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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body bgcolor=white lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=apple-style-span><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>The main reason (if not the ONLY reason), Mr. Rumelhart, that the "Occupy" movement is unorganized is because it is a true grassroots movement, much MUCH more grassroots than the Tea Party "origin".</span></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>----<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>I never really understand why constant comparisons are drawn between OWS and the Tea Party movement… it’s as if the OWS folks feel the need to illustrate the differences between themselves and the Tea Party in an effort to say, “Oh, yah? Well we can protest too”. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>The comparisons are irrelevant… both organizations (or grassroots movements, or whatever you want to call them) are decrying juggernaut entities. One being a (perceived) bloated federal government, the other being a (perceived) bloated upper-class. Both began as a general murmur of unrest that erupted into a national movement of common opinion, and now both have had political parties sidle up to them and begin to ally themselves with the causes. (Republican links to the Tea Party are now commonplace, and now Dick Durbin has begun beating his fist on the table even more loudly in the wake of the OWS movements… )<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Tom Hansen is left with an impression that the movement stems from tax breaks given to the extremely wealthy (including bailouts) at the cost of programs that benefit middle-income and low-income folks.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>But… my impression… after seeing all the photos and news stories and “you gotta see this” emails going around about OWS…I’m left with (mostly) the same feeling that Paul has... that OWS is just lashing out at anyone they see as being wealthy, without regard to how they achieved that wealth. (The most recent photo circulating around Facebook is of a OWS protestor rallying against the 1% for the early snowstorm and 2 million people that were without power for a while)…<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>The “grassroots” behind OWS is perhaps their Achilles heel: without organization there is no single spokesman, and therefore OWS is an assembly of splintered general angst against the rich with multiple and varied messages.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>I have no love for any organization that manipulates the system to achieve a goal… but I have great respect for those that have achieved great wealth by playing by the rules, and I hold no ill-will towards their success or achievements. I also hold no ill-will towards wealthy folks that want to continue to hold on to that wealth, and I continue to decry efforts to simply rob them of their hard-earned success through lopsided tax policies that seem to find more public support because of their ability to punish as opposed to being just fair.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>That is, perhaps, where the divide comes in. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>After Obama’s comments (“I want to spread the wealth around” and “after a certain point I think you’ve made enough money”), I think a certain attitude has re-emerged from segments of the population. The simple thought of “hey, that guy over there has two widgets while I only have one… that isn’t fair” has now slowly morphed into an assumption that wealthy folks are now stealing everyone else’s widgets.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>I don’t like the direction that public attitude seems to be taking…. that wealth is wrong, and that somehow people that are wealthy must therefore be evil.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>I DO however agree with any rallying cry that calls to crucify corruption… whether it be from the OWS movement decrying corruption from large corporations, or whether it’s the Tea Party movement decrying corruption from our government officials. (If both believe that big business and government are in bed with each other, aren’t they really protesting the same thing anyway?)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Right or wrong, 99% or 1%, that’s *<b>my</b>* perception.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Jay<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt'><br><br></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=apple-style-span><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Paul Rumelhart goes on to suggest . . .</span></span><span style='font-size:13.5pt'><br><br><span class=apple-style-span>"I would like them to change their targets a little bit. Currently, they are targeting the 1% blindly, solely on the fact that they are doing better than everyone else."</span></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt'><br><br></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=apple-style-span><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Huh? That certainly is not my understanding. It is my impression that the 99-percenters are asking the question . . .</span></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt'><br><br></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=apple-style-span><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Why should tax cuts/breaks be given to unimaginably filthy rich Corporate America (especially those that were bailed out at the end of the Bush administration) at the cost of programs that benefit middle-income and low-income Americans?</span></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt'><br><br></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=apple-style-span><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Perhaps this will help explain . . .</span></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt'><br><br></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=apple-style-span><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Idaho Public Television's "Dialogue" episode on "Occupy Idaho"</span></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=apple-style-span><span style='font-size:13.5pt'><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6VGkRkJOYw">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6VGkRkJOYw</a></span></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=apple-style-span><span style='font-size:13.5pt'> </span></span><span style='font-size:13.5pt'><br></span><span class=apple-style-span><span style='font-size:13.0pt'>Seeya round town, Moscow.</span></span><span style='font-size:13.5pt'><br><br></span><o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Tom Hansen<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Moscow, Idaho<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=apple-style-span>"Honest and true,</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>As the morning star.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Vote for just two,<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Ament and Lamar."<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div></body></html>