Saturday Quick Rant

Psst Lee High School Students in this picture! Occupy Huntsville could use your help and enthusiasm. How about protesting something that will have an effect on your future?

I feel sorry for taxpaying parents of black/brown/poor Huntsville City School students. The powers that be, enabled by the media, care more about a school name change than educating and molding young minds to become productive members of society. And we wonder why there is a school to prison pipeline, and why those who can flee the HCS as fast as they can to the detriment of the those who can't.

Poverty and Death for thee but not for me. Says United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a Catholic. For all of my friend who are planning not to vote in November, think about this. The only thing standing between us and more Antonin Scalia's, Clarence Thomas's, John Roberts' and Samuel Alito's is Barack Hussein Obama. It's the Supreme Court, I won't call you stupid because you're not. There is a difference in being mad and disappointed and being stupid. People who are stuck on stupid are those who hate President Obama/democrats/liberals/ more than they love themselves.

Let me see if I have this right (pun intended), the same party who impeached President Clinton for trying to conceal a private, consensual, sexual affair, and a Supreme Court who allowed Paula Jones to bring a sexual harassment lawsuit against a sitting President now has the attitude that sexually harassed women had it coming?

There is more than a whiff of hypocrisy.

Po Mo vs an Average Joe

Congress Critter Mo Brooks (r.hypocrite) and his media enabler(The Huntsville Times) didn't count on an Average Joe attending his Town Hall Meeting asking some pesky questions. No Siree, he thought he was going to have his usual South Huntsville Civic (sic) Association gang of adoring fans. Note the tone of The Times reporting.

Brooks had a mostly friendly audience among the 300-plus people who attended the event sponsored by the South Huntsville Civic Association. However, not everyone agreed with the representative's conservative view points.
About a dozen people in the newly formed and loosely organized Occupy Huntsville group hammered Brooks on issues ranging from tax loopholes for corporations to the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows companies to donate to political campaigns just as citizens can.

It turns out Average Joe is not a member of Occupy Huntsville, so all the whining about negative press and co-opting the movement in an unsigned email from occupyhuntsville@gmail.com is moot.

We have gotten negative press from the media concerning the Mo Brooks meeting that took place yesterday. Some of the media statements that were made are: Some of the audience members booed the "Occupy" sympathizers, with one protester having his microphone yanked by security after he repeatedly interrupted Brooks and refused to let him speak." and "The small but vocal minority dominated most of the time devoted for questions." It is unfortunate that the media associated this disruptive occurrence with "Occupy" in any way, but we have no control over that.

Those of us who come together have varying political views and we do not try to influence one political view over another. We must be careful to prevent those who have political agendas from co-opting the movement. Many will attempt to use the name of OccupyHuntsville as a platform for promoting their own political agenda. Let's continue to stand in solidarity with OccupyWallst and its cause.

Memo to the Huntsville Media,I repeat, Average Joe is not a member of Occupy Huntsville, although I wish he would join.

A confrontation believed to be one of the first in the nation between a member of Congress and Occupy Wall Street affiliates continues to garner headlines and attention.

U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R) spoke to WHNT News 19 on Tuesday about the heated exchange that broke out at a town hall meeting the previous night. An Occupy Wall Street sympathizer ended up having his microphone removed by event coordinators after repeatedly ignoring requests to not interrupt Congressman Brooks during an exchange on campaign finance reporting.

Yep, Mo will do anything including having a citizens microphone removed by event coordinators to keep from answering questions from the Average Joe and Jane. I wonder if he would have yanked Joe the Plumbers" microphone? Naaaah.

Mostly I just you to know that I'm an independent moderate voter, not an official member of Occupy Huntsville. I'm an average lower middle class person, like most voters in my district. But I will say that I'm part of the "99%" as I'm not wealthy. And like the Occupy Wall Street people I'm sick of the political BS and do nothing Congress. Most Americans think there is way too much money in politics. Too many lobbyist. Too many ties between our elected officials and big corporations. I'm glad people are finally standing up. I've had enough so I decided attend that town hall. I didn't mean for my question to turn into "Average Joe" vs Mo, but I'm fed up with untrustworthy politicians like Mo Brooks

.

I wonder what part of 99% of the American people are FED UP with untrustworthy politicians like Mo Brooks don't they understand?

When will the media stop trying to smear the Occupy Wall Street movement? And yes, it is a movement. A movement of Average Joe's and Average Jane's of all races, religion and sexual orientation. Occupy Wall Street is a Profoundly Moral-not Political Movement.

Genuine Democracy is a time-consuming process. But that's exactly what the participants want it to be, so everyone can genuinely participate on an equal basis.

It's not wise for our elected officials to remove the microphone when taxpayers are trying to question them. That sounds like something an evil dictator would do in a dictatorship.

I'm just saying....

Mo Better Blues~A Tale of Two Town Halls

Congress Critter Mo Brooks (r.) South Huntsville Civic (sic) Association Town Hall meeting was occupied by members of Occupy Huntsville participants and other skeptics of Mo's brand supply side economic "conservatism."h/t mooncat.

