Rebane's Ruminations
October 2011
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George Rebane

Now the smelly, pierced, and entrenched ‘Occupy people’ (as described by Andy Kessler and others) will not move from their rancid encampments in San Francisco, Oakland, and other places.  They dare the local authorities to remove them, and promise to resist when the attempt is made.  When questioned about their protests, all their slogans and signs, claiming to represent “the 99%” that wants to bring down the established order, arise from being more than disappointed (aka pissed) that no one respects their expensive degrees in art and minority studies enough to hire them, and that no one told them that that would be the case.

And so some of them have now learned to answer that they are against “predatory lenders”, and that “corporations are not people”, and “money is not speech”.  Their simple solution is to overturn the capitalistic underpinnings of the American economy that is seen as the source of all their problems.

OWS_TahrirMomentIn these crowds it’s hard to find one that can discuss corporate personhood and what benefits it provides a society, or what parts of it should be examined for possible revision.  No one can translate the collateral effects of restricting spending one’s money to communicate – since it costs to communicate, rules on monies used to communicate will slide us toward a police state where only certain communications will survive as state approved ‘free speech’.

Not one can define predatory lending – understanding the roles of lender and borrower and the guaranteeing of loans is beyond their ken.  They seem to conjure up images of a person innocently walking down the street who suddenly finds his pockets stuffed with unwanted money along with a draconian loan agreement to which his signature has been forged, and that person has no idea how it all came about.

And loonies on the left still tell us that the Occupy movement is just like the Tea Party movement.  One of these seeks to conserve, preserve, and restore the country by acting within the law and its established constitutional underpinnings.  The other wants to overturn the existing order and fundamentally transform the country by acting outside the law and bringing about change through revolution.

The Occupy movement has finally given the left a populist vehicle to voice and demonstrate their motives, means, and methods that differentiate them from those who seek to preserve America and continue its orderly and lawful evolution.  And these same occupiers claim to be in the mainstream.

[24oct2011 update]  Obama attempts to compare the Occupiers to the Tea Party movement in a lame and lying attempt to paint his demonstrators as just another expression of mainstream frustration with the world situation in general and the economy in particular.  The video ‘Are the Occupiers like the Tea Party?’ sheds some light on the explicit differences between the two movements.

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59 responses to “Oh Say Can You See the Difference Yet? (updated 24oct2011)”

  1. Russ Steele Avatar
    Russ Steele

    Michael, I have to agree Cain is not a politician. However, it he has more talent that your local dog catcher or our current president:
    • Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics.
    • Master’s degree in Computer Science.
    • Mathematician for the Navy, where he worked on missile ballistics (making him a rocket scientist).
    • Computer systems analyst for Coca-Cola.
    • VP of Corporate Data Systems and Services for Pillsbury (this is the top of the ladder in the computer world, being in charge of information systems for a major corporation).
    All achieved before reaching the age of 35. Since he reached the top of the information systems world, he changed careers!
    • Business Manager. Took charge of Pillsbury’s 400 Burger King restaurants in the Philadelphia area, which were the company’s poorest performers in the country. Spent the first nine months learning the business from the ground up, cooking hamburger and yes, cleaning toilets. After three years he had turned them into the company’s best performers.
    • Godfather’s Pizza CEO. Was asked by Pillsbury to take charge of their Godfather’s Pizza chain (which was on the verge of bankruptcy). He made it profitable in 14 months.
    In 1988 he led a buyout of the Godfather’s Pizza chain from Pillsbury. He was now the owner of a restaurant chain. Again he reached the top of the ladder of another industry.
    He was also chairman of the National Restaurant Association during this time. This is a group that interacts with government on behalf of the restaurant industry, and it gave him political experience from the non-politician side.
    Having reached the top of a second industry, he changed careers again!
    • Adviser to the Federal Reserve System. Herman Cain went to work for the Federal Reserve Banking System advising them on how monetary policy changes would affect American businesses.
    • Chairman of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. He worked his way up to the chairmanship of a regional Federal Reserve bank. This is only one step below the chairmanship of the entire Federal Reserve System (the top banking position in the country). This position allowed him to see how monetary policy is made from the inside, and understand the political forces that impact the monetary system.

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  2. RL Crabb Avatar

    My point, Juvinall, is that we have problems, BIG problems. They are solvable, but it will require many people and many points of view to implement. The kind of trash talk I hear from the ideologues like you and those on the other side of the fence does nothing to further that goal.
    You seem to think that you’re going to win all the marbles in the next election and you’ll be able to just walk in and do whatever you want. At this point, I’d say the Repubs gaining a filibuster proof majority are slim. So you will be stuck for another two years yapping at each other while the country goes to hell.
    And you wonder why there are so many of us who decline to state a preference? Maybe because we’re sick of the bluster and bullshit coming out of politicians who are more concerned with getting elected than solving problems. A pox on both your houses.

