spouting nonsense went soooooooo well for him too.
Chronos
October 6th, 2011
6:38 pm
Frankly AmVet, there’s little difference between you and the conservatives you hate.
givememyfairshare
October 6th, 2011
6:38 pm
has anyone figured out exactly what outcome these protesters are hoping for?
Keep Up the Good Fight!
October 6th, 2011
6:40 pm
Americans have the right to be communists, atheists, devil worshippers, catholics, republicans, racists, stupid, old farts or, to borrow from Kam (with some expansion), hoverround teaborne. It is never the right of anyone to threaten violence for exercising their freedoms, oldguy, or did you miss the point of what was claim to be fighting against in Nam?
givememyfairshare
October 6th, 2011
6:41 pm
“In fact, two-thirds of Americans say they are dissatisfied with the size and influence of corporations in national life.”
How many say this about the federal gov’t?
TaxPayer
October 6th, 2011
6:42 pm
Oldguy should get his own little Tea Party together and head on out and occupy a street corner where they can voice their true feelings about other US citizens exercising their constitutional rights, constitutionally speaking, of course.
oldguy
October 6th, 2011
6:42 pm
So, I you would like you can withdraw my previous post, I will, however, not apologize for having flashbacks to the 60s and the chaos (the Weathermen for example) growing out of those protests.
Just wondering
October 6th, 2011
6:42 pm
Free Loot for Everyone, Already. The FLEA Party.
kayaker 71
October 6th, 2011
6:46 pm
Midori,
Some of these “fellow Americans” are the enemy. Our president is a “fellow American”, I hope, and he professes to “fundamentally change America as we know it”. The majority of the electorate do not want an Obama America. Look at the pols, the Nov 2010 election, the failure of Obamanomics to reduce unemployment, the lack of consumer confidence, 30% of Democrats want another candidate, the lowest approval since Jan 2009…… what does it take?
AmVet
October 6th, 2011
6:49 pm
Frankly AmVet, there’s little difference between you and the conservatives you hate.
Do tell?
Please go on…
BADA BING
October 6th, 2011
6:49 pm
Did anyone see DWTS last episode? After last week’s wardrobe malfunction, Nancy reportedly let one rip during her performance. Nancy Graceless? I guess they will have to change the name of the show to FWTS.
Trotsky Foxtrot
October 6th, 2011
6:49 pm
givememyfairshare: ” has anyone figured out exactly what outcome these protesters are hoping for? ”
Oh I don’t know, some semi-mythical entity or other .. like say restoration of the “American dream”, a more or less guaranteed middle class life, a large and prosperous middle class. You know the sort of thing that was more or less taken for granted up until recent years.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
October 6th, 2011
6:51 pm
Some of these “fellow Americans” are the enemy
Oy vey….
TaxPayer
October 6th, 2011
6:51 pm
what does it take?
More than “I Object” and just saying no to everything.
kayaker 71
October 6th, 2011
6:51 pm
Trotsky,
Take a closer look. It might surprise even you.
Tommy Maddox
October 6th, 2011
6:52 pm
A “guaranteed middle class”. Government supplied as in old eastern Europe? How American.
Tommy Maddox
October 6th, 2011
6:54 pm
“Restoration of the American dream”? These folks decry institutions that were once somebody’s American dream. Now, the mob wants it gone, or theirs? That’s more in line with Rhodesia.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
October 6th, 2011
6:54 pm
Well, I got a M60 as one of the machine guns I use for hunting and self-defense, part of my 2nd Amenment Rights, but oldguy can’t have it. I only lend it to folks that ain’t lost their mind. Some folks need to getalife, if you know what I mean. Heck, if I cut loose on everybody that made me mad they’d be juicing me up down at Jackson tonight.
Have a good night everybody.
Midori
October 6th, 2011
6:54 pm
make sure you look under your bed, Kayaker.
They’re EVERWHERE!!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
AmVet
October 6th, 2011
6:55 pm
Now THIS is getting fun!
oldguy and pogo are having visions of Kent State dancing though their heads…
BADA BiNG @ 6;30.
Excellent! Mind if I tag along?
Alex
October 6th, 2011
6:57 pm
The irony in all of this is that those on Wall Street give substantially more money to the Dems, those that claim to be against Wall Street. You know what I got a great idea. Why don’t we send all of these Occupy Wall Street people to Haiti. They can show us just how well that economical system will work.
Chronos
October 6th, 2011
6:58 pm
AmVet, it’s all about control. You just want the government to force us to do something different than your conservative pals do. In the end, it is all about control and power.
