Jorge Rivas of ColorLines is debunking some of the myths surrounding Occupy Wall Street. Rivas takes on some of the naysayers, particularly media pundits, some of whom are casting aspersions on those who are part of the movement. Rivas calls the assertions "dumb":
Fox & Friends: Occupy Wall Street is "full of felons and drug users."
No big surprise here, but it's still sort of fascinating to see just what Fox News will come up with next. This time around, Fox News' Fox & Friends presented a selective sampling of who they see out protesting: "convicted criminals, methadone felons and professional handcuff-lock pickers." And it gets better. According to the hosts, demonstrators are only showing up for the free food.
Newt Gingrich: Occupy Wall Street is full of "dumb ideas."
Newt Gingrich was a guest on CBS's Face the Nation this past weekend and called the protesters "dumb and uneducated": "We have had a strain of hostility to free enterprise and, frankly, a strain of hostility to classic America starting in our academic institutions and spreading across this country, and I regard the Wall Street protesters as a natural outcome of a bad education system teaching them really dumb ideas." He's also called Occupy Wall Street demonstrators "stupid" on his radio show.
Herman Cain: Occupy Wall Street protesters are a bunch of "jealous Americans" who "play the victim card" and want to "take somebody else's Cadillac."
Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain seems to have a daily insult for Occupy Wall Street. On CBS's Face the Nation Sunday, Cain said called the protesters "jealous" Americans who "play the victim card" and want to "take somebody else's" Cadillac. Last week he also told Wall Street demonstrators not to blame Wall Street but to blame themselves: "Don't blame Wall Street, don't blame the big banks, if you don't have a job and you're not rich. Blame yourself!" Cain said. "It is not a person's fault if they succeeded, it is a person's fault if they failed."
Regardless of whether you support Occupy Wall Street or not, these statements are far-fetched at best and plain silly at worst. Felons and drug users? If that's the case, then Rush Limbaugh should be part of the protest. Classic America? That would be the native population, smarty pants. As for Cain's comments — someone save this man from himself.
Read more of the "dumb" statements at ColorLines.
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