Politics

‘Occupy Wall Street’ continues despite GOP bashing

Wall Street, Manhattan, New York, USA

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Critics continue to bash Occupy Wall Street protesters. Dismissing the 99% as a group of haters of the rich–lazy trouble makers who are against capitalism. There are even documented cases of police brutality. But the more criticisms the group gets, the bigger the movement become.

Most of the harsh and sometimes baseless criticisms which the group gets come from  the GOP, no surprise there. From the little known conservative blogger, to nationally acclaimed media houses–online, Broadcast, radio, and print, to those who seek political office, straight up to members of Congress.

Recently, for example,  Republican nominee hopeful, Herman Cain, said he believes the protesters were planted and that they were “jealous’ Americans who “play the victim card” and want to “take somebody else’s” Cadillac. And to add insult to injury, House minority leader, Eric Cantor, called the group a mob.Watch the video http://youtu.be/_vNZeLKy-jg

How quickly we have forgot that it was greed on Wall Street that sent the US and the world economies tumbling over the edge of the cliff. Lack of meaningful regulations during the Bush years, gave Wall Street license to engage in all kinds of shady investment and illegal practices. The kind that would have landed an ordinary citizen in jail, perhaps for life. Yet, to date, not one Wall Street firm has been charged.

So, now is not the time to bash 99%. This is a group of people who genuinely love their country. But the group has  real concerns like most Americans, especially in these tough economic times. They should be listened to, because many of them, perhaps all, do not have a job, and they have looked for a very long time.  They see no light at the end of the tunnel. They have lost faith in a political system that bailed out the rich and dogged the rest of the population. They view our politicians as puppets of Wall Street. Hence, they take to the streets to remind unscrupulous politicians that power is in the hands of the people.

Political sound bite of the week “Now is not my time”

“Now Is Not My Time”

After much ambivalence, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, announced on Tuesday October 4, 2011 at a News Conference in Trenton, NJ, that he was not going to run for president of the United States.

The Governor had said all along that he was not going to run. But after GOP and Tea Party hopeful, Rick Perry’s poor showing in the Florida debate and Straw Polls, GOP big donors who have had it with Christie’s indecisiveness, began their last aggressive push to get Chris Christie to jump in the race.

In the end , the Governor announced: “Now is not my time”. The announcement  left many disappointed and heart-broken.

Political sound bites of the week

Weiner, the biggest loser in NY-9

Republican Bob Turner on Tuesday won the special election in NY-9, a heavily Democratic congressional district  – pulling a huge upset that few would have predicted just months ago.

Turner a popular businessman, ran against a little known and dull Democrat David Weprin in a heated, summer-long race that ignited Democratic fears of a quiet election turning into a referendum on the party and President Barack Obama, ahead of next year’s elections.

In celebrating his victory at his party headquarters in Queens, Turner addressed a packed room of supporters, many of them Orthodox Jews said : “We’ve asked the people of this district to send a message to Washington, and I hope they hear it loud and clear”

“Mr. President, you are on the wrong track.”

Turner came in with 54% of the vote while Weprin placed second at 46%, with 100% precincts reporting, according to unofficial results from Valerie Vazquez, communications director for the New York City Board of Elections.

Meanwhile, Republican Mark Amodei won a landslide victory over Democrat Kate Marshall in a U.S. House special election in Nevada, an important presidential swing state.

“The voters of Nevada have sent a message. The message is, it is time to start a change,” Amodei told 200 supporters at the Eldorado Hotel.

Amodei stomped Marshall by a whopping 22-point margin, 58 percent to 36 percent,

 Referendum on President Obama

Despite the views of most analysts who are claiming that Tuesday’s special congressional elections in Nevada and New York were much more than referendums on President Obama but were snapshots of voter enthusiasm which should worry Democrats heading into 2012 campaign–I believe the biggest loser was Anthony Weirner. He lost has lost his credibility, his job and his despicable act has caused his party to lose a very safe seat.

President Obama is running out of steam. I am surprised he lasted this long. He was basically on his own during the general election and he has been on his own since his in inauguration. The Democratic party is dull and lacks innovation. There is no cohesion in terms of talking points. They need to take a page out of the Republicans play book.