Occupy Wall St., The Tea Party and The Bigger Picture

Most everyone has made up their mind for better or worse, on the conduct of the Tea Party, and the OWS groups. I fear mostly for the worse. Having been to Occupy Wall St. I personally saw how most of the media focused on the sensational and the titillating, and not on a more complete and honest, account of the situation. At OWS I was involved in an intelligent and informed conversation with a group of people, when one man started to get very animated and loud, the camera's swooped in (and so did the police). They didn't care when a banker was talking with a group of protesters about the financial system and what might really be done to fix it. They only cared about CONFLICT (fringe groups have figured that out and are now fully exploiting it). The same was true for the Tea Party (remember the guy with the gun, or the spitting on congressmen). Not that bad behavior doesn't occur,(and there are some crazies in both movements) I just think it blocks our view of the bigger picture(you can't see the forest for the trees). But media distortions are only part of what's wrong. There has to be an evolution. Both movements risk being hijacked by their radicals. We, have to bring to fruition what they started.
In a way they are just brothers from another mother. Both the Tea Party and OWS believe that, the "bank bailouts" were a bad thing, and banks allowed to grow "Too Big Too Fail", as well as, a government bought and paid for, are some of the problem with our current form of capitalism. (Reality check: Had we let the banks fail, not only would you have no place to cash your check, your employer would have no place to draw your check from, those banks and your money would be gone.) That doesn't mean both groups are wrong going forward. It just means we had little choice in the matter at the time. They both want change in Washington. The kind of change is where the road forks, and we are left standing.

NEVER THE TWAIN SHALL MEET. Or can it.

We the average citizen, the folks who just want a fair shake at the American Dream. You remember the American Dream. That's the dream where you have the opportunity to: get a good education, get a good job(hopefully doing something you love). The get an honest days pay, for an honest days work, that gives you enough money to: buy a home, enjoy vacations with family, save for our kids education, and save for our retirement dream. But where is that dream today? It's becoming lost in a cacophony of BULLSHIT, that's become SO political, it's keeping us from attaining those dreams. We have to take this moment, and say enough with the rhetoric, and the ideology, just fix the damn thing.(see Simpson-Boles plan)
While conservatives rail against the dirty OWS mobs, and their supporters (pick a group/person conservatives don't like). I give little credence to their whining. The same way I don't care that the Koch brothers (David and Charles Koch flouted U.S. laws by selling millions of dollars worth of oil equipment to the world's leading supporter of global terrorism - IRAN) support the tea party. It's not about them. It's about us. It's a good thing when Americans begin to pay attention to how their government really operates.(and that's what the Tea Party and OWS should be focused on accomplishing) Most politicians hate that. They like it when we fight amongst ourselves (see wedge issues) or simply ignore what they do(who's going to win DWTS). So let's stop doing that.

FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF

Go to www.govtrack.us, or www.c-span.org, or POTUS on XM-Sirius, and see what congress and President are up to. If only for a quick review. Don't get sound bites, get sound information (that would make a great bumper sticker...jk). You learn who the liar's are, who's playing politics, and who's really trying to get things done. So when YOUR elected official tells you what he thinks you want to hear. You can give him an informed answer that he may NOT want to hear.
Let's find things we can agree on and start fixing those problems before the whole shithouse goes up in flames(by that I mean China takes over everything). As an example I think most people would agree with the need for a free market and government not picking winners and losers. But when a company or organization gets the government to change a law (or worse they just write the law) to give them an unfair advantage isn't that also picking winners and losers. Let's fix both of those problems. Also I think most people understand the TRUE problem in Washington is Campaign Money, and Lobbyists (not conservative and liberal). We have to make our representatives change the rules that give lobbyists an unfair advantage over the average citizen. (I mean getting your grievance addressed is one thing, paying for a congressman to go to Hawaii to address that grievance is another.) And we have to do something about campaign finance. Like give each parties presidential nominee free TV time and $300 million dollars each for the campaign. If they spend that money wisely it might be a good indicator of how they will manage the federal budget once elected. Just a few things I think we all agree on. And let's stop calling the Tea Party, tea baggers, and OWS, dirty parasites. Call them what they are, Americans taking a stand. Isn't that what are country is supposed to be about. If the people of 1776 were like the people complaining about these movements today, we might still be under British rule.