Liberals who bemoan discrimination, intolerance, restraint of Constitutional freedoms, and promotion of hatred toward various abberant minorities, have absolutely no problem with discriminating against, being intolerant of, restricting Constitutional freedoms of, and directing hate-filled scapegoat rhetoric against conservatives.
EXACTLY what they accuse Republicans/conservatives of doing, is EXACTLY what liberals/Democrats do themselves, to those who oppose their beliefs.
Liberals who bemoan discrimination, intolerance, restraint of Constitutional freedoms, and promotion of hatred toward various abberant minorities, have absolutely no problem with discriminating against, being intolerant of, restricting Constitutional freedoms of, and directing hate-filled scapegoat rhetoric against conservatives.
EXACTLY what they accuse Republicans/conservatives of doing, is EXACTLY what liberals/Democrats do themselves, to those who oppose their beliefs.
President Obama and the Democratic leadership are making a critical error in embracing the Occupy Wall Street movement—and it may cost them the 2012 election.
Last week, senior White House adviser David Plouffe said that "the protests you're seeing are the same conversations people are having in living rooms and kitchens all across America. . . . People are frustrated by an economy that does not reward hard work and responsibility, where Wall Street and Main Street don't seem to play by the same set of rules." Nancy Pelosi and others have echoed the message.
Yet the Occupy Wall Street movement reflects values that are dangerously out of touch with the broad mass of the American people—and particularly with swing voters who are largely independent and have been trending away from the president since the debate over health-care reform.
The protesters have a distinct ideology and are bound by a deep commitment to radical left-wing policies. On Oct. 10 and 11, Arielle Alter Confino, a senior researcher at my polling firm, interviewed nearly 200 protesters in New York's Zuccotti Park. Our findings probably represent the first systematic random sample of Occupy Wall Street opinion.
Our research shows clearly that the movement doesn't represent unemployed America and is not ideologically diverse. Rather, it comprises an unrepresentative segment of the electorate that believes in radical redistribution of wealth, civil disobedience and, in some instances, violence. Half (52%) have participated in a political movement before, virtually all (98%) say they would support civil disobedience to achieve their goals, and nearly one-third (31%) would support violence to advance their agenda.
The vast majority of demonstrators are actually employed, and the proportion of protesters unemployed (15%) is within single digits of the national unemployment rate (9.1%).
An overwhelming majority of demonstrators supported Barack Obama in 2008. Now 51% disapprove of the president while 44% approve, and only 48% say they will vote to re-elect him in 2012, while at least a quarter won't vote.
Fewer than one in three (32%) call themselves Democrats, while roughly the same proportion (33%) say they aren't represented by any political party.
What binds a large majority of the protesters together—regardless of age, socioeconomic status or education—is a deep commitment to left-wing policies: opposition to free-market capitalism and support for radical redistribution of wealth, intense regulation of the private sector, and protectionist policies to keep American jobs from going overseas.
Sixty-five percent say that government has a moral responsibility to guarantee all citizens access to affordable health care, a college education, and a secure retirement—no matter the cost. By a large margin (77%-22%), they support raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, but 58% oppose raising taxes for everybody, with only 36% in favor. And by a close margin, protesters are divided on whether the bank bailouts were necessary (49%) or unnecessary (51%).
Thus Occupy Wall Street is a group of engaged progressives who are disillusioned with the capitalist system and have a distinct activist orientation. Among the general public, by contrast, 41% of Americans self-identify as conservative, 36% as moderate, and only 21% as liberal. That's why the Obama-Pelosi embrace of the movement could prove catastrophic for their party.
In 1970, aligning too closely with the antiwar movement hurt Democrats in the midterm election, when many middle-class and working-class Americans ended up supporting hawkish candidates who condemned student disruptions. While that 1970 election should have been a sweep against the first-term Nixon administration, it was instead one of only four midterm elections since 1938 when the president's party didn't lose seats.
With the Democratic Party on the defensive throughout the 1970 campaign, liberal Democrats were only able to win on Election Day by distancing themselves from the student protest movement. So Adlai Stevenson III pinned an American flag to his lapel, appointed Chicago Seven prosecutor Thomas Foran chairman of his Citizen's Committee, and emphasized "law and order"—a tactic then employed by Ted Kennedy, who denounced the student protesters as "campus commandos" who must be repudiated, "especially by those who may share their goals."
Today, having abandoned any effort to work with the congressional super committee to craft a bipartisan agreement on deficit reduction, President Obama has thrown in with those who support his desire to tax oil companies and the rich, rather than appeal to independent and self-described moderate swing voters who want smaller government and lower taxes, not additional stimulus or interference in the private sector.
Rather than embracing huge new spending programs and tax increases, plus increasingly radical and potentially violent activists, the Democrats should instead build a bridge to the much more numerous independents and moderates in the center by opposing bailouts and broad-based tax increases.
