People Power! Top Republicans decide they now 'understand' the 99% protests!

[sabrina 1]

It's amazing what The People can accomplish when they stop following leaders blindly and choose to go in a different direction.

The first Republican Presidential Candidate to endorse the Occupywallstreet movement was Buddy Roemer. His announcement that he was going to join the Occupywallstreet protesers seemed to some 'expert political observers' on the Right to be nothing less than political suicide.



Buddy Roemer joining Occupy Wall Street protest

Here's how Roemer announced his plans for this week on Twitter:

I am concerned and outraged, as are many, at Wall Street greed. I will be joining Occupy Wall Street NYC Tuesday to see it firsthand. #ows

My decision to join Occupy Wall Street is to put an end to #OWS bashing by fellow GOP candidates. I want to hear the stories of protestors.

It's about time Americans rose up against institutional corruption. I want to stand by them. Wall Street must be held accountable. #ows #p2

I'm a Harvard economist and biz school grad. I have never seen our economy or political system this broken or corrupt. Enough is enough. #p2

But it seems that the 'experts' may have misjudged the current political atmosphere in the country, as they often do and for those like Romney eg, who tend to listen to DC insiders, it appears to have been a gross miscalculation to slam the protesters as the movement spread across the country and the globe.


Just days ago, Oct. 5th actually, this was what Mitt Romney had to say about Occupywallstreet protests!



Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/65526.html#ixzz1ac21xuhK




Mitt Romney: Occupy Wall Street Is ‘Dangerous…Class Warfare’

Mitt Romney weighed in on the growing Occupy Wall Street movement at a town hall meeting in Florida today. And in the eyes of that particular millionaire businessman, the protests aren’t good.

“I think it’s dangerous, this class warfare,” Romney said, according to National Journal.

But what a difference a few days make:

Mitt Romney sympathizes with Wall Street protesters

“I look at what’s happening on Wall Street and my view is, boy, I understand how those people feel,” he said at a town hall event in Hopkinton, N.H. “Because with median income down 10% ... with chronic unemployment, long-term unemployment worse even than the Great Depression, the people in this country are upset. And I understand middle Americans saying, ‘Wait a second, what’s going on? This wasn’t the deal. How can this be?’’

......

“As a matter of fact, I don’t worry about the top 1%,”

And then there's Eric Cantor

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RRJ47NJxAX0/TlcRo28c2rI/AAAAAAAABoU/fOJPUC6fv04/s1600/Eric+Cantor.jpg



A few days ago, he too was slamming the Occupywallstreet protesters:

Cantor slams Wall Street 'mobs' and Dems for egging them on

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) described Wall Street protesters as a mob on Friday and implied Democrats were egging them on.

In a speech to the conservative Values Voter Summit, Cantor said he was “increasingly concerned by the growing mobs” and criticized Democrats who have showered praise on the protesters in New York and other cities.

“Some in this town have actually condoned the pitting of Americans against Americans,” Cantor said.

But just days later, Cantor too flip flops and claims he 'gets it':


Eric Cantor tempers criticism of Occupy Wall Street

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is trying to walk back his criticism of the Occupy Wall Street protesters just days after the Virginia Republican characterized them as "mobs."

At a news conference with reporters on Tuesday, Cantor went for a more empathetic approach, saying he understood why there was unrest.

“People are upset, and they are justifiably frustrated. They’re out of work. The economy is not moving. Their sense of security for the future is not clear at all. People are afraid, and I get it,” he said.

Presidential hopeful, John Huntsman joined the 'we suddenly hear you and we understand' Republican contingency also:

Occupy Wall Street Gains Measured Support From Some Republican Candidates

And on Tuesday, during a meeting at a retirement center here in Hanover, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman expressed a measure of support for the movement as well.

"I have to say, much of what they are talking about, some of what they are talking about I think many Americans would be in some harmony with -- and that is trillions of trillions of dollars that have been spent, they have disappeared and we have seen nothing for it," Huntsman said. "We have seen no uplift in terms of economic performance. We have seen no improvement in the unemployment rate."