Tommy Maddox
October 6th, 2011
6:58 pm
Redneck – if you want to give away a M60, I’ll take it.
http://www.gunsamerica.com/914915035/Guns/Rifles/Class-3-Rifles/Class-3-Subguns/M60_C_R_Model_T161_Belt_fed_machine_gun.htm
Midori
October 6th, 2011
6:59 pm
RUT ROH
Alex pulls the Fox Fact Checker Card
AmVet
October 6th, 2011
7:04 pm
These folks decry institutions that were once somebody’s American dream.”
WAKE THE F UP.
They are decrying the hyper-criminality in these untouchable institutions.
The Goldman Sachs, AIGs, BoAs and Lehman Brothers among scores of others that have brought on the greatest economic collapse since the 1930s. The one that has laid waste to millions of innocent, hard working, taxpaying, law abiding citizens. Young, middle aged and elderly.
Or did you miss all of that? Apparently, even though you pretend to be offended about it all. There is no outrage in the right wing. Just slavish acceptance of the status quo.
That you willfully ignorant Reppubli-oafs want to paint all of the thousands and thousands of protesters, in a dozen US cities, as nefarious, law averse sewer rats says pretty much everything there is to say about you.
Not to worry, though. As is your wont, you will once again get decimated in the court of public opinion…
Trotsky Foxtrot
October 6th, 2011
7:05 pm
Alex: “The irony in all of this is that those on Wall Street give substantially more money to the Dems, those that claim to be against Wall Street”
Well there’s your mistake (the bold part).
Helpful rule number one of political debating: don’t confuse your side’s claim of reality, or what it wants to put out there as reality, with reality itself. Unless of course you want to feign confusion over what’s what for rhetorical purposes, for misdirection, etc.
TaxPayer
October 6th, 2011
7:06 pm
Alex, You could always offer to pay their way to Haiti and maybe give ‘em free tours of Haiti. Show ‘em around.
AmVet
October 6th, 2011
7:06 pm
You just want the government to force us to do something different than your conservative pals do. In the end, it is all about control and power.
THAT is your explanation?
Is it even possible for you to explain what it is the hell that you think?
Rather than idiotically trying to tell me what I do?
dvs1
October 6th, 2011
7:07 pm
So these people, wearing clothes they did NOT make, assemble via public transportation, or bicycle, or car or motorcycle (all of which derive from similarly organized efforts), to stand on streets or sidewalks paved by similarly organized efforts, in order that they be seen by media (similarly organized) and be recorded by equipment made by similarly organized efforts so that they may be broadcast throughout the entire land via network news (and similarly organized efforts) through the miracle of electricity and all its descendants (generated and propagated and transmitted by similar organizations). If they scream until they are hoarse or catch cold from their screaming neighbors, they might seek comfort from medicines or other curatives (wrought and delivered by similar organizations). Of course, if a terrorist attacks while they protest, they will depend on guns and airplanes (from similarly organized sources) to protect them and their First Amendment Rights.
The Constitution of the United States of America is a wonderful thing, but it provides no vaccination for the individual against his/her own stupidity.
I am so tired of people who rail against evil corporations. Be honest, quit being AGAINST corporations and be FOR mob rule and looting and chaos. Take all the greedy corporations money, shut them down, starve, die, rot. Or you could just move to Russia, but wait!!! it did not work there did it? you proletariat fools, you pawns of greedy self serving politicians!
Keep Up the Good Fight!
October 6th, 2011
7:07 pm
OldGuy has visions of “the Weatherman” [well his first excuse was the commies in Nam but then he switched], so he posts to take violent acts much like those that he claims created his “visions”….. wonder if he is terrorized by visions of anti-abortionists who kill and terrorize?
TaxPayer
October 6th, 2011
7:09 pm
Step One is to disconnect our “veterans” from FOX. The effects will slowly wear off and they may even be able to return to society as functioning members again.
Chronos
October 6th, 2011
7:09 pm
AmVet, I’ve read your posts, lol.
Chronos
October 6th, 2011
7:10 pm
AmVet, you have anger problems, you should get help.
AmVet
October 6th, 2011
7:13 pm
Let me put it to you this way, Chronos.
Since I’m apparently in the dark, would you please enlighten me?
What exactly is it that I want the government to force us to do?
Don’t be afraid, back up your assertion.
Put it down in black and white.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
October 6th, 2011
7:13 pm
AmVet…. those docs are also Weatherman?
Chronos
October 6th, 2011
7:14 pm
Mainly, I want you to go to the VA and get help.
