Obama: Occupy Protests & Tea Party Basically the Same Thing
Diane Ellis, Ed. ·
Oct 18, 2011 at 3:32pm
If you squint hard enough, Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party are basically, pretty much the same thing. At least according to President Obama.
“I understand the frustrations being expressed in those protests,” Obama said in an interview with ABC News in Jamestown, N.C...
“In some ways, they’re not that different from some of the protests that we saw coming from the tea party,” Obama told ABC’s Jake Tapper. “Both on the left and the right, I think people feel separated from their government. They feel that their institutions aren’t looking out for them.”
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Sep '10
Re: Obama: Occupy Protests & Tea Party Basically the Same Thing
As far as it goes, I think Obama is right. People on right and left both feel their government is not working for them. But they have vastly different ideas about what exactly it is that's broken.
Apr '11
Re: Obama: Occupy Protests & Tea Party Basically the Same Thing
So ...
Obama is saying OWS is racist?
Dec '10
Re: Obama: Occupy Protests & Tea Party Basically the Same Thing
No, Mr. President, people don't feel separated from their government. Those on the left feel they aren't getting enough in their redistribution checks, and those on the right feel they are being subjugated by their government through redistribution.
Oct '10
Re: Obama: Occupy Protests & Tea Party Basically the Same Thing
Good point, Squint really hard until one cannot see, then repeat the same statements. More of the same.
Jan '11
Re: Obama: Occupy Protests & Tea Party Basically the Same Thing
Separated from government?
No ... wanting to be separated from this government ...
Re: Obama: Occupy Protests & Tea Party Basically the Same Thing
KC Mulville: Separated from government?
No ... wanting to be separated from this government ... · Oct 18 at 3:55pm
It's tempting to conclude that the President is such a dunce that after all this time, he still has no earthly idea what the Tea Party is about or why it exists. But I think that's incorrect. He knows--he must know--that the Tea Party isn't concerned with the government "looking out for them," but that they want to reduce the size and scope of government. However, so long as he redefines the movement to fit his own narrative, he can continue to ignore it.
Apr '11
Re: Obama: Occupy Protests & Tea Party Basically the Same Thing
Diane Ellis, Ed.
KC Mulville: Separated from government?
No ... wanting to be separated from this government ... · Oct 18 at 3:55pm
It's tempting to conclude that the President is such a dunce that after all this time, he still has no earthly idea what the Tea Party is about or why it exists. But I think that's incorrect. He knows--he must know--that the Tea Party isn't concerned with the government "looking out for them," but that they want to reduce the size and scope of government. However, so long as he redefines the movement to fit his own narrative, he can continue to ignore it. · Oct 18 at 4:04pm
That's the gist there. He prefers his narrative to any other that might contradict it. So even knowing the Tea Party has never expressed a desire that government do more for them, he'll declare common cause with them and Occupy Stuff to emphasize his point.
Apr '11
Re: Obama: Occupy Protests & Tea Party Basically the Same Thing
Diane Ellis, Ed.
KC Mulville: Separated from government?
No ... wanting to be separated from this government ... · Oct 18 at 3:55pm
It's tempting to conclude that the President is such a dunce that after all this time, he still has no earthly idea what the Tea Party is about or why it exists. But I think that's incorrect. He knows--he must know--that the Tea Party isn't concerned with the government "looking out for them," but that they want to reduce the size and scope of government. However, so long as he redefines the movement to fit his own narrative, he can continue to ignore it. · Oct 18 at 4:04pm
I'm not sure about that. In conversations with tea partiers I've often heard them talk about how concerned they are that they won't get social security, or that some other government benefit is/ will be denied to them. The Tea Party is a lot more diverse than OWS.
Re: Obama: Occupy Protests & Tea Party Basically the Same Thing
If the tea party and the occupiers are "not that different," perhaps the President can explain his vastly different responses to each of them, vilifying one and praising the other.
Re: Obama: Occupy Protests & Tea Party Basically the Same Thing
Right you are. The Tea Party is dominated by those who pay taxes; Occupy Wall Street is dominated by the free-riders.
Obama cannot tell the difference.
Re: Obama: Occupy Protests & Tea Party Basically the Same Thing
C. U. Douglas
Diane Ellis, Ed.
KC Mulville: Separated from government?
No ... wanting to be separated from this government ... · Oct 18 at 3:55pm
It's tempting to conclude that the President is such a dunce that after all this time, he still has no earthly idea what the Tea Party is about or why it exists. But I think that's incorrect. He knows--he must know--that the Tea Party isn't concerned with the government "looking out for them," but that they want to reduce the size and scope of government. However, so long as he redefines the movement to fit his own narrative, he can continue to ignore it. · Oct 18 at 4:04pm
That's the gist there. He prefers his narrative to any other that might contradict it. So even knowing the Tea Party has never expressed a desire that government do more for them, he'll declare common cause with them and Occupy Stuff to emphasize his point. · Oct 18 at 4:07pm
Narrative is the right word. BHO is our first (and perhaps our last) postmodern President. There is neither right nor wrong. There is only a narrative.
