Over the past few weeks many of us have watched with bemused interest the Wall Street “occupation” and have shaken our heads at the sense of entitlement, logical incoherence, and in some cases, the outright racism coming from it’s attendees. Look at the “Occupy Wall Street” post here at ttpdaily.com to see an example of this poor behavior on display. It has been obvious that the media microscope used to examine the hundreds of thousands of Tea Party participants nationwide has been placed in the closet when it comes to these two thousand “occupiers.”
On October 15th Tucson will see our very own “Occupy Tucson” protest. The groups location for the protest, for some inexplicable reason, will be at the base of the Pancho Villa statue downtown. Nice imagery considering Pancho Villa has become legendary for many things, one of them being his brutality that left a swath of destruction and death on America’s borders due to his raids.
Many have emailed or contacted TTP to suggest a counter protest. We think that would be a mistake. Tucson is home to all of us and our families. We don’t “occupy” this city, as they intend to do, we live here and ARE active members of the greater Tucson area. The word “occupy” evokes images of hostility and militaristic suppression by outsiders. We ARE Tucson.
This does not mean we plan to sit by and do nothing. We plan to spend October 15th very busily engaged or to remain “occupied” by and for good things in OUR town. We are serious about this and urge you to participate in this silent, but much more effective “occupation”. Not only will it send the right message to our community, it will benefit our friends and neighbors.
Here are a few ways we suggest you spend your time actively engaged or “occupied” in Tucson on the 15th:
1. Simply wear your TTP shirt all day. Wear it to Tucson Meet Yourself and support the small groups and organizations at that event. Several hundred people identifying themselves with our movement but acting normally will provide a nice contrast to the circus of the “occupy” movement.
2. Volunteer your time for the City Council Candidates. Let’s face it, for far too long Tucson has already been “occupied” by those who seek to mire it in scandal and financial ruin. Go walk for a candidate or make calls. It’s easy, really and needs to be done. For some volunteer options call Greg at Pima County GOP Headquarters at 321-1492.
3. Volunteer your time for a church or youth organization.
4. Pick up trash with your family in your neighborhood.
5. Volunteer at the Community Food Bank or do a collection for canned goods in your neighborhood with your family.
6. Tell us your suggestions here and start the discussion on what you plan to do on October 15th
This is our home and we refuse to be forced to only “occupy” it. WE ARE TUCSON and will continue to remain politically active in order to make sure that all of our voices are heard!
I wholeheartedly concur with your post regarding “Occupy Tucson”. Actions speak louder than words. By our fruits we will be known. If we keep our principles and our cool we retain the power of right-use-ness. These protests are destined to implode without reaction from us.
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Perhaps we should also now consider discussing areas of common ground with those “occupiers” that are reasonable enough to listen. Point out that we, too, disagree with bailouts of irresponsible companies (and their officers and shareholders) but that was done by a similarly irresponsible government. Point out that we believe that the governments policies, promulgated by both Democrats and Republicans, led to the irresponsible behaviour and that it was further worsened by Government Sponsored Entities like Fannie and Freddie. Then move to the position that the government can’t necessarily be trusted to serve our interest and that the best government is the one that “governs least”. Perhaps the other side is not as intransigent as we think.
Posting from Long Island …
I had the same thought as you did … while you might find a few who would listen, Rich, I see that the vast majority of the “occupiers” are the same people who show up at the anti-globalization/anti-war/anti-whatever Progressive protests … people driven IMO by one or more of three motives:
1> Looking for just another good time, trading responsible living for a Stick-It-To-The-Man party.
2> Total believers in what I call the Biggest Lie of All:
and therefore are looking to government to “give them what they deserve”, since they think they CAN’T do it themselves.
3> Those who seek to denigrate the alternative, conservative worldview by any means necessary, for fear that credibility on the part of conservatives might lead to having their mellow harshed regarding their recreational/lifestyle choices.
That’s the mindsets we have to get through … for those motivations are pushing them to attack the symptoms, while encouraging the expansion of the problem that makes the symptoms possible … government over-reach.
What a nicely put sentiment. Having been at the occupy rally earlier, I think the majority of people that I met there would love to talk about common ground between the tea party and the occupy movement. Let’s give compromising and working together a shot, even if our elected officials can’t seem to do so.
Continuing the trash pick-ip idea, perhaps you could organize pre and post-occupation cleanups of the area, with photographs to illustrate your effort and theirs. Best case scenario, they take the hint and keep the place clean. Worst case scenario, they hand you an easy visual contrast between the Tea Party and the forces of thuggish ignorance.
Good idea
Indeed as Glenn would say.
Thankfully, though, we have been discussing the responsibility of keeping our public areas clean at the rally. People were doing a great job when I left, and I think that issue is really important to most of the folks there.
