Pat Oliphant for November 18, 2011

Common sense and a goal seem to be something ‘Occupy’ has little of. Do they really thing that the fat cats of our economic system will care what they do?

Think of this demonstration in Syria.

Doonesbury summed it up recently with his take on a fitting Occupy chant: “WHAT DO WE WANT? NOTHING! WHEN DO WE WANT IT? NOW!”

Seems to me what they must want is a more progressive taxation system than we currently have. Conservatives decry that as the evil of “wealth redistribution,” but, of course, that’s exactly what Conservatives have been doing themselves by redistributing wealth upward, especially during the last 30 years. (This is one rare instance in which Conservatives do NOT want to return to the old days.)

But if a return to a more progressive taxation system is what the Occupy people want, they aren’t clearly saying so, I don’t think.

A return to more progressive tax is part of it, but they’ve got more goals too — largely, that banks and financial institutions need to have their influence on both parties smaller, more commensurate with their role in society. Look at how the Republicans are attacking Dodd-Frank, which is the only thing (barely) keeping the financial system from going kablooey again. And when it does go kablooey, the same charlatans will profit again, at global expense.

There’s no shortage of ideas – it’s only a matter of when and where to act next. They’ve had the sense to maintain a “leaderless” profile, which the establishment can’t understand, or get a handle on. The history of what happened to the publicly known leaders of previous protests/demonstrations is too well known, and the utter ruthlessness of the ‘elite’ is also well-known re: the current use of public and private security forces to try to quell it. The movement will continue, will continue to grow, will continue to irritate and even frighten the so-called ‘elite’, who will make it worse, much much worse, before they are either persuaded their game is thoroughly known and understood and they will be out-played, or decide they can no longer afford to support it. Once it starts to cost them too much, then they will truly be seen for the animals they are.

If you don’t hear the OWS’s message, you are not listening. The message is clear, loud and will grow if conditions continue to deteriorate. Speculate if you like what happens when a large number of disillusioned troops return and enter the unemployed.

Hey Canbag! The only message I heard was “They got more than me!”. Most adults did about the same they do when they hear a five-year old whine about that; ignore them.

The message is simple – gains are privatized, risk is socialized. If the financiers make a bet and win, they win. If they make a bet and lose, we lose. And they can’t understand why people are upset. Not only do we lose, but we lose big. Austerity programs only make the job situation worse – look at Greece and Ireland. But the top 1% continue to make profits in good times and bad.

Those cops look like gay strippers. Or at least like the guys from the bar allways portrayed in the “Police Academy” movies.

You guys on the right seem to have forgotten one itty-bitty fact. People aren’t alking about your pet subject, the so-called budget crisis any longer. Now it’s all about jobs and wealth inequality,..what us libs ant to talk about

You can thank the OWS for that one.

Lil’ clue by four 4 ya.

The BIG lie works…the ABSURD lie only makes folks shake their heads in derision at your expense.

And by the way, you sound scared.

The beauty of it is that without a coherent message or leader, they cannot have their idea or leader shot down in some scandal. I don’t see this as a movement to quake the hearts of the elite, but to force people to think about how the system really isn’t set up in their favor.

Again, I say:You are supposedly guaranteed the right to assemble as long as you keep it peaceful and as long as you are in the USA.

I support their right to assemble, peacefully.I may not agree with some of the reasons but I will support their right.

1st Amendment: 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.

Fuzzy Thinking Alert: “Fip Floping- the White House has come out against it(Balanced Budget Amendment)” …BO said he wanted to balance things. NOW BO Cannot Walk the Talk. BO is a Fraud. BO must be Targeted for Defeat.

i’d throw ’em out too. they were trespassing on private property. dorks.

warhawk — Where’s the defense of the people who have been kept from their workplaces, bothered in their homes by the incessent noise, the unbearable stench of defecation in the streets, not to mention the injuries, death and rape concerns. How about the threat of molotov cocktails? Oh yeah these are the people I would want to speak for me — NOT!!!!!

Hmmm, at the time they wrote about “freedom of assembly” and “addressing grievances”, folks didn’t have flush toilets, and 99.9% of the population, like the bears, was still doing it in the woods. So why IS that the only thing the righties can focus on in their efforts to ignore the real issues?

Now focusing on the fact that conservative Congresses, and “free market” institutions, have defecated on the public, and their own “consumers”, for the past 30 years, and what OWS is asking for is just for them to re-regulate the flow, isn’t absurd. Retirees, the unemployed, the under-employed, veterans, active duty military(getting shafted) and many others are demonstrating with OWS issues, yet all “the right” sees is the need for sanitation? When THEY (mostly) the right, are the ones really “doing it”, not in the woods, but on the peoples heads, and lives.

As with everything else, “occupy” is hurting no one except the middle class, who have nothing to do with their situation. They are a real boil on the behind of those of us who work for a living and wonder how a human being can camp out in a park for months at a time.

Oh, and THAT worked out well, didn’t it? Just ask Robespierre…

Just a suggestion, read Zinn’s essay about the Ludlow Massacre during the Strike of 1913-14. The only thing that has changed is the dumbing down of our history students in public schools.

“Honestly, I think our beloved U S A has to try or at least consider the flat tax system”I’ve never trusted the flat tax proposals. It’s a lot more difficult for someone making $20K to give up 10% than it is for someone making $1 million. Not to mention I’ve yet to see a proposal that taxed investment income. That again favors the rich seeing as they have more money to invest. The elimination of the estate tax also favors the rich seeing as how they stand to inherit more than the poor or middle class.As for looking at how they do it in Mexico, if their economic system were better than ours, their people wouldn’t be sneaking across the boarder to find jobs and sending money back home to their families.