Put simply, Democrats need to say they are with voters in the middle who want cooperation, conciliation and lower taxes. And they should work particularly hard to contrast their rhetoric with the extremes advocated by the Occupy Wall Street crowd. _______________________________________________
Mr. Schoen, who served as a pollster for President Bill Clinton, is author of "Hopelessly Divided: The New Crisis in American Politics and What It Means for 2012 and Beyond," forthcoming from Rowman and Littlefield.
Not just my opinion.
In two different polls, the polled protestors --informed or not-- may have a smattering of other ideologies, but the major thrust of it is a hard-left socialist/liberal crowd, to the far left of the majority of Americans.
As contrasted with the Tea Party (as polled by Gallup) which are representative of the demographics and values of the rest of America.
Note how the media labelled the Tea Party as an "all-white"/"white-racist" event (despite that the Tea Party demographics are 6% black and 15% hispanic), and yet despite the virtual non-existence of black protestors, the media didn't label the Occupy Wall Street protestors the same way.
Liberals who bemoan discrimination, intolerance, restraint of Constitutional freedoms, and promotion of hatred toward various abberant minorities, have absolutely no problem with discriminating against, being intolerant of, restricting Constitutional freedoms of, and directing hate-filled scapegoat rhetoric against conservatives.
EXACTLY what they accuse Republicans/conservatives of doing, is EXACTLY what liberals/Democrats do themselves, to those who oppose their beliefs.
Buyer's remorse? Poll shows tea party support fading November 29, 2011|By James Oliphant The influence of the tea party movement appears to be on the wane — even in congressional districts that elected tea party candidates last year, according to a new survey.
The report from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press released Tuesday showed support for the tea party dropping nationwide, with more Americans viewing the movement unfavorably. The view of the Republican Party in the 60 districts represented by members of the House Tea Party Caucus has also suffered.
Overall, according to Pew, more Americans (27%) disagree with the goals of the movement than agree (20%), with half of those surveyed having no opinion. A year ago, those numbers were reversed, with 27% of Americans favoring the tea party’s aims. ...
Buyer's remorse? Poll shows tea party support fading November 29, 2011|By James Oliphant The influence of the tea party movement appears to be on the wane — even in congressional districts that elected tea party candidates last year, according to a new survey.
The report from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press released Tuesday showed support for the tea party dropping nationwide, with more Americans viewing the movement unfavorably. The view of the Republican Party in the 60 districts represented by members of the House Tea Party Caucus has also suffered.
Overall, according to Pew, more Americans (27%) disagree with the goals of the movement than agree (20%), with half of those surveyed having no opinion. A year ago, those numbers were reversed, with 27% of Americans favoring the tea party’s aims. ...
Does this mean you're going to bitch for three months about not wanting to die?
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
Buyer's remorse? Poll shows tea party support fading November 29, 2011|By James Oliphant The influence of the tea party movement appears to be on the wane — even in congressional districts that elected tea party candidates last year, according to a new survey.
The report from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press released Tuesday showed support for the tea party dropping nationwide, with more Americans viewing the movement unfavorably. The view of the Republican Party in the 60 districts represented by members of the House Tea Party Caucus has also suffered.
Overall, according to Pew, more Americans (27%) disagree with the goals of the movement than agree (20%), with half of those surveyed having no opinion. A year ago, those numbers were reversed, with 27% of Americans favoring the tea party’s aims. ...
So Dave is it time for the GOP to cast the tea party aside?
Tea Party support has faded because the (liberal) media despise them and unfairly attack them at every turn.
As much as the media attacks the Tea Party, the media conversely propagandizes in support of the Occupy Wall Street protestors. As much popularity as OWS has lost in recent weeks, imagine how much less support OWS would have, if it were subject to the same ubiquitous (liberal) media demonization as the Tea Party.
The Tea Party could have been an ally of the Democrats, if they didn't declare war on the Tea Party and viciously slander them early on. How dare anyone feel patriotism for America and oppose wasteful (bipartian) spending that would preserve our nation! (Again I refer you to the "Four Who Made a Revolution" chapter of Buchanan's DEATH OF THE WEST.)
Therefore the liberal elites, both among Democrat leadership, and in the mainstream (liberal) media, decided early on to snap the Tea Party into tiny pieces and destroy it. But despite the best efforts of the left in all corners of media, academia and government, the Tea Party survives.
Liberals who bemoan discrimination, intolerance, restraint of Constitutional freedoms, and promotion of hatred toward various abberant minorities, have absolutely no problem with discriminating against, being intolerant of, restricting Constitutional freedoms of, and directing hate-filled scapegoat rhetoric against conservatives.
EXACTLY what they accuse Republicans/conservatives of doing, is EXACTLY what liberals/Democrats do themselves, to those who oppose their beliefs.
