# 99? Rookies! I say 100%!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 8, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035 "2011-10-08T22:24:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![jlzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jlzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlzania)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035/61 "2011-10-09T16:57:40Z")
> [@](#): > > **diggerwam** I went to an organizational meeting of “Occupy” in my hometown yesterday. Th facebook page just got started last week and yet there were 50 people that showed up. Young, old and unwashed hippies. With this movement just in its infancy, It’s to be expected that it’s unfocused, that will improve in time. I attended the first general assembly in Austin. The meeting was very well organized and focused on relevant local issues that we\* could \*impact. Can someone explain the current conservative obession with the appearance of the protestors? Holy mother of god-it sounds like we’ve dialed it back to 1970. The kids look weird! They’re wearing funny clothes! And would you look at those haircuts! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035/62 "2011-10-09T17:07:10Z")
I bet they’re smoking the pot, too. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035/63 "2011-10-09T17:22:05Z")
> [@jlzania](#): > > I attended the first general assembly in Austin. The meeting was very well organized and focused on relevant local issues that we\* could \*impact. > > Can someone explain the current conservative obession with the appearance of the protestors? > Holy mother of god-it sounds like we’ve dialed it back to 1970. > The kids look weird! > They’re wearing funny clothes! > And would you look at those haircuts! Simple, it’s an easy way too attack something when you don’t want to bother with thinking about or discussing substance. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035/64 "2011-10-09T17:34:51Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I wouldn’t worry **magellan01** , nothing will come of it. The Democrats have started their moves to usurp the movement and turn it into a tool to reelect Obama. Kind of like they did with the Iraq war protests last time around. Notice how they stopped, but the wars didn’t, after Obama was elected. > > Pretty funny that they can now pretend to be onside with the protesters. Obama’s last campaign fund received the most Wall Street cash ever, it is his policies that propped up Wall Street, and he already has declared his second term agenda of cuts to services for the most needy. > > No you can rest easy. The Democratic Party is where social protest movements go to die. You and the OP do not get it. Obama is a friend of Wall Street, but it is a friend that thanks to the people’s protests (and reactions like the 99%) he is getting encouragement to be a \*\*real \*\*friend and tell his Wall Street alcohol (non regulated) addicted friends that they are nuts for continuing to drive home after drinking too much. Like it is happening recently by encouraging the top earners to pay their dues. \* What you are spectacularly missing is that Obama is really active in \*\*deactivating \*\*class warfare, he is still a friend of many well to do people, and the point here is that you are confusing deactivation of class warfare with the war itself. Tea Baggers and the very rich are the ones ignoring history by continuing to grow and arm bigger class warfare bombs that eventually will go off if the democrats are not willing or encouraged to do something about it. \*(The recent wars that benefited only just about the well to do in the military industrial complex, were unfunded and currently we are winding down our presence there if you are still missing that point. Lets be clear, I’m not happy that we are still in Iraq and Afghanistan, but many experts did point out that it would be even worse to just quit cold turkey, still, the pressure has to be there to make clear that we are not going to tolerate anything else than the continuation of the winding down and the eventual removal of all troops and military presence there. ) ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035/65 "2011-10-09T17:59:09Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > And I am certain that most of the Tea Partiers bleating about “freedom” are already among the most free people in the world. That hasn’t shut them up either. Not to mention that the outrageous levels of taxation that they are protesting are among the lowest in the developed world, and are at historic lows for our nation. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035/66 "2011-10-09T18:38:13Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > I almost certain that you, and most of those “fuck the rich” in these marches, are comfortably in the “rich” category by most of the world’s standards. > > 100k of debt is crippling you after you got top-notch education? How about 1k of debt makes you kids go hungry for a year. Then talk to me about “the rich” and what they deserve. Well then, stop worrying your pretty little head about those “rich” protesters in America\*\*\*\*\* & start/join your own movement for equality in your country. \*\*\*\*\*Doubt there’s any point in trying to explain to you that we live in an increasingly interconnected world (mayhaps you’ve heard of “Globalism?”) and that many of the “rules” set-up by those at the top of the economic pile – be it in the US, Russia, China or your own country – directly affect those that are in “1K of debt” & can’t feed their kids. The Working Poor & The Unemployed: by far the fastest raising class world-wide. Might want to look it up. Just sayin’ ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035/67 "2011-10-09T20:35:43Z")
You know when children say they really, really don’t care about something and that they are really, really laughing because something doesn’t matter? What ever it is, you know they really do care and it really does matter. A lot. That is the OP. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035/68 "2011-10-10T01:26:07Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > You know when children say they really, really don’t care about something and that they are really, really laughing because something doesn’t matter? What ever it is, you know they really do care and it really does matter. A lot. > > That is the OP. Whew! Your commentary fails on just about every level. As far as me not caring, please point to even one instance of me saying I don’t “care”. The threads no the long, so I’m sure that all that “not caring” by me should be easy for you to find. Next, sometimes when we adults claim they’re laughing at something, they actually are. Like now…I’m laughing at you, and how brilliant you must have thought your insights were to have hit the Submit button. And you may want to look up “straw”. Just noticed: “BLANK SLATE”? Yup, laughing again. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035/69 "2011-10-10T01:39:01Z")