Eric Johnson has provided a wonderful way to help our city with his suggestion for pre and post cleanups of the targeted area for their “occupation.” Another idea for a way to spend that day would be to volunteer at the Gospel Rescue Mission in its outreach to those in need in Tucson. Call their volunteer coordinator to be put to work.
Maybe you should head down to the occupation and start politely asking people for their Ipods, laptops, cell phones, maybe even their shoes. Tell them you can’t afford any of those things yourself and would appreciate it if they would share their wealth with you.
You can even tell them that being seen with those icons of Corporate America in their hands sends the wrong message …
I hardly doubt there’s much difference in the extent of the material possessions between occupiers and tea part members. I mean, the overwhelming majority of us are very fortunate in the U.S. to be able to live in such prosperity for being a declining middle class. Regardless of whether someone can or can’t afford something, like a laptop, that information in and of itself should not be used as judgment of value of a human being.
Even if I could afford more luxury items than I can now, I would definitely be willing to give up some of my share for the benefit of my neighbor, as long as we’re all working together, communicating well, and working hard.
There IS a lot of common ground between some Tea Partiers, (at least the ones who are not kool-aid drinking , partisan, right wing, “anyone with a R next to his name is better than anyone with a D” kinds of folks) and the Tucson Occupiers.
YES, the big banks DID rip off this country, put millions of people out of their homes.
YES, the present government of Tucson is hopelessly mired in scandal and the theft of millions of rio nuevo dollars.
Don’t believe me? Come on down to the Mayor and Council meetings every Tuesday night and find out for yourself.
Roy Warden
The “Occupy” movement — funded in part by George Soros — is merely political noise intended to draw the opposition into this particular shinny object argument.
What do you do to get a two-year-old to stop throwing tantrums?
No matter how difficult it is for us we must ignore them until they see that we don’t care what they’re ranting about.
Those in “Occupy” aren’t the problem. They are just the tools of the Progressive movement in American and most of them don’t even realize it. As I see it, our job is to replace all of those supporting big government and out-of-control spending.
What I don’t see is how focusing on these “Occupy” anarchists helps us to accomplish our goals of defeating Obama, establishing a conservative majority in the Senate and repealing ObamaCare and Dodd Frank.
I don’t see this article as focusing on the “Occupy” movement, I see it as giving us suggestions on how to take the focus off of that movement by getting involved and placing our energy elsewhere.
“No matter how difficult it is for us we must ignore them until they see that we don’t care what they’re ranting about.”
That’s okay with me. If you don’t care or do care about it, then that’s up to you, and it doesn’t make me feel any different about the occupy movement. It would be much welcomed for any members of the tea party to join us based on common ground (which is plentiful). Otherwise, we’d probably prefer to be ignored by the tea party. It’s not like we expected you guys to suddenly hop over to our side :)
Regarding the “Progressives” you all seem to hate so much.
Modern “Progressives” embody communists and the left wing, “Pro-Raza” divide America on the basis of race and ethnicity, anything goes society which Tea Partiers justifiably have come to loath.
However, you must read “Theodore Roosevelt, The Progressive Party, and the Transformation of American Democracy” by Sidney Milkis. In it you will learn:
1) Teddy Roosevelts primary opponents were the Big Banks and the Medical Industry which he said were out to screw the little guy.
2) The early “Progressive” Movement agenda included: the statewide ballot initiative where “the People” could pass legislation outside the boundries of the state legislature, the statewide recall of elected officials and law which the public disapproved, the beginining of primary elections where the people of each party would vote for the candidates they wanted on the ballot and no longer endure the candidates picked by the big shots in smoke filled rooms, etc.
Both Republican and Democrat parties HATED the early Progressive Movement because it meant the Big Shots could no longer control the political mechanism.
The majority of the American people have come to detest modern day progressives who are merely communists in sheep’s clothing. But the American people would follow a real “Teddy Roosevelt” anytime, anywhere, even up San Juan Hill…
RW
The Tea Party which is funded by the Koch brothers complete with template for talking points is somehow threatened by a movement from the citizens of our city. The negative tone is quite brash considering that this party is supposed to represent Christian values of humbleness and morality including supporting our fellow man. Is there some reason or hidden agenda that the Tea Party members, or whomever wrote this article, feel so threatened by a group that want to rid government of corruption. Makes some people wonder what are the real goals driving this type of negative press about honest and hard working citizens wanting to improve this country. I’m left scratching my head in bewilderment. Perhaps I will go and do so more research about the Koch Brothers and their support behind the Tea Party Movement. Maybe 60 Minutes will run an expose story to expose the real truth behind the misinformation represented as leadership.