.....

"There is angst, and there is anger, and there is frustration, in large measure because of the trillions that was spent to little effect," he said. "There is a lot out there that people on all ends of politics are very angry and concerned about."

And even Rick Santorum who initially 'warned President Obama to distance himself from the Occupywallstreet protesters, now suddenly 'understands':

Santorum on ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Protests: ‘I Understand the Frustration’

Former Sen. Rick Santorum departed a bit from the rest of Republican presidential field Friday when he said he was sympathetic to the frustration of “Occupy Wall Street” protesters.

”I certainly understand the frustration,” he told reporters after his speech at the Values Voter Summit on Friday. “I think the answers they have with respect to solve that problem, I would go in a different direction.”

So all the original talking points have been throw away by the Republican Presidential Candidates. 'Mob', Dirty Hippies', 'Dangerous' etc. What will Fox 'News' do now that they cannot call this a 'Democratic Plot to get Obama reelected'?

While no one in their right mind takes any of these people seriously considering they are all part of the problem, the fact that after ten years of ignoring at best, insulting, slamming, attacking the very same people they now 'understand', this is the first time that the American People, having by-passed the old political process, have managed to get their attention.

Sorry guys, but you ARE the problem! While their sudden changes in position (except for Roemer) are a powerful tool in the hands of the protesters, a real demonstration of the power the people actual had all along, all of these people need to be replaced and hopefully will be.

Just a little over three weeks ago the people were being ignored, dismissed, and if noticed at all, demeaned, slammed, insulted and given about three days before they were gone.

The political class is beginning to lost their power, which was always tenuous at best, but retained only so long as the American People allowed it, and we did, for far too long.



While they claim to 'understand' they did miss the most important message from the American people, which is to get the money out of politics. It is that money that has created all the other problems. If they are serious, then let them prove it.

Every candidate running for Congress in 2012 needs to refuse Corporate Money or be labeled a Wall Street Candidate!

And the people have spoken on that issue:

Polls, which may have influenced the sudden flip flops from Republicans, show that approximately 79% of those polled support the slogan They Got Bailed Out, We Got Sold Out

Even if they never heard of this movement or don't actually support it, it's clear that the vast majority of Americans want Money out of Politics.

No More Wall Street Candidates!

And huge congratulations to those who started this movement and all those who are supporting it including the Independent Media who covered it when the Corporate Media tried to ignore it. It is our only hope to bring about the necessary replacement of a broken system that only works for a minority of the American people.

[valerief]

1. Please, keep the Republic prez candy MOB from OWS!

[sabrina 1]

7. You're missing the point I think.

There is no way the Occupywallstreet protesters will allow themselves to be coopeted, especially by the phony Republican Presidential candidates who are the main cause of the problems.

But the fact that they had to cave to the pressure of the movement, is a powerful indication of how scared they are. Not to mention how useful it is to be able to ask the far right operatives if Romney, Cantor, Santorum, Roemer, Huntsman and whoever else attempts to try to position themselves as 'men of the people', are 'dirty hippies' or 'a bunch of spoiled liberal college students'.

They don't matter any more, but they can be used.

[valerief]

11. I know, I know, but I'm soooooo sick of the GOP bastards. I don't care

how they change their rhetoric. It's all bullshit anyway. I really, really hate those whores.

[sabrina 1]

13. Yes, I know, I agree with you. We are all so sick of them, they have no soul, no compassion

but this shows the up in a way the we were never able to do before, no matter how many facts we presented. It shows that the movement is succeeding that they cannot ignore, as they have for so long, the people anymore.

It reminds me of Ben Ali, Mubarak and all the dictators whose populations had finally had enough and took to the streets. After decades of oppression, torture, punishment of those who dared to dissent, of ignoring the needs of the people, they suddenly tried to make concessiions when they realized this time they could not control the situation with their usual tactics.

And they tried to make concessions. But no one believed them. This is what the sudden 'understanding' of these Republican destroyers of democracy, remind me of now. They are really frightened and I only wish we could have frightened them like this ten years ago.

