OWS - A Peek Behind the Curtain

[Paul Mackin]

On 11/21/2011 1:46 PM, Michael F wrote:
>
> You guys believe the masses are dumb enough to be manipulated and lied 
> to?  The masses dont always represent and speak for what is "best"?
>


It would be nice to think Lincoln was right: you can fool some of the 
people all the time, and all the people some of the time, but you can't 
fool all of the people all of the time.


But manipulation of the masses is an important fact of life, in the face 
of which societies aspiring to be democratic just have to muddle along 
somehow.

It's amazing things work even as well as they do.

P




> On Nov 21, 2011 10:42 AM, "Joseph Tracy" <brook7 at sover.net 
> <mailto:brook7 at sover.net>> wrote:
>
>     Considering what we are all up against it doesn't surprise. Very
>     telling story.
>     On Nov 21, 2011, at 12:35 PM, rich wrote:
>
>>     Considering what elizabeth warren is up against in Massachusetts
>>     I'm not surprised.
>>
>>     Rich
>>
>>     On Monday, November 21, 2011, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com
>>     <mailto:fqmorris at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>     >
>>     http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_11/a_peek_behind_the_curtain033610.php
>>     >
>>     > Chris and his team obtained a strategy memo from the D.C. corporate
>>     > lobbying firm Clark Lytle Geduldig Cranford (CLGC), led in part by
>>     > former aides to House Speaker John Boehner. The document,
>>     prepared for
>>     > the American Bankers Association, a firm client, outlines the
>>     kind of
>>     > coordinated pushback industry lobbyists have in mind in response to
>>     > the Occupy movement.
>>     >
>>     > It’s an amazing peek behind the curtain. The bank lobbyists
>>     make clear
>>     > that they fear the Occupy protests, believe Democratic gains in
>>     2012
>>     > would undermine financial industry power, and would like to invest
>>     > heavily in a media/opposition-research offensive that would try to
>>     > discredit both Occupy activists and any Democratic officials who
>>     > express any sympathy for the movement’s goals.
>>     >
>>     > [...]
>>     >
>>     > Indeed, the memo talks openly about aggressive warning shots at
>>     > progressive Dems — most notably, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) — as a
>>     > way of intimidating other Democratic lawmakers from aligning
>>     > themselves in any way with Occupy priorities.
>>     >
>>     > Perhaps most amusingly, the CLGC memo alludes to the fact that the
>>     > bankers would rely on allied surrogates to launch attacks, since no
>>     > one likes the bankers themselves.
>>     >
>>     > Chris explained towards the end of the segment:
>>     >
>>     > “What’s contained in this short memo are all the most craven,
>>     corrupt,
>>     > and insidious forces of the status quo coming together to squash
>>     > Occupy. In fact, the document represents just about everything
>>     wrong
>>     > with America in four short pages.
>>     >
>>     > “We have a lobbying firm whose web page glowingly advertises
>>     that Sam
>>     > Geduldig, a former Boehner staffer, ‘knows how to kill legislative
>>     > threats to his clients.’ Drawing up a battle plan for the financial
>>     > and its 1% members to use their deep pockets to attack the occupy
>>     > movement and protect the banks’ financial interests by creating
>>     > ‘political cover’ for bank-friendly policies.
>>     > 
>


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