Jan '11
Re: Obama: Occupy Protests & Tea Party Basically the Same Thing
Well, I think this meshes with Troy Senik's post earlier ... he doesn't care. I know a lot of people who are smart but intellectually lazy. They're not stupid, by any means, but given a choice between fighting for a principle versus getting by on charm/position/authority, they'll take the easy way out.
You know why I judge that? Because in almost every argument I've heard from this guy, instead of fighting for a principle or explaining a complex topic, he chose the ad hominem instead. To a guy like me, that says it all.
Oct '10
Re: Obama: Occupy Protests & Tea Party Basically the Same Thing
Hmmmm...a movement that was smeared as nazis with one that is endorsed by the American Nazi Party?
May '10
Re: Obama: Occupy Protests & Tea Party Basically the Same Thing
KC Mulville
Well, I think this meshes with Troy Senik's post earlier ... he doesn't care. I know a lot of people who are smart but intellectually lazy. They're not stupid, by any means, but given a choice between fighting for a principle versus getting by on charm/position/authority, they'll take the easy way out.
You know why I judge that? Because in almost every argument I've heard from this guy, instead of fighting for a principle or explaining a complex topic, he chose the ad hominem instead. To a guy like me, that says it all. · Oct 18 at 4:36pm
Insightful as always, KC. One other thing people of that disposition tend to do is win an argument with cleverness. Even if they know the argument they are putting forward is not valid, their opponent can't summon an impromptu rebuttal, so they declare victory.
Mar '11
Re: Obama: Occupy Protests & Tea Party Basically the Same Thing
And the Communists support them too.
Hmm...they have the bigger tent. I guess that means they win, then.
Dec '10
Re: Obama: Occupy Protests & Tea Party Basically the Same Thing
Paul A. Rahe
Right you are. The Tea Party is dominated by those who pay taxes; Occupy Wall Street is dominated by the free-riders.
Obama cannot tell the difference. · Oct 18 at 4:19pm
I agree with Diane. I think he well knows the difference but is simply co-opting both movements to the greatest extent possible. This is Obama's go-to move, to define the opposition in terms favorable to himself, reinterpret what he can to his advantage, then cast the rest as extremest straw dog.
Dec '10
Re: Obama: Occupy Protests & Tea Party Basically the Same Thing
James Of England
[...] government benefit is/ will be denied to them. [...]
Tea partiers paying FICA for decades are fearful the benefit of their slice of the Ponzi scheme will be denied to them. That attitude cannot be cheapened by a non-taxpayer expecting government payment for food, housing, cell phones, and the latest jackpot of human rights, highspeed internet.
Could it also be tea partiers paying property taxes for decades are told their benefit of protection against crime will be denied them because the municipal employees government threatens first with redundancy are never paper pushing bureaucrats but always firefighters and police?
Leftist propaganda misconstrues as hypocritical for tea partiers to expect to get something back from individual government benefits like so-called retirement accounts they have paid into during their entire working life.
Leftists call it hypocritical for tea partiers to expect municipal government services in exchange for their property taxes. This is our historic first Islamic apostate president’s favorite straw man: he substitutes the tradeoff between taxes and the size of Leviathan with the ad hominem attack on tea partiers, making the false claim they want government services without paying for them. No Ricochetarian can fall for that.
Jul '10
Re: Obama: Occupy Protests & Tea Party Basically the Same Thing
The differences include the Tea Party using modern campaign methods and Occupation savvy speakers to reveal the Occupy Astroturf in ways they do not understand, make efficient use of volunteer time in the effort, all required facilities were readily available and used appropriately, recreational drugs were not involved, nothing was stolen, and no police were required to protect nearby citizens, some of whom joined us and contributed when they found out what we were doing.
Occupy Astroturf is serving as an excellent "consciousness raising" experience, a lot like the 1967-68 riots helped prepare the way for a '68 Nixon landslide. And Cloward-Piven theory is getting talked about. (Yes, I'm writing about it here, but because three other people independently raised the point to me in the last two weeks.)
PS: Martha Speaks, a PBS childrens' show, is all about protest rallies and petitions this morning on the Annapolis PBS station. Coincidence, I'm sure.
And kudos to Jonah Goldberg for pressing the Liberal Fascism point before Obama endorsed the Occupation movement.
Edited on Oct 19, 2011 at 4:29amOct '10
Re: Obama: Occupy Protests & Tea Party Basically the Same Thing
From Obama's leftward political position, perhaps even OWS appears so far to his right that it and the Tea Party are one.
Feb '11
Re: Obama: Occupy Protests & Tea Party Basically the Same Thing
C. U. Douglas
That's the gist there. He prefers his narrative to any other that might contradict it. .....
Don't we all?