Another day of the Occupy Wall Street protests that have spread to several major cities, and another day of disparaging remarks from the haves and those who do not get it on the right.
Sean Hannity thinks the protesters are all just a bunch of post-1960s hippies who do not wash. Rush Limbaugh thinks they are stupid tools, marching for big government and womanizer Donald Trump thinks they are down there to find dates, but he does admire their clothes. Do you think Donald would really give up that horrible purple tie he wears for a hoodie?
Glenn Beck says they will drag the rich capitalists out in the street and kill them. Presidential candidate Herman Cain thinks they are protesting those who have money, while billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg says they are protesting against those on Wall Street who make $35,000 a year, but he will let them stay as long as they obey the law.
Some say the attraction is free food or sex on the lawn. It is pitifully obvious from statements like these that the haves just do not get it at all.
Many on the right think the protesters are dangerous and un-American. Republican supporter Fox News continually paints a bad image of the protest by interviewing the most eccentric person there with gotcha questions and making that the face of the protest. But empty vault Fox reporter Geraldo Rivera was shouted out by chants of “Fox News lies” the other day and left with a smirk on his face.
If America does not stand for freedom of speech and free assembly, what does it stand for? Those hippies of the 1960s protested the Vietnam War and the draft and were able to turn the tide of the thinking at the time, and eventually Congress curtailed cash going to feed the war machine.
A lot of the protests in the 1960s were about civil rights and they turned the tide on that matter, too. The Tea Party rallies got continuous promotional coverage by Fox News, who billed it as a truly courageous movement by real patriots who represent mainstream America. For Fox, the truth depends on what Fox news President Roger Ailes says it is. That description is much more fitting of the Occupy Wall Streeters than the Tea Partiers.
What do the protesters want? They want America back. They are fed up with greed and being the brunt of the top 1 percent who control 40 percent of the wealth who are not paying their fair share and leaving the 99 percent with the crumbs. They are fed up with Wall Street, which gambled with mortgages and derivatives, tanked the economy and got bailouts and nobody went to jail for fraud.
They are fed up with the Republican obstruction to any jobs bills that would help the economy, them or their parents get employed. They are angry about paying more for education due to less revenue from millionaires and existing corporate tax loopholes. They are fed up with soaring costs, the war on unions and teachers, Social Security and Medicare — all because of the rich buying elections and legislating against them.
Most of all, they are tired of the callous arrogance of the rich and “let them eat cake” attitude they exhibit. The list goes on.
My sense is the great silent majority of Americans are with them in spirit even though they are not physically at the demonstrations. Many of us are fed up to the point of being so damn mad that we are not going to take it anymore and we will vote that way come 2012.
Tyler Cassell
Flushing
