I saw the article in the LNP the other day covering the “press conference” put on by Professor Callari of Franklin & Marshall defending the Occupy protesters. I know the man – a decent enough fellow but an avowed leftist determined to live in the 60′s. Influencers like him are adored by what I’ll whimsically call the local “protester class”. I also happened to recognize two of the other participants, both of whom I believe where also in the video of Pitt’s meeting. They are individuals who proudly advocate something called “rewilding” here in Lancaster – that’s where you throw off all encumbrances of tainted moderninity and return to living a nomadic lifestyle. They actually teach classes on this. I’ve got nothing in particular against peircings and tattoos, but some of these folks really push new boundaries in their efforts to differentiate themselves. Nope, I doubt there was anyone there who was a laid-off blue collar worker (aside from any locked-out Armstrong workers still hanging about) just dying to get back into the workforce if it weren’t for the “1%” holding a gun to their heads…

The Occupy movement nationally has been a great time for leftists and their confused young devotees to air all sorts of grievances against, well, everybody. The campouts have probably been cool (pun intended) as well. Unfortunately, the good but misguided people of Occupy Lancaster need to realize that their “movement” has already been co-opted by big Labor and Democrat Party operatives in the larger cities with the full intention to ride the “we are the 99%” tagline right into November 2012 for the purpose of re-electing a failed president and the establishment left behind him. Most of us in the real middle class who read the news can see this. Don’t be mad at the Lancaster Democrats for trying to connect themselves – they got the memo from the state committee and are just trying to do their part to ride the wave. Who among the Occupy folks would self identify as a)limited government, b)liberty first, c)free markets or even (gasp) conservative anyway? Answer – none. It’s a marriage made in heaven (that is, if you believe in marriage or heaven).

Now, as a conservative who has to earn a living and happens to read history I have my concerns about Mr. Pitts – I think he’s gone over to what we call the “establishment” side of the R party. That means he is starting the do the “go along to get along” thing in Washington. Now I can dream, but wouldn’t it have been cool (no pun) if the protesters had been complaining about Pitt’s eroding support for constitutionally-limited government? Be careful – agreeing with me might make someone think you’re a “teabagger”… hehe.

So, I’m glad the protesting class got their chance to play at their version of politics this fall. Will they volunteer with the party at the polls in 2012? Bring voter registration forms to work? Knock on doors for their candidates? By the way, these are things my tea party friends all did in 2010… Alas, I fear most of the “occupiers” will fail to even vote in the elections next year, or go so far as to declare them “evil ” or “rigged” as they hand over the mocha latte to the customer. I sure hope they didn’t use all their vacation time up this year…

I wrote a simple correction to the Jeff Hawkes article, since it was so obviously one-sided. Read the comments to his article and you can see there is little support for Pitts. Or read the comments to your post about the unruly occupiers, and I’m not seeing anyone stepping up to cogently refute the arguments. We’re dealing with a marketing organization with lots of dollars that will stay on message, spend the money to twist people’s minds, discredit opposition, and who knows what further tactics will be used to hold onto power. By the way, didn’t Pitts say he’d serve only 5 terms? What happened to that promise?

And it does seem unrealistic to expect people who are on the short end of the power structure to be impeccably polite when confronting those they consider responsible for the ills of our society. Consider how many of the posts in this string for and against the Congressman or the Occupy group maintain a level of civility our mothers would approve of. For that matter, the initial posting was a bit over the top.

Perhaps one’s idea of what is polite is shaped by whether or not you have to shout to be heard.

We have nearly 8% of reported unemployment; yet just ten years ago–when the top 1% paid more in taxes; unemployment was 3.9%.

The darling of the conservatives, Ronald Reagan, even agreed with taxing the wealthy.

“We’re going to close the unproductive tax loopholes that allow some of the truly wealthy to avoid paying their fair share. In theory, some of those loopholes were understandable, but in practice they sometimes made it possible for millionaires to pay nothing, while a bus driver was paying ten percent of his salary, and that’s crazy.”

And. Dwight Eisenhower warned us about the blurring of lines between corporations and government in his famous ‘military-industrial complex’ speech. He looked for a better future..in his last speech in 1961 he said:

“We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love.”

Interesting how Republicans and most Dems continue to have this myopic view of the political realm that one has to be one or the other. Very sad because this “2-party” system is a fear-based control system that is straight out of Orwell’s 1984.