[valerief]

14. As long as the military and para-military don't imprison/kill protesters,

OWS success is in the cards. I just think there's nothing the 1% won't do to keep their wealth. Killing us is nothing to them. They've got Asia to do their labor and buy their goods.

[sabrina 1]

16. This is their worst nightmare. It has turned into a Global Movement.

We were late to the realization of what Global Capitalism has been doing to workers in other parts of the world. But now, it has come to the First World and people are learning that to live the way we were living, meant that Global Corporations were using cheap labor in Asia and elsewhere, to increase their profit margins.

Now, this movement has spread around the world, and those people who were forced to accept slave wages, have the support of people here and in Europe to force Corporations to pay livable wages to workers everywhere. The people of the world were working only in their own countries to try to get more fair working conditions but the Corps were able to destroy those efforts. THEY were Global, but the people were not, until now.

I do fear a huge crackdown if this becomes a real threat to them and that people will be harmed, as they have been in other parts of the world when they tried to demand more fair working conditions. So, yes, that is a concern. But, I believe there is a split beginning to show among the Global Capitalists where some realize that they may have to make concessions or risk total anarchy, as has been happening in Europe eg. And those who believe they can go on the way they have been by using brute force, as they have done in the past.

Their way has failed, they are weaker now than they have ever been. Look at Europe, they have destroyed the world's economy and if people of the world unite, if they demand jobs and fair pay for their labor everywhere, it will be much more difficult for them now, than it ever was. I think some of them do realize that.

[valerief]

32. But the world is littered with people. The 1% will just kill us off. What do they care?

They'll keep enough slaves to do their bidding. They'll make their money by changing Wall St. rules to Black Jack and Poker games. At least it will be official.

I can't find a reason why they wouldn't do that.

[sabrina 1]

44. It's not that easy to kill billions of people.

Not saying they are not capable of it, but I still have faith that some in our government and military and law enforcement agencies would not simply follow those kinds of orders.

I doubt it would turn out well for them to start shooting protesters. That's what Mubarak and Ben Ali did, and it only enraged more people. In Wisconsin, when Walker tried to get the police to keep the people out of the Capitol Bldg, they had had enough and refused to do so, and in fact, joined the protesters.

I don't think the world we live in has gone that far and I hope anyone in power who thinks it has, is quickly informed that we are still a somewhat civilized nation.

[butterfly77]

34. Have you seen Fox lately?

I haven't seen anyone frightened. If anything they have gotten worse. I will never trust these lying,hypocrites and I am also keeping my eyes on many so called Democrats and so called Independents..

[sabrina 1]

36. Fox has made itself irrelevant, and with the Murdoch Empire

crumbling overseas and now reaching the US, their ravings are limited to a small % of the population. Look at it this way, Fox and the rest of the MSM ignored this movement hoping that by using what they thought was their power, the movement would die after the first weekend.

What they have proven, unintentionally I'm sure, is that they no longer have the power they had back when they refused to cover the huge Anti-War Demonstrations.

This movement has grown rapidly and spread around the world, WITHOUT the help of and in spite of Fox and their colleagues on CNN. So while they may not appear to be worried, or are too stupid to be worried, the success of this movement in spite of them, should tell them something.

Now with their own Party Leaders feeling the need to pretend they 'understand' what they could not stop, how is O'Reilly eg, going to deal with someone asking him 'are Cantor, Romney, Santorum, Roemer, Huntsman, I mean YOUR party's presidential candidates, are they all 'dirty, lazy hippies also'?

I believe the MSM probably regrets demonstration how little power they have anymore. They are part of the problem that needs to be fixed and they have proven it over the past several weeks.

Can you imagine Republicans, back during the Bush years, feeling the pressure from the people to even pretend they 'understand'? They had enough power using the Corporate Media never to have to even pretend. Things have changed since then. Fox has lost so much credibility that even Republicans rush to tell you they don't get their news from Fox, (even if they do) :-)

[socialist_n_TN]

25. sabrina, I wish I was as confident as you seem to be

that OWS won't be co-opted. That's something I've worried about since this first started happening. Co-opting is what the bourgeoisie DO with left populist movements and I've already seen some signs of it.