TaxPayer
October 6th, 2011
7:16 pm
I thought it was the abortion doctors that killed the fetus………I am all confused.
You got your bioillogical processes all wronged. The Viagra makes it and the Pill breaks it. It’s this simple 2-step process that has the Republican sin of approval. All other methods are just plain wrong and have to be banished.
wag
October 6th, 2011
7:16 pm
Bookman the big banks were bailed out under Obama and a democratic house and senate with a massive spending bill that was suppost to create jobs. All it did was go to the people that got Obama elected. Now he wants to pass another spending bill and call it A JOBS BILL. Face it, your ship is sinking and 2012 is coming quickly!!!!!!!
AmVet
October 6th, 2011
7:17 pm
Just as I thought, mystery meat. You have no balls.
And you wonder why I don’t suffer fools like you gladly?
Keep, some idiot has name jacked me.
TaxPayer
October 6th, 2011
7:17 pm
Bookman the big banks were bailed out under Obama
Sounds like someone has done had the tarp pulled over their eyes.
Strawman
October 6th, 2011
7:18 pm
Thanks for the illuminating column, Jay. It really made me think. It occurred to me that you are not as “fringe” as some believe. You are WAY out there, to be sure – but not in the farthest outlands.
Chronos
October 6th, 2011
7:20 pm
AmVet, why does every post of yours have an insult? The VA is on Clairmont, please get some help, buddy.
Strawman
October 6th, 2011
7:23 pm
Oh, and your “Bookman class” hair (as one of your regulars put it) makes up for a lot.
Recon (2nd.and 3rd.)
October 6th, 2011
7:24 pm
His foolishness thinks that anyone in government who doesn’t support his jobs bill will be run out of town by the voters. I guess his handlers keep him away from his job approval polls.
Chronos
October 6th, 2011
7:24 pm
Ok, here you go it’s your post AmVet:
“Move along, nothing to see here.
Nope, no concentrated, unregulated power by a relatively small handful of monied elites.
No sustained orgy of greed and reckless behavior on Wall Street.
No letting criminals completely off of the hook.
No systemic crime by corproate crooks, swindlers and speculators.
No occasions where entire *industries* have been grossly and grandly rewarded for outsourcing millions of American jobs to fascist and communist regimes.
The American people are angry. What the hell is the matter with you neo-cons that YOU ARE NOT?
You are in that tiny minority once again. Becasue by overwhelming percentages and regardless of political affiliation and background, American people of conscience and courage are DEMANDING that we hold these corporations accountable to the rule of law.
No more casino capitalism. No more criminally negligent banksters plundering other people’s money with impunity.
We the people, the rightful sovereigns of this republic, have no allies in Washington anymore, so WE must take back our sovereignty.
And you obsequious ostriches can all go ____ __________.”
CINTROL, CONTROL, CONTROL
Make people be the way you want them to be AmVet, and if they won’t, FORCE them!
AmVet
October 6th, 2011
7:27 pm
Meat, don’t flatter yourself, you ain’t no buddy of mine.
Jon Reiner, a former marketing executive and father of two boys, figures he has sent out 2,000 resumes since he was laid off for the third time nearly five years ago. He has not gotten a single job offer.
An unassuming presence in the colorful crowd that marched in New York on Wednesday, the 49-year-old Reiner nevertheless is in many ways typical of the protesters who have established the “Occupy Wall Street” camp just blocks away from the New York Stock Exchange.
His despair and frustration are palpable as he speaks about how his wife has returned to work as a high school teacher to support their family. Even so, he says, they ran out of their savings last year and now are in debt.
“You were a member of the middle class, you were at a point in your life where you thought you’d be at the zenith of your career or upward trajectory, and all of a sudden you find yourself marginalized,” he said. “… The term that I’ve begun to use is unemployable.”
He said his last layoff, in 2007, came after two others since 2001. In each case, he was dismissed because Wall Street analysts determined that his company’s stock was underperforming, not because the firm wasn’t profitable, he said.
“I assumed after the last layoff that, that was probably it for me, I was probably not going to find another job like I’ve had because they were being eliminated,” he said. “And, the last five years looking for work obviously confirmed (that).”
“My identity in terms of how I define myself for my profession has been destroyed. It’s a humiliating feeling and it’s also terribly worrisome because I’m only 49-years-old — which doesn’t feel old to me — and I had planned to work for another 20 years and I have a family to support,” he added. “(Now) I need to figure out how it is we are going to be able to survive.”
http://fieldnotes.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/05/8174558-insider-out-one-mans-journey-from-the-front-office-to-wall-st-occupier