Posted on 10/02/2011 10:44:31 PM PDT by OddLane
The following is from LivingLies.Wordpress.Com and is an excellent commentary on the OccupyWallStreet mess..
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EDITOR’S COMMENT: The good news is that the Occupy Wall Street Movement hit the front page and the editorial section with this op-ed piece from Nicholas Kristof. The bad news is that the act of demanding the truth has become a “revolutionary” act. How did that happen? — in the “land of the free” where the very first amendment allows freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and freedom of the press, which I guess has come to mean the freedom to sell out to big business and big banks.
Kristof is wrong when he says these protesters have no list of demands. Their list is a short list of getting the truth and forcing their government to hold the “banksters” accountable for performing acts that would land any common person in prison. Kristof misses the simplicity of the message. And he misses the simplicity of the solutions that are easily available to our financial system, our society and our standing around the world. If we start from the truth about what happened and account for the money, then we can start the process of reversing what has appeared to be irreversible damage.
It’s not like we have a choice. Either we let the banks have their way and leave them alone to continue the rape and pillage of countries around the world or we don’t. And we need to act while we still have the power to do so. If the banks get their way (and mind you I am only talking about a handful of powerful bankers, since the others were kept out of the “game” or even victimized by it), then we have the virtual certainty of a floundering housing market going further into the abyss dragging the economy, jobs and prospects for any recovery with it. And yes it IS that simple.
The alternative is simple: since we know that the investors had their purse stolen, and the homeowners were used as pawns in a vast game of economic brinkmanship where the “loans” were secretly paid off or settled, let’s get the banks out of the game. Banks should not be servicers and they should not be pretending, much less allowed to make decisions on modifications of loans that were irresponsible, dead-beat proposals before any borrower signed for them.
The opportunities must be created for people of good faith to enter into discussions to settle the matter — the real stakeholders (investors and homeowners). For those who blithely predict that no homeowner will enter into discussions for modifications if they think they can get a free house, my message is “DO THE MATH.” Millions of people have sought modification or settlement of issues with the servicers and banks whereas only 2-3% of those foreclosed upon have litigated. People would rather settle than fight — they have already proved that.
And for those people who do not act in good faith there can be consequences. But even if collateral benefit arises from addressing this issue with integrity and honesty about how this mess was created, from a practical standpoint, which is better — letting the bankers keep their ill-gotten gains or letting a few people make a little extra money that will be pumped back into the economy as soon as it is received?
Nobody is saying the investors should bear the complete loss or that the homeowners should bear the complete loss — but that is what is happening under the Alice in Wonderland system we now witness: BOTH investors and homeowners have been burdened with the total loss. To make matters worse BOTH insurers AND taxpayers have been burdened with the total loss. So the total loss has been paid four times, so far and it is climbing. Now title insurers and probably rating agencies are going to bear some loss too. Who is collecting all this money? The mega banks and their puppet servicers and puppet trustees (known as SHAM TRUSTEES) are becoming the largest landowners in history and they are the largest holders of cash in the world.
In my world, if you steal a purse, you get caught, return what is recoverable and pay a penalty — loss of freedom. In the world of Wall Street finance, they get to keep the purse, use the ID to make other money, get paid by taxpayers for the loss of the purse, and they get to buy homes with worthless “debt” paper that doesn’t belong to them, which they found in the purse. Some people think this is OK. What is most interesting is the divergent views on this subject have converged geographically on “Wall Street.”
If holding a purse snatcher accountable is a revolutionary act, then count me in.
Professional protesters, useful idiots, Wisconsin wannabes, modern-day hippies gather to dirty up the streets of lower Manhattan. Are they protesting capitalism? Why do Marxist tools never understand that they would be forbidden to protest if they were to accomplish the goals of their protest?
I think instead of us laughing at these dread-locked goofball commies, we need to find out who is funding them and expose them...a hamburger near there is $15 min. Who feeds them their tofu? We know they don’t need soap or razors as the women are required to compost their leg hair.
I’d suspect SEIU and Soros...but, we are smart enough to prove who is funding them and expose it...anyone know?
Looks to me like socialism is about to run out of other peoples money!!
Bttt - always appreciating your reports from that alien locale ;-). There are never any amusing “protests” at my Walmart ... but right here at the house, Young Beau is protesting the expectation that he’ll get anything useful done today by playing the electric guitar loudly. (I can’t tell if he’s also playing it badly, because the “music” he likes sounds like the dryer having a conniption.)
Right - and the question no media - or anyone else? - is asking is: “Where do these people work that they can afford all this time off?
I think we probably know the answer.
AND - who is financing them - food, transportation?
‘bummbles union goons financing, organizing his ‘National Army”?
‘bummbles gave the signal to ‘put on the marching shoes and hit the streets - code? to start his ‘Quiet Riots?
I suspicion this movement won’t be too successful as these people have no real convictions grounded in anything solid.
Te “Quiet Riots” bummbles preached about to black liberation preachers and black groups over and over during 2007?
He’s referring, in this video, to the Watts Riot and what they see as the racist violence of Katrina (Bush’s fault not Nagin and the black leadership in N.O. - skip to start at minute 2:25
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofbUK85bnwY
Inciting riots, pure and simple. You might want to bookmark this speech. It may become more and more relevant as he whips up “his peeps.” The insidious part is that he isn’t even part of the American blacks. His black heritage is Kenyan - ‘African African’ - and even then, his father/family is more Arab than black. I suspicion the blacks are starting to get that. His approval among blacks has plummeted to 54%
I never knew her mother died in an insane asylum believing she was Queen Victoria. Carrie seemed whacked out too. Their progressivism was the same as today—the nanny state making rules to tell us how to behave, what to eat, etc. You are correct, it won’t end well.
At least he's playing a real guitar and not Guitar Hero.
True.
Interesting reports. Baffling, though. I don’t have the disposition to be an occupier of anything but my own house.
The dog in Part II was charming - beautiful coloring.
Yep, the dog was cute.
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