Isn't it odd that all of a sudden, and out of no where, there appears to be an army of people who suddenly believe the President and the Democratic leadership of Congress are communists or socialists out to take over the United States and turn us into Nazi Germany? Where did these people come from? Why now?
Let's look back to the demise of Enron and the subsequent disdain for corporate greed expressed by most. Congress responded by passing Sarbanes-Oxley and the American public assumed that the SEC would once again become a watchdog protecting them from corporate abuse. There was a great deal of talk about what needed to be done to further banking reform and most Americans did not see this needed change to be socialism or communism. There was no grassroots rebellion to stop reform. There was no crusade by the financial community to stop reform. Why? Because the banking and investment industry knew that nothing was going to change. The Bush administration and Congress (many Democrats included) had no intention of actually changing anything and everyone on Wall Street knew it. Sarbanes-Oxley was never enforced and eventually was gutted. Business as usual continued and the economy became nothing more than a casino bilking the public out of their future. The economy began to crumble and the American people were asked to bail out the very institutions responsible for the malay.
Fast forward to last November when Barack Obama won a REAL grassroots victory...a REAL electoral majority and REALLY had a mandate to govern. Healthcare and banking reform as well as actual regulation of the financial sector was front and center. The American people HAD voted for change and it was in the best interest of most that something be done to ensure that the average person was protected from predatory financial institutions.
Materializing from the underbelly of American society came an army of apparently disgruntled men and women organized by none other than Dick Army and his misnamed organization, Freedom Works. For the most part these "recruits" were the very people who needed the system to be reformed. They were not Wall Street moguls, many if not most were the recipients of earlier progressive reforms that had been put into place during the 20th Century to provide a social safety net and ensure a decent standard of living for all Americans... Social Security, Medicare, education, GI Bill of Rights, regulatory protection. But they were fed the idea that Obama was a danger to their way of life. The Bush Administration was responsible for the economic disaster but it was Obama who was getting the blame. Those who had made billions from the freewheeling, unregulated economy knew that something was going to happen...they might actually have to pay taxes and follow the laws. How to keep this from becoming reality?? Create a perceived grassroots movement against change. Take advantage of the leftover racism smoldering in all corners of the United States. Use the ignorance of people who spend their free time watching Wheel of Fortune. Locate and mobilize the paranoid remnants of the John Birch Society and Militia movements... remind these disgruntled individuals that their government is going to take away their freedom and at worst kill their elderly parents. Provide buses, signs, and Fox "News" coverage...make sure the number of rally attendees is grossly exaggerated and Voila!!! you have a movement. The mainstream press is more than happy to show people screaming at elected Representatives and Senators omitting the fact that the screamers had been coached and often bussed in from "somewhere".
This so called movement is not grassroots, it is a manufactured attempt to keep the economy unregulated by a cabal of wealthy, unprincipled individuals who are using people for their own gain. The tactic has worked so well. Bush et al mastered the art with the religious right; gaining their allegiance with promises to end abortion and turn the country into a Christian nation, while pushing programs and taking action that was not in their best interest. These people were used to get votes, just as the current protesters are being used to create a bandwagon effect to stifle reform.
The irony is that most of the people "protesting" are mere props for the financial, energy, mining, and healthcare industries. These are often the people who most need protection from predatory lending, high fuel costs, pollution, and an irresponsible health insurance industry. Many are so deluded that they actually think Medicare and Social Security have nothing to do with the government.
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