You are a stupid liberal and the OWS protesters want something for nothing..

[SammyWinstonJack]

So said my teapublican neighbor
He is one of the 99%.
He listens to Beck.
He thinks Michele Bachman would be a great president.
He tried very hard to get me into a discussion.
I knew better.
Perhaps it was when he called me a stupid liberal. :shrug:
What was the point, after that?

[SlicerDicer-]

1. Could be worse.. Could be half your family being teapublicans

[SlicerDicer-]

2. Scratch that a good 99% are LOL they are the 99%

and not in a good way...

[SammyWinstonJack]

4. My family are all dems thankfully. I am lucky!

[cyglet]

3. Beck?

I thought classic rock was their anthem.

(Two turntables and a microphone!)

[SammyWinstonJack]

5. Glen Beck..My neighbor loves him.....

:shrug:

[cyglet]

6. Ah

Thought he was off the air....

[SammyWinstonJack]

8. Well he should be. Who could listen that idiot? And have the nerve to call me a stupid liberal?

I mean :wtf:

[Fire Walk With Me]

7. Haiku form:

You are a stupid liberal
and the OWS protesters want something for nothing..
So said my teapublican neighbor
What was the point, after that?

[SammyWinstonJack]

11. ...

:silly:

[Fire Walk With Me]

12. :)

[Puzzler]

9. No... the 1% wanted (and still want) something for nothing...

... try telling that to your neighbor.

[PETRUS]

46. +1

[teddy51]

10. Doe's he/she still have there job? What happens when they lose there job and there is

no one there to rely on for support? I still must ask the question, are there not Republicans/TeaPartiers out there that are suffering from the current Economic situation? Sorry, but the Lord will provide, does not do it.

[SammyWinstonJack]

14. He actually had a great union job and he quit it after four months.

He is making his wife work and he has no plans to get another job, yet he will says that those who are unemployed are lazy and they should accept any job. He hates taxes and he believes that a hand up is a hand out.

[Marr]

16. God, I think I would've jumped into the discussion. You could cut him off at the knees.

I'd ask him if he came to these conclusions while mommy/wife was cooking the food she bought him. lol

[SammyWinstonJack]

25. Well calling me a stupid liberal just to get a discussion going that I knew would end badly

kinda did not set well with me. I knew he was itching for a fight that I did not want. I took the higher road. He did not deserve that...hey I am a stupid liberal after all............:silly:

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

23. The guy sounds like a real piece of work.

When dealing with people like him I like to jerk their chain. It's fairly easy to do.

[coalition_unwilling]

33. "He is making his wife work and he has no plans to get

another job . . ." - Something is really wrong with that picture. Frankly, he sounds insane, a spousal abuser or both.

[soapboxtalk]

13. Look at it from his perspective

I think the overwealming majority of people have no clue what the OWS protests are about. There seems to be no cohesive voice, and it allows people to view a sampling of the protesters who have no clue what they're doing there.

They've got the world's attention, it's time to start offering some action to fix all of the inequities they are rallying against. Our system is unfair, we get it. What do we do? How do you intend to fix it?

The people want to hear a clear message and a sane plan if you want us on board.

[SammyWinstonJack]

15. The OWS protesters have a clue. They rightfully do not want to be co-opted

Solidarity!

[AllyCat]

17. That's why we have elected officials who are SUPPOSED to be doing what their

constituents want. They aren't. Not by a long shot. Poll after poll says what we want, but somehow, that just doesn't seem to get done. They change the laws to make it easier for banks to rip us off. They are robbing us blind and get lots of tax money from us every single time they run into a balance sheet that just isn't quite what they expected.

The message from OWS is crystal clear. You just haven't been paying attention.

[soapboxtalk]

40. That's clearer

That's a clearer message than I normally get. I have no problem with that. Why can't a reporter interview you?

[deutsey]

43. Perhaps the reporters are intentionally not interviewing people who articulate it so well?

:shrug:

[soapboxtalk]

44. I assumed that

They aren't looking for the college professor in the crowd, it's the hippie. It's sad that we can't get a true dialogue started in this country.

[PETRUS]

20. His perspective has been skewed by deliberate misinformation.

So that's a challenge, for sure.

I disagree that "overwhelming majority of people have no clue what the OWS protests are about." Scientific polling indicates that 45% of Americans approve of the protests themselves, and 60% or more agree with the basic premise. So while our Glen Beck-listening neighbors might not know, most people do.

Also, there is no shortage of possible solutions to our problems. The solutions are blocked by political and economic elites. The task of the protests is to create a climate allowing the nation to face reality.

[soapboxtalk]

41. I stand by what I said

You may get the 60% of people agreeing with the protests...but then if you ask what the core principals behind the protests are, you're going to get many different answers.

People are angry, I get that. I'm angry too.

Can we get political advertising off television? It's an easy place to start, and it's quite easy to get behind.

[PETRUS]

45. After spending four days at Zuccotti

I can confirm your suspicion (experience?) that there are a number of different perspectives. That's to be expected, and a diversity of voices is something to be encouraged. But it was evident to me that the core complaint is the people's lack of representation in politics and public policy, and general agreement that dramatic economic inequality and the influence of extremely wealthy factions is the reason for that. That message is coming through clearly even via the MSM - although more openly hostile outlets (e.g. Beck) aren't going to relay it accurately.

[soapboxtalk]

48. Not really

The message I'm getting (through filtered channels, I know) is that the protesters want to do away with money and property and want wealth redistribution. I'm sure I'm getting an extreme view...but this kinda stuff generally scares a lot of people.

[Fumesucker]

22. Welcome to DU..

I hope you enjoy your stay.