More to the truth is that working Americans are starting to recognise that both the D and R politicians are controlled by the corporate powers who are the 1%. And that they will take as much away from the working peoples as they can get away with until they are stopped.

Last night’s Pitt town meeting is a great local example of just how we are starting to liberate ourselves and challenge the power structures that seek to control us.

Our politicians, Pitts among them, are well funded to do what those who have money want them to do. This has a huge influence on ideas and policy. Advertising works, and if you have the dollars to advertise, then you’ve won. Even illogical positions can be influenced in this way because most people do not take the time, sometimes don’t have the time, to read, think, and analyze. We live in a complicated world, but ironically the best and most profligate sound bites win the day.

I agree with your fundamental opposition to the disrespectful nature of the “protest” last night; I’m uncomfortable with any challenge to authority displayed, as I was always a “good boy”, I always use good, manners, etc. I did not envy what Rep. Pitts had to go through, and I do think he handled it well (he was only a little flustered initially and didn’t resort to calling them a bunch of idiots).

But what is more insidious is someone, like Pitts, who is well mannered, keeps his composure, respects procedure … but has no conscience about how much money he can take or how his policies will be influenced by that money. His policies for businesses are not people friendly, they are business friendly (with the hope that businesses will care just enough about people to give them a job, but not much more). Last night was a peaceful protest to say he needs to be using his power to support his fellow constituents, not the corporations who donate to his campaign fund. To be able to get that message across in a dramatic way is useful. Of course, any time there is a challenge to power, those in power will feel the need to label the challengers and no-good, drunkard, hypocritical, rebellious, dirt bags. Pitts didn’t do that in public; but many of his supports, did. Those who don’t empathize with the OWS movement or who have been well served by our hierarchical society will feel this way especially.

Occupy has only one tool that money can’t buy – their presence. If they show up at all the town meetings of all the US representatives and show their anger, peacefully (there are always hotheads on both sides of an issue that will go off – to the detriment of their own cause, I’d say), this is ALL they can do. They can’t buy TV spots. They sometimes can’t even get letters to the editor published because editors have predjudices to more familiar themes. So, it may seem obnoxious to you, but it is the only way for them to have a voice as citizens in our current corporate run plutocracy.

Just as a reminder, everything you described as being horrible, the Tea Partiers already did at the health care reform meetings. Whether you agree or disagree with the tactic, it is not a liberal method (it actually took me a second to realize that the commentator in the video was trying to insult me by calling me a liberal, however, the OL group cannot be pigeonholed into that category).

I have never read anything that says OL opposes cell phones, cameras, or beverages. The recurring complaint, posted on signs, written in literature, and spoken when asked, is that corporations should stick to making those things, and not taking over the government of the people.

Finally, this is for Rep. Pitts: I do not own a boat. The rising tide has made it more difficult for most Americans to tread water.

We do have a lot in common, I’ll agree. The trouble, however, is that Republicans have a different way of going about solving these issues than do the Democrats and OWSers. We believe in public discourse, not public embarrassment. We believe in a discussion of the facts, not an appeal to sensationalism. We believe in rational dialogue, not shouting down others’ opinions. Perhaps if respect and fair-mindedness were part of the Democrats’ MO, the results would be different. Instead, their approach simply leaves the people they’re trying to convince with the idea that they’re entitled and ignorant of the facts.

I was at the meeting last night. I saw a young man with a beard dropping f-bombs at senior citizens, sticking his finger in their faces, and interrupting anyone who had an opposing viewpoint. Another person continued to spout expletives at every turn, and when asked if he had any manners at all, he proudly said, “No! I do not!”

Are these really the people who represent the Democrats in Lancaster County? Are these really the people who represent the OWS movement? I hope not. Is this really the way people go about accomplishing something? Absolutely not. Is this the way to further the divide between the two parties, while pretending to clamor for bipartisanship? Yes. Without a doubt.

The email programs they use to disseminate their propaganda, the camera-phones they use to record their confrontations, the beverages they drink while railing against corporate America are all by-products of the big corporations they pretend to loathe. Meanwhile, they use the products and eat the food and (for those of them who are employed) work at jobs created by those they claim to detest. Is it any wonder why Republicans find it so difficult to buy into a movement that is so clearly lined with hypocrisy?