[sabrina 1]

28. I do worry about it, socialist, but I think that the protesters

are so angry at both parties, and at all those liberal organizations, eg, Moveon, who allowed themselves to be coopted by the Party, that at least for now, I doubt it could happen. But I'm not going to say it's not possible.

I watched it happen online eg. Early in the Bush administration there was huge energy online, but it had not yet been channeled into a movement which many of us thought would happen. Apparently so did the political parties and they either started or began to back certain blogs who first worked to attract Liberals, then once they had enough, began to silence, ban, some of the best and most likely leaders of the movement. Iow, they corralled all that energy into a few blogs and then controlled it.

So, yes, sure it could happen again, and what makes me worry about that is seeing eg, one of the blog owners I just mentioned above, on TV endorsing a movement which was probably started by the very people he silenced on his blog.

Still, there is enough genuine anger and fear in the country that it might be harder to do this time. Every once in a while a movement is that serious that it cannot be taken over. I hope this is one of those movements. :-)

[socialist_n_TN]

29. Well actually at this point, I worry more about it being

co-opted by the far RIGHT moreso than the Democrats. WAY too much "Ron Paul" influence seen in SOME of these assemblies. And this is a petit bourgeoisie movement and that class can be swayed back and forth between supporting the working class backing and a Bonapartist strong man type. A "Daddy" who'll take care of ALL the problems. Right now, I worry more about that than the Dems co-opting it.

[sabrina 1]

37. When the numbers were smaller at the beginning, the Ron Paul

people were far more noticeable. Now with the numbers so big, they are hardly noticeable at all. But this cannot be a partisan movement and I give credit to the organizers for being able to stick to the focus of the movement, and while welcoming the support of all sincere people, to emphasize over and over again that they are not a partisan, political movement. I believe that is the main reason for their success so far.

Eg, some of my friends and family members are Republicans. They are normal, working class people and not on the far right fringes by any means. However for a long time, it was impossible for me to discuss politics with many of them, and during the Bush years, I avoided them altogether because I was so angry at them. But I have seen them change and one couple called me last week to ask what I thought of this movement. I really was stunned that they asked me to be honest, but they said they fully supported them as they are sick to death of the money in politics and the criminals who crashed the economy. They do not trust the Republicans anymore. They are in the end, Americans and believe it or not, there are many others like them who are beginning to wake up and refusing to continue to support the system as it is.

Think of what the FF fathers had to do to get the support of the Southern states for the Declaration of Independence. Had they refused to deal with them, there would be no US of America. But the common goal was what they placed their focus on even though some were wary of doing so. Sometimes an issue is so important that it actually does cross party lines. And the corruption of our system affects all Americans.

[socialist_n_TN]

47. I understand the slogan as an agitational tool

but honestly, it'll never actually work as an organizational tool. Too many of the 99% will always carry the water for the capitalists. That's where the definition of the movement MUST come in. That LACK of definition is why I'm wary of going all in in support of OWS.

Another thing that I've seen lately in regards to RW co-opting is the typical DLC type of attitude towards "left" groups, even when the groups aren't really that left. IF the idea is to make this inclusive of all of the 99% (and yes I don't believe this is possible if you really want to get things done, but suppose it was...), why do they welcome the Paulbots and keep their distance from MoveOn? You can't bend over backwards to welcome RWers and push away a VERY moderate centrist group like MoveOn and still claim to be inclusive. SOMEBODY is being EXCLUDED and right now it looks like they're trying to exclude the left and the Left. That's a recipe for failure because the RW groups are ON THE SIDE OF THE CAPITALISTS. They'll never go against the owners in any meaningful way.

[sabrina 1]

49. 'They' are not excluding anyone who is sincerely supportive

of their goals, the main one being to remove money from politics, to separate Wall St from our Government.