The Tucson Tea Party has never received money from the Koch brothers and I am 100 percent certain they weren’t in my small living room on the night the stimlus bill was passed and we created a facebook page inviting people to attend a tea party in Tucson. Our tea party locally is 100 percent grass roots and run by volunteer organizers. Might I also remind you that we have never stated that we are social conservatives, although many members of the tea party movement are. The thing that binds us all together is fiscal conservativsim. Our organization can be a home for fiscally concerned democrats, republicans, libertarians, green party members and independents.
If fiscal conservatism is the overarching goal of the Tucson Tea Party, what hasn’t the Party demanding an end to the war and immediate closing of a majority of over 200 (est.) U.S. military bases around the world? This would save the U.S. government over a trillion dollars. Instead the leaders of the Tea Party in the House and Senate are moving forward with ideas of privatizing social security and cutting back on Medicare and Medicaid which would effect those most vulnerable in our communities. Are you aware Mr. Humphries of how much money the Koch brothers and their oil empire income has put in the pockets of the Tea Party candidates in Washington either through tax free PACs, Section 527 PACs and 501(c)4 Super PACs? Are you aware of how much tax free dollars, Dick Armey’s Freedom Works or Citizens for a Sound Economy has invested in the Tea Party since it received $12 million of its PAC funds from Koch family foundations? Even if it’s true what you’re saying about the local Tucson Tea Party, don’t you find it troubling that so much money earned from oil company dollars is being funneled through tax free entities towards Tea Party candidates?
It is interesting how we are experiencing two different versions of Christianity, with both steadfastly claiming to be “Christian”.
Some Tea party members claim to be Christian. The Tea party can gather in groups of ten’s of thousands with no violence, no arrests, no mess left behind, and no false claims about anyone.
Some liberals claim to be Christian. When they gather in groups of hundreds, like in New York lately, there are scores of arrests, violence, rage, litter, and accusations to make any Christians head spin.
Oh and did I mention the groups supported by George Soros that are backing these “rallies”? The info it coming to light, look it up.
The Tea Party has closer ties morally with it’s Judeo-Christian actions then the Liberal left.
Do you have any concrete evidence that George Soros is backing these “rallies?” If not, it seems inflammatory to make untrue accusations without any facts or research to support your criticism. Are you also suggesting that because the Tea Party has closer ties with Judeo-Christian origins that it is somehow superior to any other political movement? This statement seems diametrically opposed to the Bill of Rights which guarantees U.S. citizens the right to freedom of religion. The 99% Occupy Wall Street doesn’t try to divide the U.S. population, but rather to unite. Just wondering what your intention is by trying to contrast the two movements and suggest that the Tea Party is somehow superior?
“The Tea Party has closer ties morally with it’s Judeo-Christian actions then the Liberal left.”
Hey, judge not lest you be judged.
Christianity is not a competition.
Very egocentric remark to somehow presume that one political party or grassroots organization has closer ties to God or what their interpretation is of a higher power through their selected religious affiliation. The rest of the nation’s as well as the world’s traditional religious groups must be snickering at this self-inflated ego trip. I believe the Spanish Inquisition had ties to the Catholic Church which didn’t exactly, as history has documented, give them the moral high ground.
Are you suggesting only the left would be concerned about bank bailouts and corporations bribing politicians? Our founding fathers wrote extensively about the threat to American freedom that corporations with bad intentions could be. There are many fine corporations that make great products we all use but I don’t want them writing laws and electing immoral politicians. Why should we let the left be perceived as the only ones interested in the rule of law and the bill of rights?
Redistribute:
Effort
Work Ethic
Responsibility
To those occupiers with none of the above.
Didn’t the tea party movement start as a movement with semi-scattered ideas? Over the past few years, you have gained a collective voice and centralized your ideas therefore becoming a major part in the national political system. I believe that the Occupy Together movement should be given a certain level of respect, especially from the Tea Party, seeing as it has also endured the hardships of rising to the surface of America’s political landscape. I wish your party all the best and hope that you return the gesture.
The goals of the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street line up very well together. Both are fed up with corruption in government and everywhere. Both are determined to stop the control of government by special interests. Both want politicians to do the right thing for the country instead of doing whatever is necessary to stay in office. We need jobs created by big business and small business and individuals alike. We need business to compete in the marketplace instead of rigging the marketplace. We need people’s earnings tied to creating wealth instead of just co-opting it like so often happens in government and on Wall St. What the Tea Party correctly opposes in Big Government, Occupy justifiably opposes in Big Business.
Both groups agree that the more complex and bureaucratic systems get the more easily they are corrupted by greed for money and power. The Constitution was designed to DIVIDE POWER among three competing branches. Capitalism works when POWER IS DIVIDED among competitors on a level playing field. It’s productivity fails when power is consolidated into monopoly. The goal of democracy is to divide power among the citizens and that is incompatible with plutocratic control of government by a small group of moneyed people.