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  3. George Rebane Avatar

    Thank you Russ for assembling that resume on Cain, it saved me the work and is a necessary piece to this discussion. Cain would be eminently (over)qualified for any political job in America. That Barack Obama has not been impeached or run out of town on a rail is existential proof that the American presidency is an extremely fault tolerant position which requires little experience beyond reliable performance in front of a teleprompter.

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  4. Scott Obermuller Avatar

    Bob – you need to go back and re-read what you just wrote.
    Point One – we have big problems. Well thank you for pointing that out! Some of us saw those problems coming and why they would become big problems. But we are all crazy right wing nuts. We just know why it all goes wrong, but we are not to be trusted with the fix.
    Point Two – it will require many people and points of view. Well, we have had unConstitutional govt meddling in the formerly somewhat free market with a very heavy bias towards socialism for decades. It just doesn’t seem to work, does it? But you say we should all get together and just work to agree on how much poison is needed to kill the patient. Sorry – the patient needs to get off the dope and fire the witch doctors.
    Point Three – We are all sick of the BS! Again, thank you for pointing that out. We had no idea. But then you say we should work together with those BSers. Sorry – that doesn’t compute. Cain is probably the least of any BSer to come along in decades and he is mocked by you as a BSer. Healthy scepticism and a bit of cynicism can be a good thing, but you’ve let it become your religion. We aren’t electing God. Just someone to full fill the duties of the executive branch of the US govt. We are humans and act like it. The founding fathers knew that wasn’t going to change, so they devised a system of governance that would try to contain the folks that got into office. They correctly predicted what would happen if the system wasn’t followed. They wanted ordinary citizens to be office holders for a while and then return to their careers, jobs and homes. But it wasn’t followed and the sheep got instructed to ignore those old dead men and listen to the modern elites. They were smarter and had the answer. Just keep us in office and we’ll give you goodies. Since they also had the power of the purse, they plundered it. The founders knew they would, because that’s what humans do. At least Obama is honest – he said the Constitution was fatally flawed because it only contained ‘negative’ rights. What the govt couldn’t do. It demonstrates the 180 degrees of difference in thought that the left has from the right. They can not ever be reconciled – nor is it worth trying. The left wants to make the govt the origin of rights and by extension all material goods and the right wants to contain the fed govt with in it’s proper role as a protector of our innate rights that are ours as humans. The left has trashed the Constitution and given the leaders god-like powers. Now you are so frightened of them, no man or woman can ever be trusted in the office. No wonder you trash every one of them. None will ever be good enough – left or right.

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  5. Bill tozer Avatar
    Bill tozer

    Mr. Crabb, there is hope. I look at the Bill Clinton model. He started off his first year with Hillarycare as well. He adapted and figured out how this country works and worked with Congress to get things done, albeit sometimes reluctantly. Bill Clinton had his Sista Soldier moment if you will. After the hard fought primary run in 2008, Hillary and Bill were saddled with millions of campaign debt that burned Bill’s hide as well as him being painted a racist by Obama supporters. Bill has a pretty big ego and I knew he would be getting his revenge. He is probably telling Obama to dig in his heels, move to the left, keep printing money, and stay true to his principles he learned as a community organizer that all money comes from grants from Washington to pay for the ride and embrace the Occupiers. Then Bill hangs up the phone after advising Obama and rolls on the floor laughing. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

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  6. Steve Enos Avatar
    Steve Enos
  7. D. King Avatar
    D. King

    Yes Steve, MUST OBEY FOX NEWS; MUST OBEY…
    Any other tips?

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  8. RL Crabb Avatar

    You’d think Cain would have thought out his 999 proposal a little better before going public. It was only after analysts from both sides pointed out that his plan would put the screws to the low end of the scale that he had to revise his position to 909. Same with his statement about abortion being a family decision rather than the government’s job.
    I understand that when you are shuttling around the country 24/7 with cameras in your face you are bound to make a gaffe or two. Every candidate does it. But anyone who enters the meat grinder had better have his positions on big issues well rehearsed and thought out.
    I’m also well aware that there will never be a perfect human being to occupy the Oval Office. Someone who is a combination of the best traits of Ronald Reagan and FDR. As a moderate, I still believe that the answer is not more government vs. less government, but government that balances the needs of people and the needs of a vibrant economy. Is that so much to ask?

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  9. George Rebane Avatar

    Re fixing 999 earlier Bob. It is always good on Monday mornings to point out why a revised plan, theory, computer program, or device could not have been done right from the beginning. Now we may also ask why Obama’s multiple plans, worked out by his ideological mavens who don’t have to be on the run, have caused (or abetted, depending on your view) the catastrophe they have. But more importantly, why does the man not learn from data and experience, and instead keeps shoveling out the same garbage one more time? At least Cain, the pragmatic businessman, knows that Keynes reached his high point when he told a gaggle of journalists, ‘When new facts come in, I change my mind. What do you do?’

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