I see no 'welcoming of Paulites', what I saw was welcoming of individuals, not 'the tea-party'. What I also saw was the usual so-called 'left' organizations who HAVE been excluding people over the past decade, mostly actual Progressive, Liberal Democrats, jump on this bandwagon and try to stop people they do not agree with from being part of this movemment.

I do not trust those organizations anymore and long ago removed my name from Moveon's email list, eg ever since they gained access and took direction from people like Rahm Emanuel in order to keep. I watched as so-called 'left' blogs, like Daily Kos, kicked off every single liberal who dared to question the party and filled their FP with DLC writers and link only to mainstream and chosen news orgs. I saw them ban topics like election fraud, and saw many of them make a fortune once they demonstrated their party loyalty.

I stopped participating in those organizations a long time ago, and I hope they do NOT hijack THIS movement. Many of the people who are a part of this movement were probably silenced by some of these groups. But when people are right, they don't disappear just because a political organization kicks them out, nor do the issues they tried to address.

Everyone is welcome to be supportive, across party lines and that is the strength of this movement, to remove the bickering and blog-type pettiness that has taken up so much energy and served only the Rulers as people lost sight of their goals and narrowed their focus to 'gotcha' games on the internet.

It was so disappointing to watch as early on the Internet had huge potential to do what this movement is now doing. But the energy was corralled by these orgs who claimed to be representative of the people, but in fact were making a living working for the Status Quo. They accomplished nothing of value, other than help get the same old Corporate backed politicians reelected while refusing to back real progressives.

If they want to support the movement, that's fine, but watching someone like kos eg, who silenced more liberal voices than anyone, many of whom are probably a part of this movement, suddenly cheer them on, makes me extremely suspicious, but then he, among others, earned that suspicion long before this.

They can follow, but not lead as they seem to be trying to do and I would be very wary of anyone who is professional political organization on either side. These are the people who failed, so they need to follow now, they have proven they could not lead.

[Jackpine Radical]

51. The question that immediately bubbles up for me is,

How they gonna handle the Tea Party nutcases now after first inflaming them against OWS? And without the TP base, ain't no Republican goin' nowhere.

[FarLeftFist]

2. In response OWS protestors tell GOP candidates: "THANKS, BUT WE DON'T UNDERSTAND YOU!"

[Matariki]

9. Yeah, what do they really want?

What are they trying to say? :rofl:

[sabrina 1]

10. Lol, they are confused!

[rucky]

21. why don't they get a real job?

instead of roaming around the country asking for handouts?

[Name removed]

45. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[marions ghost]

3. GAG

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[zbdent]

4. so begins the media spin that it was the Republicans who

started this movement ...

[sabrina 1]

8. If you mean the Corporate Media, they don't matter any more.

They too are part of the problem and have exposed themselves as Wall Street messengers, and the people will never be fooled by anything they have to say. They made themselves irrelevant by their attempts to first ignore, then to denigrate this movement.

This is a huge victory for the movement. It is an acknowledgement that they are very frightened of this movement. And we can use it against them. Strategy is everything. And seeing them flip flop like this, is a wonderful tribute to the protesters.

Now they have to straddle the fence, fight amongst each other to try to decide how to defend themselves to the people. This will split the Republican Party. And that is a good thing.

[Maccagirl]

5. John King on CNN (of all people)

played both sets of quotes and practically called them phonies who are full of it. I was shocked.

[sabrina 1]

12. I didn't see that, but that is fantastic. All the people had to do was

unite and ignore the nay-sayers, and look at the power they have when they do that.

[SomethingFishy]

6. Man fuck those fair weather motherfuckers...

Yeah... now that there are hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of votes at stake they all want a piece of the pie.


Let me say it again. FUCK THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS. Yesterday the protesters were "dope smoking, bongo playing sex having litterbug hippies. Today they're American citizens with a legitimate grievance?


When pricks like that start talking nice to your face.. WATCH OUT.. it means they are plotting to stab you in the back.

[Remember Me]

15. Auin't nuthin' -- I suspect that

Frank Luntz told them EVERYBODY's pissed, not just the radical, crazy hippie socialist Marxist communist fascist lazy unemployables.