This from the Huntsville Times account of the tense meeting, emphasis mine;

After Brooks finished the Power point presentation he gives at every town hall, Jones and others immediately got in line to ask often challenging questions.
The first woman in line asked why the government does not close corporate tax loopholes, allowing Brooks to make his oft-repeated point that increasing taxes on businesses and the wealthy hurts jobs.

When the woman began to press her point, the crowd grew noisy, with some shouting "Next!" to get her to step away from the microphone. That scene repeated itself several times throughout the evening as some in line challenged Brooks on his answers.

One of the more confrontational moments came when a man asked about the Gula Graham Group's fund-raising efforts on Brooks' behalf. While Brooks said the group had previously worked for him to raise money for the National Republican Committee and other efforts, he is now shopping for another fundraiser.

The man continued to ask Brooks about the organization and the money it raised for him, waving papers while the audience began to loudly object. Brooks at one point asked if there was any way to turn off the man's microphone so he could finish his response.

While some interaction between Brooks and those asking questions grew argumentative, Brooks encouraged the crowd to take the debate in stride.

Then I received this account in an email to a List serve of which I am a member from occupyhuntsville@gmail.com, emphasis mine.

OccupyHuntsville consists of any persons who choose to show solidarity with OccupyWallst in a peaceful manner. OccupyWallst is " fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations." The movement..."aims to expose how the richest 1% of people are writing the rules of an unfair global economy that is foreclosing on our future."1 This is the reason that brought people together. We all agree on this. OccupyWallst. is a "protest against bank bailouts, corporate greed, and the unchecked power of Wall Street in Washington ."1 OccupyHuntsville did not come together for political reasons but over our outrage of how the 1% has negatively influenced our economic well-being. This we can all agree on.

We must remember why we have come together and ask ourselves, "Does this action that I am about to take show solidarity with the aims of OccupyWallst in a peaceful manner?" OccupyHuntsville has been associated with a person who became disruptive at the Mo Brooks meeting by not allowing the Congressman to answer questions and having to have the microphone yanked from him somehow became associated with the OccupyHuntsville movement. We know that he did not represent OccupyHuntsville, We are a peaceful movement, and we must be careful not to cause disruption in the meetings of others as we do not wish others to cause disruption in our general assembly meetings nor push their political agendas.

We have gotten negative press from the media concerning the Mo Brooks meeting that took place yesterday. Some of the media statements that were made are: Some of the audience members booed the "Occupy" sympathizers, with one protester having his microphone yanked by security after he repeatedly interrupted Brooks and refused to let him speak." and "The small but vocal minority dominated most of the time devoted for questions." It is unfortunate that the media associated this disruptive occurrence with "Occupy" in any way, but we have no control over that.

Those of us who come together have varying political views and we do not try to influence one political view over another. We must be careful to prevent those who have political agendas from co-opting the movement. Many will attempt to use the name of OccupyHuntsville as a platform for promoting their own political agenda. Let's continue to stand in solidarity with OccupyWallst and its cause.

The email was unsigned, and included links to 1. www. occupywllst.org, " Occupations Spread to Over 100 US Cities", Posted Oct. 17, 2011, 8:20 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt, but not a link to OccupyHuntsville.org which leads me to believe the email was not sent by the group, but a defender of Mo Brooks trying to discredit the movement and intimidate participants.

I agree with everything in this response to the email from a List serve member who attended the meeting, emphasis mine;

I was at the meeting last night. It was Mo Brooks who kept interrupting and not allowing “the person” to finish his questions. Mo Brooks loves to talk and talk and talk. It was he who took up all the time, not “the person.”

His questions were legitimate, and he had a right to ask them. Perhaps it is because of Brooks’ shaky answers that the media, egged on by Brooks, I’m sure, is treating “the person” as though he is a criminal of some kind. The Huntsville Times uncovered that he was the ghost writer of letters-to-the-editor in 1992 praising himself as a county prosecutor. Dirty tricks is not new thing with the Congressman.

I hope “the person” returns. FYI, there were several people who asked similar questions. Thank God for those people. The first person to speak was a young lady and she sure held his feet to the fire. Mo was clearly startled by her questions. She even mentioned the occurrence of voter fraud in Madison County. Brooks said that was the first he’d heard about it and told her who to see. She replied that she’d seen every person he mentioned but that no changes had been made ......

These were probably the first clearly educated, informed people, to confront him at a “town hall” meeting. I hope he gets more of the same.

And would you believe he (Brooks) brought up Nancy Pelosi’s name? Will he ever lay off that lady? Remember Parker Griffith did the same thing. I think those two like the way her name rolls off their tongues. Griffith talked about her ALL the time. (By the way, I hear Parker may run for Mayor.) As someone who is supposed to be representing ALL the people, how can Brooks talk about Obama and Pelosi like they’re dogs when if he had any sense, he’d know there were Democrats in the audience?

Brooks told the audience three times that he hoped they kept sending him back to Congress. He’s a career politician. I don’t believe he has ever held down a regular job. I was rebuffed by the long line of questioners, but I was going to ask him as someone who has enjoyed government health care all of his life, he so fervently wants to “bring down” Obama care & prevent others from having the same health care he has.

Occupy Huntsville has a foot-hold now. I hope they don’t turn wimpy and become afraid to stand up to a career politician who believes wholeheartedly in the 1% and doesn’t seem to give a damn about the rest.

Occupy!