Repaint restroom interiors, exterior trim: $2,200 Steam clean restrooms, benches, poles: $3,000 Replace 2 benches, repair 7 benches: $16,500 Replace 5 bollards, one chain section: $4,000 Power wash paths: $1,600 Soda blast exteriors to remove graffiti: $1,100 Rake to remove leaves and debris: $600 Install turf erosion control: $1,000 Winter - Fill low areas, hydro mulch, lime, fertilize, seed, enzymes: $8,100 Spring - Fine grade, slice seed, top dress: $3,800 Prune to correct damage, replace damaged paths, fertilize, mulch: $4,000 Place soil to cover exposed roots: $750 Chapman - Clean sewer: $600 Chapman - Repair sewer as needed: To be determined, potentially up to $7,000 Chapman - Tile and grout repair: $700 Chapman - Reinstall door, jamb, frame: $2,500 Refurbish octagonal windows: $2,300 Lownsdale - Remove, replace 3 destroyed toilets, one pedestal sink, repair plumbing in walls, wall mounted braces, floor attachments: $28,000 Lownsdale - Repair door lock: $100 Lownsdale - Tile and grout repairs: $1,800 Temporary fencing: $3,200
I don't know how accurate those prices are. I know how some companies like to inflate prices when they get a government contract.
There's a certain metaphorical poetry to the Occupy Wall Street movement damaging the city's bathrooms and sewage systems with unprecedented amounts of filth and poop.
And that while a bit gross and costly, the city repairs it in a few days and goes on uninterrupted as if it never existed.
Liberals who bemoan discrimination, intolerance, restraint of Constitutional freedoms, and promotion of hatred toward various abberant minorities, have absolutely no problem with discriminating against, being intolerant of, restricting Constitutional freedoms of, and directing hate-filled scapegoat rhetoric against conservatives.
EXACTLY what they accuse Republicans/conservatives of doing, is EXACTLY what liberals/Democrats do themselves, to those who oppose their beliefs.
That's a vague statement, M E M. An empty label, with no details to back it up.
It's the liberal media that's doing the propaganda for OWS.
The Tea Party is focused on reducing government waste, and eliminating deficit spending that has risen to 1.5 trillion a year, frivolous spending that threatens to collapse the U.S. dollar and the personal savings of every American. (The same big-government spending policies used overseas that are threatening to collapse the Euro, have resulted in a real estate bubble in China that threatens to collapse their economy as well. And a Japan that has been using the same socialist "stimulus" policies as Obama that have been proven not to work and have resulted in a "lost decade" for Japan, and a Japanese national debt that is now 200% of their annual GNP.)
What exactly among those quantifiable facts is "classic propaganda"?
Liberals who bemoan discrimination, intolerance, restraint of Constitutional freedoms, and promotion of hatred toward various abberant minorities, have absolutely no problem with discriminating against, being intolerant of, restricting Constitutional freedoms of, and directing hate-filled scapegoat rhetoric against conservatives.
EXACTLY what they accuse Republicans/conservatives of doing, is EXACTLY what liberals/Democrats do themselves, to those who oppose their beliefs.
Liberals who bemoan discrimination, intolerance, restraint of Constitutional freedoms, and promotion of hatred toward various abberant minorities, have absolutely no problem with discriminating against, being intolerant of, restricting Constitutional freedoms of, and directing hate-filled scapegoat rhetoric against conservatives.
EXACTLY what they accuse Republicans/conservatives of doing, is EXACTLY what liberals/Democrats do themselves, to those who oppose their beliefs.
There seem to be a lot of people at these "Occupy" rallies who are just carrying the signs and rhetoric of organizers, and don't even understand what they allege to be passionately fighting for.
Protesters can't answer simple questions, refer reporter to their "boss" to have questions answered.
Boss lets reporter know that many are paid volunteers.
It's a silly spectacle, from start to finish. Two months in, OWS has lost support, is widely exposed for what it is, badly broken, and winding down. If not for glowing media coverage (often by reporters who were partisan advocates if not active participants), this would have been exposed and over in the first few weeks.
Those dirty hippie Liberals with their Marxist Socialist peaceful SITTING! How dare they protest non-violently! They're not the Tea Party! They have no rights! I think one of them was a MUSLIM!! SOROS!!
That's a vague statement, M E M. An empty label, with no details to back it up.
It's the liberal media that's doing the propaganda for OWS.
The Tea Party is focused on reducing government waste, and eliminating deficit spending that has risen to 1.5 trillion a year, frivolous spending that threatens to collapse the U.S. dollar and the personal savings of every American. (The same big-government spending policies used overseas that are threatening to collapse the Euro, have resulted in a real estate bubble in China that threatens to collapse their economy as well. And a Japan that has been using the same socialist "stimulus" policies as Obama that have been proven not to work and have resulted in a "lost decade" for Japan, and a Japanese national debt that is now 200% of their annual GNP.)
What exactly among those quantifiable facts is "classic propaganda"?