Seriously, this is just an example of savvy (if hypocritical) pols getting in front of the parade and trying to look like they're leading it.

[Remember Me]

17. Oksy, HERE's the reason

Independents favor OWS over Tea Party, says study
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x5024322

[sabrina 1]

19. Thanks. That is probably the reason, along with the polls

showing that the American people are angry over the bailout of Wall St. while ordinary Americans were left to fend for themselves.

But we knew that already. Remember when Congress was about to vote on the bailouts and the people were overwhelmingly against it and let Congress know how they felt? Congress voted against the bailouts in response to the huge, bi-partisan will of the people. But then, as we know now, members of Congress were threatened to go back and vote again, for the bailouts, or there would be 'martial law' in this country.

They got what they wanted, but the people didn't forget. Now, for the first time, the people have taken matters into their own hands, having given up on the political process, and they are SCARED.

What's almost funny about this is the way they still don't get that the people are actually smart, smarter apparently than many of them, and they see now how deceptive they are. This flip flop is going to make their own base furious at them. But they are looking beyond the primaries and as you point out, especially someone like Romney who is viewed as the most likely to be able to attract votes across party lines, and are willing to contradict themselves in a matter of days. It is laughable really.

Imo, if this movement is not stopped by those in power, some real changes could be about to take place in our political system. These Corporate shills are not going to fool anyone with this flip flop. And unless the PTBs start killing people, I think a lot of them are about to lose their government jobs.

[sabrina 1]

20. Yes, but when has this ever happened before, or at least over the past

few decades? It's not like liberals and independents haven't demonstrated before. Remember the world-wide demonstrations against the Iraq War eg? Ten million people went to the streets to protest that war. Bush, when asked about demonstrations, responded arrogantly 'what demonstrations, I didn't see any demonstrations'.

But for some reason now, they feel they can no longer ignore the people something they've done very well for decades. Something about this movement has frightened them.

It is not really savvy now to suddenly change their minds and drop the anti-protesters talking points because it will definitely anger the base of the Republican party and we certainly don't believe them.

I think are really afraid of the power of the people and of a strategy that has not been used against them before. And they are seeing what is happening around the globe and now it's here.

I don't think any of these people will make it to the WH. So, it's odd that they would cave like this, it's not the style of Republicans to do so.

[socialist_n_TN]

26. It's easy to know why this scares them more than

the anti war protests or LGBT protests or ecology protests. Any Marxist can tell you. It's because OWS has made the connection that Marx made. Economics, politics, and power are all interconnected.

To get to the root cause of ALL these single issues that people have protested about for the last 30 years, you have to get to the root of the system's power. And that's represented by Wall Street. When this connection is made there's only one small step to the solution. Change the system.

[sabrina 1]

27. I think you have hit the nail on the head. All the other demonstrations

were against the War or some other side effect of the real problem and it was easy to dismiss the protesters as 'lefties' and not representative of America as a whole.

Now, as you say, they've gone to the root of all of the problems and I do think, unless they start killing the protesters (which actually might even make it stronger as it has in other parts of the world) that they have the best chance we've had in a long time, to actually begin to make the changes necessary for the survival of this democracy.

And, they did not go home after the first day. Also, they are non-partisan, and despite efforts to paint them 'the left' they have stood by their initial goal of insisting they represent all of the people. All the efforts so far to discredit them, have failed. 'Spoiled white college students' no longer worked when the photos showed people from all ethnic backgrounds, and young and old.

And also the timing. This would not have worked before the 2008 election, imo. Too many on the left would have wanted to wait for Democrats to take control of the government. Now we've seen how little that changed anything. So, where were we going to go from there? IF Democrats had been smart, they would have listened to the people. Instead, they called their ideas 'retarded'. They thought we had nowhere else to go. I guess all those 'pragmatic', political geniuses were wrong. People got tired of their abuses and dismissal of the people who elected them.

Interesting, thank you, I think you are right.