:hi:

[coalition_unwilling]

34. "people who have no clue what they're doing there" - really, do

enjoy your stay, I guess, but your patronizing condescension gives your agenda away.

[soapboxtalk]

39. No agenda

My agenda is to figure out what the OWS protests are all about. It's hard to get a first-hand perspective when you get fed what you need to hear.

I'm saying that OWS hasn't developed a clear message. Fault the media all you like, but the protestors need to be smarter and stop trying to speak for the cause if they are uninformed.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

18. He would've made a great Nazi follower, wouldn't he?

Voting against his own self-interests, I'm sure. There's no shortage of idiots.

[RagAss]

19. I bet you have more teeth than him.

[totodeinhere]

21. I don't think that's funny. A lot of poor people struggle with out of control dental care costs, and

in many areas including California dental benefits for the poor have been cut back. I would not put down anyone, teabagger or not, who has missing teeth.

[RetroLounge]

47. Your concern is noted

:eyes:

RL

[Initech]

24. Bill Maher is right - the teabaggers live in a fucking bubble!

It's pointless to argue with them - nothing gets through. They can listen to their Glenn Beck tea party conspiracy theorist bullshit but it's not gonna change this fact.

[Amonester]

26. If he thinks that creep bachman would be a great president...

Tell him he should seek mental help, and don't waste any more of your time after that because, you've got no time to lose.

Nothing will ever make them change, except if they all go bankrupt in a week (screwed by their beloved robber-baron$, and even then...)

Mental illness is for professionals to treat. If you're not one, don't even try.

Not worth your time. You've got better things to do.

[SammyWinstonJack]

27. That is why I just smiled and left it alone... What was I going say that would change his mind?

He put a NO Socialism sign in his yard facing my yard just to piss me off. :shrug: I felt like telling him not to call the fire dept if he had a fire or not to call the police if someone broke into his house.... but what would be the point? He would not get it. He is a lost cause because according to him he is Tax ENOUGH ALREADY!

[Amonester]

28. There is no point. As long as he does not turn violent and starts

doing stupid things that he shouldn't do, leave it at that and just hope he will see the light someday (before it's too late), but don't count on it. They R as thick as bricks.

[SammyWinstonJack]

29. I don't think he would turn violent. I just think he was projecting, like all pugs

do. Again, not worth my time and that makes me sad, because there is really no way to reach this people.

[Zoeisright]

30. Your neighbor is a brainwashed sap who is a tool for the super rich.

Just tell him that.

[nc4bo]

42. And you, my friend are a tool!

Yea, I like this alot (gonna keep this one in my own repertoire) and 9 out of 10 it will fly right over a teabagger's head.

[and-justice-for-all]

31. We do not want something for nothing, we want whats right..nt

[Douglas Carpenter]

32. unfortunately over the last three or four decades a worldview once held only by an extremist

fringe have been mainstreamed. We hear these people claiming Obama is radical socialist marxist - If Obama is a radical socialist marxist then Richard Nixon was revolutionary Maoist. That is what has happened to the whole range of discussion over the last three or four decades. Even one of my coworkers who is a Democrat has talked about about how America lost its manufacturing base because of excessive government regulation, high taxes on business and minimum wage laws and all the people who want to live off welfare rather than work. I pointed out to him that in 1980 there were a lot more government regulations, the upper tax rate was much higher and relative to the cost of living wages were higher. Yet in 1980 manufacturing made up 34% of the American economy - today after massive deregulation, slashing of upper tax rates, breaking of unions, the elimination of welfare and stagnant and declining incomes - manufacturing now makes up only 11% of the American economy. He paused and thought about it for a minute and kind of agreed that was true - but he had never heard it explained that way before.

Right-wing ideology as so infiltrated the American psyche and is so constantly reinforced by so much of the media with so little counterbalance - many people have forgotten how to think normally.

The good news is in 1980 Milton Friedman and the whole neoliberal economic worldview was all the rage. Some version of neoliberal economics came to be embraced by both parties. Today this thinking is becoming passe. From the highest of academia to the common talk of ordinary people - more and more people are realizing that the grand experiment in neoliberal economics simply does not work. People are realizing more and more that we are heading in the wrong direction as they look to a future with little hope of living anywhere near as well as their parents did. For the first time in decades I see some light at the end of the tunnel.

Just today my manager took me out to lunch. He really is a really great guy in spite of being a Republican. In fact he is a second or third cousin of Lamar Alexander. When something came up - not being one to argue but rather innocently he started talking about how regulations have crippled the American economy. I just rather benignly agreed that sometimes regulations are difficult for small businesses and then pointed out in a step by step manner how deregulation caused the current financial crisis. He listened with an open mind and I think perhaps he started to question some of his assumptions.

Right-wing assumption have so contaminated the American thought process that it takes bit of patience to deprogram peoples' thinking. But it can be done.

[coalition_unwilling]

35. Well, Nixon did visit China :) - n/t

[coalition_unwilling]

36. I hope you at least called him a 'stupid fascist' back. - n/t

[JDPriestly]

37. Like maybe a job when they graduate from college?

Like maybe one-voter-one-voice in Congress instead of one contribution one vote?

[Festivito]

38. Sounds deranged. He wants to excuse his not working and living off his wife.

First, is stupid liberal meaning to say that liberals are okay, but, that you are stupid, or is the stupid liberal simply a redundant phrasing? If personal, you have a very valuable piece of knowledge: he doesn't like you.

If redundant, what is a liberal? Someone who loves liberty? And, loving liberty is ... stupid?

I'd just plant a seed. He'd rather listen to people paid enough to lie to him, over and above people who are not paid that much. People who talk for those who gained, took, the money we lost in housing values.

I'd say: "Interesting."

Then change to topic to gardening, car repair, or such.