Two weeks into Occupy Wall Street protests, movement is at a crossroads

I am simply using the same logic that many on the left use against the tea party.

mysteryman wrote:

I am simply using the same logic that many on the left use against the tea party.

You're simply embarrassing yourself.

mysteryman wrote:

I am simply using the same logic that many on the left use against the tea party.

You're simply embarrassing yourself.

I am simply using the same logic that many on the left use against the tea party.
There are a few racists and associated assholes in the tea party (or at least they claim to be), and the left paints all of the tea party people with that brush.
Many of them still call the tea party racisttoday.

Are there a disproportionate number of racists in the Tea Party movement? Hell, yes.

It's clear, though, that racism and xenophobia has been a systemic problem for the Tea Party.

Really? Based on what?

What you do not see regularly is racist signs at political rallies. (Except at Tea Party events.)

Based on?

You do not regularly hear reports of people being called "nigger." (Except at Tea Party protests)

Nonsense. Offer some proof of this outrageous claim.

Is every teabagger a racist? No.
Are there a disproportionate number of racists in the Tea Party movement? Hell, yes.

Again, based on what?

MM drew a conclusion about the Portland Occupiers based on their General Assembly resolutions. How is this misrepresenting these folks based on the behavior of a few?

Specific racial slurs

While at a Tea Party event on February 27, 2009, a photo was taken of TeaParty.org founder and president Dale Robertson with a sign that said "Congress = Slaveowner, Taxpayer = Niggar".[260] It has been reported that he was ejected from the event because of the offensive nature of the sign, and Houston Tea Party Society leaders ousted him from the society shortly after. It was also reported that Robertson intended to sell the domain TeaParty.org; however, as of May 2011 he is named the "President & Founder" on the TeaParty.org "Founder" section.[261][262][263][264][265][266]
Reports of slurs at health care reform protests

On March 20, 2010, during a rally at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. before the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Bill was voted on, several black lawmakers said that demonstrators shouted "nigger" at them.[267][268] Congressman Emanuel Cleaver was spat upon, although it is unclear if this was deliberate, and said he heard the slurs. Congressman Barney Frank, who is gay, was called a "faggot".[267][269] Representative André Carson said that while walking with John Lewis and his chief of staff from the Cannon building, amid chants of "kill the bill", he heard the "n-word at least 15 times". Carson said he heard it coming from different places in the crowd, and one man "just rattled it off several times".[270][271] Carson quoted Lewis as saying, "You know, this reminds me of a different time."[270] Heath Shuler, a Democratic U.S. representative from North Carolina commented on the tenor of the protests, saying: "It was the most horrible display of protesting I have ever seen in my life." He also confirmed hearing the slur against Frank.[272][273]

While attending the health care rally in Washington, D.C., on March 21, 2010, Springboro, Ohio Tea Party founder Sonny Thomas posted a racial slur on the Springboro Tea Party Twitter webpage he managed. Directed specifically at the Hispanic community, it stated "Illegals everywhere today! So many spics makes me feel like a speck. Grrr. Wheres my gun!?" On April 14, 2010, according to CNN anchor Rick Sanchez, when CNN contacted Thomas to ask for an explanation, Thomas initially said he was making a reference to a Bee Gee's song. Thomas posted the following on the Springboro Tea Party website, "I take full responsibility for the action and it was not my intention to be insensitive. While it is never appropriate to make such a facetious comment, I hope that we can put this issue behind us for the greater good."[274][275] The posting triggered cancellations by several local and statewide political candidates and leaders scheduled to speak at a Springboro Tea Party rally on April 17. An Ohio Republican state Sen. Shannon Jones boycotted the rally and stated, "I don't think it says anything about the movement per se". A Dayton Tea Party official, Rob Scott, claimed that the posts were "classless" and did not represent the national Tea Party movement as a whole.[276][277]

Occupy protests face new issue in deaths
(Associated Press, November 11, 2011)

The anti-Wall Street movement that has spread across the United States since mid-September seems too young to be dealing with a worrying new issue: Death.

Police on Friday were investigating a man found dead at an Occupy protest camp in Utah, while authorities continued to look into a fatal shooting just outside the Oakland encampment in California and the apparent suicide of a military veteran at a camp in Vermont's largest city the day before.

The deaths come after a 53-year-old man was found dead inside a tent at the Occupy New Orleans encampment on Tuesday, which was reported by The Times-Picayune newspaper. The report said he appeared to have been dead for two days.

In Salt Lake City, the police chief ordered all protesters to leave a city park after authorities on Friday found the body of the man, who was in his 40s. Police said he likely died from a combination of drugs and carbon monoxide poisoning. Authorities found a propane heater inside his tent.

Police Chief Chris Burbank said the group will have to leave by Saturday evening or risk arrest.

Meanwhile, the Oakland killing strained relations even further between local officials and protesters. A preliminary investigation into the gunfire Thursday that left a man dead suggests it resulted from a fight between two groups of men at or near the camp on a plaza in front of Oakland's City Hall, police Chief Howard Jordan said.

Investigators did not yet know if the men were associated with Occupy Oakland, but they were looking into reports that some protest participants tried to break up the altercation, Jordan said.

In Vermont, police said preliminary investigations show a 35-year-old military veteran fatally shot himself in the head Thursday inside his tent at an Occupy Wall Street camp in City Hall Park. The name of the man was being withheld because not all of his family has been notified.

Deputy Chief Andi Higbee told reporters the shooting raised questions about whether the protest would be allowed to continue.

"Our responsibility is to keep the public safe. When there is a discharge of a firearm in a public place like this, it's good cause to be concerned, greatly concerned," Higbee said.

That's also the feeling with some people in Oakland, where the homicide was the city's 101st this year.

"Tonight's incident underscores the reason why the encampment must end. The risks are too great," Mayor Jean Quan, who has been criticized for issuing mixed signals about the camp, said in a statement Thursday.

Protest leaders said the shooting involved outsiders and was only connected to their ongoing protest of U.S. financial institutions to the extent that poverty breeds violence.

"This one heinous immoral crime should not overshadow all of the good deeds, positive energy and the overall goals that the movement is attempting to establish," protester Khalid Shakur, 43.

In Salt Lake City, the police chief ordered all protesters to leave a city park after authorities on Friday found the body of the man, who was in his 40s. Police said he likely died from a combination of drugs and carbon monoxide poisoning. Authorities found a propane heater inside his tent.

I am simply using the same logic that many on the left use against the tea party.