Both groups are against the unjust redistribution of wealth. The poor must labor for their own livelihood and the rich must stop stacking the deck against them. The rich will remain rich as long as they produce value. But tilting the playing field to stifle and prevent fair competition prevents and depletes the value of labor. The freedom to justly profit from ones own labor should be sacrosanct for the poor as well as for the rich.
Wow, you folks are just plain chicken! Now I get it. By laying low and blaming others who go out and tell it like it is, in our common defense so to speak, you can defer all responsibility for the support you’ve provided to the thieves and bandits, and just keep bitching. Well, that’s a very safe and sane position to take, except that you, like the others, are having your pockets picked. Hunker down long enough and when you get up, you won’t have a penny to your name. It’s really sad to read your excuses for inaction and division. It comes down a lot to fear and self-loathing, the outcomes of child abuse and abuse experienced in growing up, only to be heaped back on others as adult victims of abuse so often do. I think we’d all like to hug you and tell you that, yes, there is a better life ahead, it’s not all scary and hostile outside your front door. But you wouldn’t believe it. If you were open to believing it, you’d quick sniveling and go down to Armory Park and see for yourselves how good or bad it really is. Or are you afraid to confront the better angels of your souls? Pawns of the Devil, the spirit of contempt and cynicism and self-hate that disempowers you every step of the way? I’m talking your language, now. You’re welcome down at the Park. If you can’t find your way to see what a lot, a whole lot of Americans are thinking, you may be unfit to live in a democracy. How can you get healthy and joyous and hopeful again? Now, while the sun’s still shining but not too much?
It’s weird. Us occupiers invite the tea party to stand with us in protest, but tea party members seem to be interested primarily in excluding, ignoring, or otherwise shutting out the occupiers.
LEFT OR RIGHT
BOTH ARE PART OF THE SAME BODY
FOCUS ON COMMONALITY / OUR HUMANITY
OUR WISH TO HAVE HONEST GOVERNMENT, HONEST FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC TRADE, AND CREATE A STRONGER, BETTER WORLD .
…..HOW WE GET THERE IS TOGETHER..!!!!!!
TALK IT OUT.. PLEASE.. I KNOW ITS A TOUGH CHALLENGE
SORRY JUST ONE MANS OPINION …..
“The word “occupy” evokes images of hostility and militaristic suppression by outsiders.”
The word occupy, as opposed to the word Protest or Riot, evokes not an image of violence, but rather, an image of unity and peace, something that the GOP has had troubles with in their recent debates. However, I am not here to quarrel over politics, but rather, progression and confusion. I am confused as to how a writer (yourself) who is obviously moved by his political ideology and protests, can fabricate an image of necessary progression with his outright rude adjectives and descriptions such as “bemused interest” and “shaken our heads at the sense of entitlement.”
How can fellow Americans look upon each other and say, “He deserved that”, or “They are incoherent and their actions mean nothing.” I once believed that liberal and conservative applied to the interpretations of the Constitution, that liberals looked upon the constitution, well, liberally, and that Conservatives would look upon the Constitution and act upon it how it was written with a strict interpretation. The First Amendment from the Bill of Rights that The Anti-Federalists protected for us explicitly states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” It is clear that this amendment should be protecting our right to protest and to petition our government, but when we tried that, we got shot with a gas that is BANNED in war, classified as a CHEMICAL WEAPON.
And how can A Fellow Citizen feel comfortable allowing someone into congress who is not elected?! Where does the Constitution say that we may buy our way into congress. It does not, yet it happens every day. I always believed that Conservatives wanted limited government interference, but also wanted to remain middle to upper middle class citizens. Unfortunately, we cannot have both.
I may have upset someone with my aforementioned opinions, but before you spite me with hateful comments, allow me to say this. We may have different opinions, but we are all still human. I don’t expect you to agree with me; I don’t even expect anyone to read this entire comment.
I will be at the occupy Tucson movement. I will stand along side the people who believe in what I believe. I may not agree with the tea party movement, but I respect any man who will speak for what he believes in. I am from Tucson, but I do not selfishly claim it as my own. I know there are opposing views, but let us unite, not as liberals, conservatives, or tea party-ers, but as people fighting for our fundamental rights, fighting for the preservation of equality and justice as our fore fathers did before us. I hope to see you all out there, acting upon your constitutional rights, for your rights will, like an atrophied muscle, wither away if they are not exercised.
p.s. The accusation of “outright racism coming from it’s attendees” really offends me. You cannot judge an organization by its members, nor can you judge a member by it’s organizations. Each individual accounts for his or her own faults, and nobody is to blame but themselves, so calling the occupy movement racist is a logical fallacy that imply’s the racism of all of it’s members.