[Jackpine Radical]

52. I think your observations arte on target.

Two other factors that I think matter are, first, that there were the precedents of last spring, from Tunis to Madison, and second, there is the new use of social media to simply circumvent M$M. Nobody was that together in 2003.

[Hissyspit]

35. It's a co-opting technique. Clearly the talking point memo came down.

[sabrina 1]

38. It's just funny to watch, as I have been doing. Last week the memo

included the use of words like 'mob', used by all of them whenever they were in front of a camera. Along with 'they are trying to start a 'dangerous' class war'. Again, they all repeated this in front of cameras.

But the sudden tossing of the talking points, within days, is remarkable and can only be because their own internal polls are telling them it is not good to trash the American people, a vast majority of whom are enraged at Wall St. corruption.

I just think it's fun to see them so flustered.

[Hissyspit]

39. It is fun. The problem is these techniques have worked over the past decade.

Hopefully, what we're seeing is the failure of techniques.

[bullwinkle428]

18. "THEN YOU WIN."

K&R.

[sabrina 1]

23. Yes, it moved fast, from 'first they ignore you to then they make fun

of you to then they attack you, to they caved and we won! Hannity is going to have apoplexy and O'Reilly may finally have a stroke. How are they going to slam this as a dirty hippy movement now? :rofl:

Divide and conquer. I think the Wall Street protesters found the way to divide them.

[mindwalker_i]

22. It must have been a real challenge

for Republicans to say those things around the Wall streeters' dicks shoved in their mouths. Or maybe they weren't that hard to talk around...

[coalition_unwilling]

24. An amusing exercise is deciding which Repuke is the most

cravenly despicable (or maybe that's "despicably craven" :)

I vote for the shitstain Romney. What a douche.

Emphatic K&R!

[sabrina 1]

33. I would pick Cantor who was willing to let the country

go into default rather than compromise even a little. And airc, would have personally profited if that had happened.

[myrna minx]

30. K&R n/t

[Laelth]

31. Excellent post. Well done. k&r n/t

-Laelth

[Richardo]

40. Excellent post!

:patriot: + :applause:

[SnowCritter]

41. Well, of course they get it -- NOW!

They can see the writing on the wall - their political careers are in jeopardy and if pandering is what it takes to keep their phoney-baloney jobs, then that's what they'll do. Of course, once back in office they'd quickly revert back to their old selves - screwing the vast majority for the sake of the miniscule minority. They are beneath contempt. :grr:

[sabrina 1]

46. But the missed the main message, probably on purpose, that

this movement is about cutting off their Wall St. political donations, without which none of them would ever have made near a position of power.

Take the money out of politics and out of the media. That will solve so many of the rest of the problems.

[DallasNE]

42. What I Think The Republicans Now "Understand"

Is that some people are having buyers remorse with the Tea Party controlled House and now realize that the Tea Party was only a rebranding of the Republican Party following George W. Bush and they were looking for something much different. Losing a wing of the Tea Party spells defeat for Republicans so they want to muddy the waters to keep the defections from happening.

[sabrina 1]

43. True, and the latest polls showing that this movement has a 54%

approval rating from the American public, bigger than both Parties combined, and bigger than the WH and way, way bigger than the Tea Party who now have an approval rating in the same poll of about 24%.

So for all those who have been saying 'but we don't know what they want', maybe they should stop the pretense, or just ask the American people who don't seem to have any problem.

[L0oniX]

48. Brand them all as "Wall Street Candidates".

[sabrina 1]

50. Yes, forget the 'D' and the 'R' which is how people used to vote.

Just list their names and their donors and make sure the voters realize that those receiving most of their funding from Corporations, will be representing those corporations.

Make being a 'Wall Street Candidate' political poison, which at this point in time, should not be hard to do.

That will then give a non-Corporate Candidate some advantage as s/he will be able to say 'I am not accepting Corporate funding, I intend to be free of Corporate influence so that I can represent properly the people who are sending me to DC.'

Social media and fliers and public appearances along with the Indepent Media and mostly the anti-Corporate climate in the country right now, should help counter the Corporate money that for too long has poured into our Government, leaving the people with no one to represent them.