It is still a mystery why anyone takes the Occupy Wall Street crowd seriously. They are certainly impressed with themselves—as though what they are doing has some sort of deeper cultural meaning. They revel in the fact that their activities have sparked some kind of discussion of so-called income equality but, in point of fact, more people are paying attention to the crime, the sloth, and the disruptions they have caused rather than any kind of central message.
[See photos of the "Occupy" protests.]
A central theme of these protesters, first enunciated by leftist organizer and political theorist Saul Alinsky, is that those who are not with them are against them. They fail to see, however, that in this regard it is they who are the 1 percent. Most Americans do not walk away from their daily lives to camp out in public parks as part of some kind of artesian social protest. They do not clog streets, shut down businesses, and rail against the inequalities of the system in front of adoring television cameras. The winds of change have arrived. They are blowing against the protesters, and those who have supported them thus far must be called to account.
"The behavior of the Occupy Wall Street protesters is boorish and violent, and it has no place in civil society," said Project 21 fellow Deneen Borelli. "It's shocking that the very same people who tried and failed to tie the Tea Party movement to racism and radicalism are now embracing the Occupy mob despite the reports of widespread violence, anti-Semitism, and general lawlessness. If these people hope to retain any shred of credibility, they must take responsibility for their poor judgment and condemn the Occupy protests."
[Read the U.S. News debate on whether Occupy Wall Street is the next Tea Party]
Borelli puts it well. So desperate are the Democrats to see a broad-based social movement in support of their ideals—something that is the analog to the Tea Party—they embraced the first thing that came along. Unfortunately for them, the collection of anarchists, socialists, communists, labor organizers, and the uninformed that compose the ranks of the Occupy-ers was the wrong horse to ride. The more the country sees of the Occupy-ers the more America understands the Occupy-ers are not "them." They are something else entirely, something of which most Americans want no part.
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junior of DC 1:12PM November 20, 2011
Bill Hedges of MO 6:13AM November 20, 2011
bruce b of NV 1:52AM November 20, 2011