The Nazi/Communist/Muslim Conspiracy
First, it was OWS was a front for communists and socialists. Then, there was a freakout over a comment made by some Nazis, which lead conservatives to say that Nazis were fronting the group. Now it's Muslims.
I don't think conservatives understand what a "movement" is. In movements, you get groups and factions that usually hate each other hanging out in the same spot because the subject/topic at hand is something they agree with. Most everyone agrees that the banking industry has screwed the American Middle Class (and the poor) and has bought out our political system. That doesn't mean that someone who happens to be a socialist or Muslim is "fronting" the entire movement. On the contrary; they've joined it.
And for those who say, "The OWS crowd should protest at the White House and Congress," well, that was tried already: it was called the Tea Party. They started out protesting wasteful government spending, got co-opted by social conservatives and the Religious Right, and began focusing on abortion and immigration. Most of the jokers who ran as Tea Party candidates (all in GOP primaries, mind you) and won started hiring lobbyists the moment they won, something very contradictory to their fiscally cautious origins.
OWS may have many elements and supporters who can be attacked individually, but those parts to not equate to the group. And to argue that one organization can be controlled by Nazis, Communists and Muslims simultaneously is just stupid.
I don't think conservatives understand what a "movement" is. In movements, you get groups and factions that usually hate each other hanging out in the same spot because the subject/topic at hand is something they agree with. Most everyone agrees that the banking industry has screwed the American Middle Class (and the poor) and has bought out our political system. That doesn't mean that someone who happens to be a socialist or Muslim is "fronting" the entire movement. On the contrary; they've joined it.
And for those who say, "The OWS crowd should protest at the White House and Congress," well, that was tried already: it was called the Tea Party. They started out protesting wasteful government spending, got co-opted by social conservatives and the Religious Right, and began focusing on abortion and immigration. Most of the jokers who ran as Tea Party candidates (all in GOP primaries, mind you) and won started hiring lobbyists the moment they won, something very contradictory to their fiscally cautious origins.
OWS may have many elements and supporters who can be attacked individually, but those parts to not equate to the group. And to argue that one organization can be controlled by Nazis, Communists and Muslims simultaneously is just stupid.
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