Pretty lame, just to bump a dying thread. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035/70 "2011-10-10T01:48:10Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > I’m getting more and more tickled by this 99% crowd. The more I see these people on TV, the web, the more I am amused. They attempt to imply a massive movement—99%—with people who are unhappy with…with…with…SOMETHING. Christ, you’re dim. The point of the 99% meme is not that 99% of the country is on their side. It’s to point out that the country is being run to serve the interests of the top 1%, not the vast majority of the country. It’s to point out that if you’re making $300,000 a year, you should be making common cause with someone making $30,000 a year, because BOTH of you are being screwed by the wealthy elite. It’s to point out that for thirty years the GOP has fostered “false consciousness” in the middle and upper-middle classes, to convince them that they’ve actually got a shared interest with their financial overlords. It’s to point out that it’s a unity movement, welcoming to anyone who actually works for a fucking living. The poor and the middle class have been on the losing end of an invisible class war for the last 30 years. 99% is a call to arms. It’s a reminder of who, in a democracy, holds the real power. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035/71 "2011-10-10T04:08:01Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Whew! Your commentary fails on just about every level. As far as me not caring, please point to even one instance of me saying I don’t “care”. The threads no the long, so I’m sure that all that “not caring” by me should be easy for you to find. Next, sometimes when we adults claim they’re laughing at something, they actually are. Like now…I’m laughing at you, and how brilliant you must have thought your insights were to have hit the Submit button. And you may want to look up “straw”. > > Just noticed: “BLANK SLATE”? Yup, laughing again. Forget Straw Man, you are Transparent Boy. Keep laughing at yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035/72 "2011-10-10T04:40:20Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Except for the part about Obama-as-Savior. I have seen no evidence from the Ocupado crowd that they have any particular allegiance to Obama. But to **Maggie,** anything to the left of Sarah Palin just swirls together in a filthy liberal melange. I was not commenting on the accuracy of his statements, just their coherency. “Satanic cults kidnapped my wallaby, and fed it to unsuspecting babies,” is a quite coherent, although certainly false statement. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035/73 "2011-10-10T11:25:46Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > if you’re making $300,000 a year, you should be making common cause with someone making $30,000 a year, because BOTH of you are being screwed by the wealthy elite. It’s to point out that for thirty years the GOP has fostered “false consciousness” in the middle and upper-middle classes, to convince them that they’ve actually got a shared interest with their financial overlords. It’s to point out that it’s a unity movement, welcoming to anyone who actually works for a fucking living. > > The poor and the middle class have been on the losing end of an invisible class war for the last 30 years. 99% is a call to arms. It’s a reminder of who, in a democracy, holds the real power. Are you saying the folks who make $30,000 a year will only want to exert “real power” against the top one percent, or that they’ll also want to take money away from the folks who make $300,000 a year? Put another way, (a) what’s the average income of the majority _“who, in a democracy, holds the real power”_ and (b) where _ **exactly** _ will they stop if they start in on the top one percent? The top four percent? The top forty percent? (The top forty-nine-point-four-nine percent?) ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Smashy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mr\_Smashy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Smashy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035/74 "2011-10-10T12:14:09Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > So, the only difference between the two groups is that the Tea Partiers bathe more? Most of the young idiots banging drums and spouting nonsense will vote for Obama. There’s your difference. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035/75 "2011-10-10T12:39:38Z")
Here’s how I see the groups: 99%ers- upset with Wall Street greed TPers- upset that there’s a black guy in the White House 99%ers- want jobs TPers- want _other_ people to give up _their_ government benefits 99%ers- Coming together without corporate directions TPers- Coming together with sponsorship from Koch Brothers and FOX 99%ers- Seek social justice TPers- Seek to repeal 20th century ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035/76 "2011-10-10T12:45:55Z")
> [@Mr\_Smashy](#): > > Most of the young idiots banging drums and spouting nonsense will vote for Obama. There’s your difference. And most of the morans drawing swastikas on Obama will vote for Bachmann/Cain/Perry. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035/77 "2011-10-10T13:01:33Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > 99%ers- upset with Wall Street greed > TPers- upset that there’s a black guy in the White House Please stop rehashing that tired argument. The TP is a tax protest movement, not a racial one. You are actually hurting the progressive cause with this type of hysterical wolf calling, and the tea party is quite insane enough already without you adding irrelevant shit to it. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035/78 "2011-10-10T13:03:44Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > It’s a reminder of who, in a democracy, holds the real power. I don’t wish to besmirch your otherwise cogent and agreeable post, but this is the crux. They just so obviously _don’t_ hold the real power. Otherwise they wouldn’t be groveling in the streets. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035/79 "2011-10-10T13:21:58Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > I don’t wish to besmirch your otherwise cogent and agreeable post, but this is the crux. They just so obviously _don’t_ hold the real power. Otherwise they wouldn’t be groveling in the streets. We, they actually do, but it is largely the power to drag Hank Paulson and Robert Benmosche into the street and burn tires around their necks. If we continue on the current path of wealth concentration, it may come to that. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035/80 "2011-10-10T13:27:35Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > Please stop rehashing that tired argument. The TP is a tax protest movement, not a racial one. You are actually hurting the progressive cause with this type of hysterical wolf calling, and the tea party is quite insane enough already without you adding irrelevant shit to it. Bullshit. What specific tax increases were the TPers protesting? The guys who nail hubcaps to the sides of their mobile homes were never threatened by any tax increases by Obama, but they sure as hell came out of the woodwork the minute a black guy set his hand on the Bible and took the oath of office. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-rookies-i-say-100/599035.md?page=5)