Our Conversation with Occupy DC

[FCTP]

We had planned our trip for a while and had no idea we would be here among the crowd of Occupy DC protestors.  But here we are - tea party members here for a conference on Values in America standing eye to eye with those who hate American values and all we stand for.

 

Do not be fooled with what you are reading or hearing on TV.  These Occupy individuals are not American freedom-loving people.  They stood on a sidewalk yelling at us about capitalism and how anyone who owns a business should give their money to the poor.  Anyone - will include a small printing company, a small contractor, a mom and pop coffee shop.  These people hate you and what you stand for.  They hate hard work, they hate having to pay their bills, they hate personal responsibility, they hate anyone who wants to take away their EBT cards, they hate those of us who love America.

 

Any organizations that starts with hate - would not be an organization we associate with.

 

When the tea party formed in 2009, we stood up for America and we loved the freedom she gave us through our Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence.  We did not hurt anyone, we were 1.5 million strong, we left no trash behind and we took our signs home with us and turned them into letters to our representatives and voting for Conservatives in the polls.  That is what we did and will continue to do.

 

We will not be manipulated by thugs on the streets of NY, DC or Jacksonville who hate America.  

 

We still encourage you to stay away from those who will "occupy" our city.  Many cities are letting them do so without permits which is illegal.  We are certain our city of Jacksonville will not let these people do anything that is not permitted by law.

 

We hope this will not escalate because what we are seeing in DC is not pretty.  Watching Nancy Pelosi and President Obama encourage them is highly disturbing since they called us horrible, disgusting names when we marched peacefully.

 

Our country is upside down and inside out.  The people occupying the streets are nothing more than useful drones for the benefit of those behind them with billions of dollars sitting in their bank accounts.  How sad and how irresponsible this Occupy Protest has become.   How horribly sad it is that our President supports them.

 

 

 

[Patricia M. McBride]

Jimmy, it was not a lack of courage that stopped me from going.  It was common sense.  In other places wehre they have had these protests there has been violence and union participation.  If you thought a little old woman should be down there taking a chance on being mugged, you are not thinking clearly.  My husband, who never stops me from jumping out there to do much, said only one word when I said people were suggesting going down and getting into the middle of this and that word was NO.  He loves me which is not the case with anyone who would suggest a bunch of women go down and mix it up with some unknown protest and protesters given their current history.  Please don't think I am mad at you, because I am not.  I am just asking for some common sense on this.  This has nothing to do with courage; it has a great deal more to do with common sense.  It ended up not being a bad situation, but it could have just as easily not been a good situation too!  Shame on you for telling some almost 70 year old woman she lacked courage because she did not put herself in harms way!

[Jimmy Hooker]

Patricia McBride; So there were some "counter-revolutionaries" at yesterday's rally?  Good.  I'm glad some of us had the courage to showed up.   'Puts a slant on an earlier discussion.

Douglas Newberry & I found conflicting "demands" from the OWS people.  It turns out both lists, one super-liberal and one not,  are equally invalid as representations of what the protester want.  Both lists are "suggestions".  The organizers are deliberately keeping their objectives unfocused & nebulous to draw as big a following as possible.

More insightful may be this Declaration of Independence styled list of grievances from their "General Assembly":  http://nycga.cc/2011/09/30/declaration-of-the-occupation-of-new-yor...

Some of our people can look at their clouds and see some common grounds, but if we step back and look at the big picture -the backing by labor unions, the administration, George Soros financing, etc.. we should be more wary.

[Patricia M. McBride]

Juan, I thought I agreed with you that the fellow is on point (if I didn't say it, sorry), but I do agree he has told the truth and folks should listen!  The point I tried to make is he may not actually be part of the initial group but someone who is there to make people see the truth and not what they are being led to believe.

[Barry Lee Phillips]

The Times-Union states in its article on the occupy Jacksonville protest that, " Ryan Huddleston, 23, played John Lennon's "Working Class Hero" on his iPod, which was amplified through a set of speakers."

Here are the lyrics to "Working Class Hero", edited for offensive language:

As soon as your born they make you feel small,
By giving you no time instead of it all,
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
They hurt you at home and they hit you at school,
They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool,
Till you're so f_______ crazy you can't follow their rules,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
When they've tortured and scared you for twenty odd years,
Then they expect you to pick a career,
When you can't really function you're so full of fear,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV,
And you think you're so clever and classless and free,
But you're still f______ peasents as far as I can see,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
There's room at the top they are telling you still,
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill,
A working class hero is something to be.
A working class hero is something to be.
If you want to be a hero well just follow me,
If you want to be a hero well just follow me.

Apparently, John Lennon is Ryan Huddleston's hero.  John Lennon, whose "Give Peace A Chance" became an anthem for the anti-war movement in the late 60's.  John Lennon, who, according to Wikipedia, failed all of his General Certificate of Education exams, which probably accounts for the misspellings in his lyrics.  John Lennon, who never met a leftist that he didn't like.

I grew up in the late 50's and early 60's.  John Lennon was only two years older than me.  But the last thing I wanted to do was to enshrine John Lennon as my hero.  I despised everything that John Lennon represented and still do.

My hero was my Dad who was an authentic member of the working class.

 

 

[tamara stephenson]

The list that Mr. Newberry posted mentions nothing about communism or even socialism.  Sure, there are communists marching with these people as well as left-leaning liberals.  However, as a member of the tea party, aren't we also against the bank bailout with ZERO accountability?  Isn't that what started the tea party?  Aren't we also against big corporations running the show, and we all know that they are by the way TARP was handled, tax code is written and money sent to D.C.  We know Wall Street runs D.C. by the sheer amount of money headed to candidates, Democrat and Republican -- how is Citizens United good for anyone in this country besides big corporations?  A free market is great; capitalism is great; but we don't have a free market in this country.  We have an oligopoly; and that doesn't seem to be working out so well. 

 

[Patricia M. McBride]

Juan, I am not sure he was part of the group that put this event on or with their ideology. Please remember, there were groups that attended yesterday's event here in Jacksonville to relay the very message this young man is espousing. Many were trying to make the protesters understand it was not wall street or capitalism that is to blame and that the government and their polices are too blame and among those polices is the fed and our monetary policy.  And that is part of the problem, when someone goes to try to sway opinion and doesn't support the actual cause of the protest, they also are counted as part of the organized protest.  Obviously, this young man does not share the viewpoint of those ingaged in this protest overall.

[Tim Clark]

I think a couple of verses sum up the occupy wall street crowd: Isaiah 32: 6-8

"For fools speak folly, their hearts are bent on evil: They practice ungodliness and spread error concerning the LORD; the hungry they leave empty and from the thirsty they withhold water. Scoundrels use wicked methods, they make up evil schemes to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.  But the noble make noble plans, and by noble deeds they stand.

[Patricia M. McBride]

Billie, Don Redman went and asked if they had a permit and of course they didn't. He allowed they could continue with their protest yesterday as long as their was no violence and no damage done................am betting they left the place in the usual mess for someone else to clean up at taxpayer expense.

[Bob Honiker]

There is a very big difference, the Bolsheviks are not demonstrating for a republican form of government with a power limiting constitution, they want impose an all powerful government. 

You cannot have socialism without some tyranny, more socialism requires more tyranny, tied together like white on rice.

No doubt they share some of our concerns but there is no commonality in solutions.

[Peggy Hall]

Yes Douglas, there is a bit of truth sprinkled in what they are saying.   You give food for thought.  We do not want to stoop to their level, or anywhere near it.  On the other hand, should we allow them to have all the say in this?  They certainly do not mind counter demonstrations when it comes to us.