I’ve generally refrained from commenting on the whole “occupy” movement because… what’s there to comment on?

Oh sure, there’s been a lot of little stuff that’s generally made me groan. For instance, double-standards like a city government being hostile to groups like the Tea Party, but then catering to Occupy. Seeing Occupiers blind to their own hypocrisy. I love how they’ve been demanding free food, like people owe it to them, but many of them believe they are owed. Then there are people bringing them free food… but what about people who could actually use free food? There’s lots of hungry and homeless out there; where is the compassion for them? The ones that holler for more government control, that corporations are evil, that lean towards Socialism… then when Bank of America behaves badly they all pull their money out and take it elsewhere… you know, like any good free market capitalist would do. They turn to the government to solve their problems, but at the same time say the government is causing the problems. They think it’s wrong for corporations to make political contributions, but then switch their business to corporations that make political contributions… but it’s ok, because they’re “left” contributions. So, evil’s alright, if it’s the evil I agree with. To constantly mix messages and make themselves come off like a bunch of fruitcakes… you know, like they did to the Tea Partiers. Pot, kettle, black.

I could go on.

*sigh*

So… let’s shove all that annoyingness aside.

As I sit back and observe what’s going on, it’s all very simple.

They’re angry.

Just like the Tea Party folks.

Oh sure, there are differences in the nuances of their anger, but really, their anger is pretty much the same. They are two groups that are seeing how the world is going and do not like the direction of it. The Tea Party folk see the government side of it, the Occupiers see the Big Corporate Money side of it… but they’re just 2 heads of the same hydra.

Yeoman, over at The Hall of Manly Excellence, wrote a love letter, which pretty much sums it up for me.

Our government, the most powerful corporation in the history of humanity, is no longer in the business of preventing groups of people from enforcing their wills upon one another. We have traded our liberty for wish fulfillment backed up by the government monopoly on violence. From their various lists of demands it would appear that the Occupiers want to remove the advantages given to some groups while increasing the advantages provided to other groups. If any Occupiers read this, I hope you’ll decide instead that our government needs to get out of the political favoritism business altogether and get back to the business of defending individual liberty. Pretty please with organic trail mix on top.

Go read the whole thing.

The sad part is, I’m not sure anything is going to change. The Almighty Obama was to be The ChOsen One to bring Hope and Change… but come on people, he’s a politician like any other. New boss, worse than the old boss, but still the same sort of boss. He didn’t bring and good change, he dashed a lot of hopes, and demonstrated that he’s as much a scumbag as most every other politician out there.

Pay attention, folks, because your favorite politician is likely perpetuating the very evil you’re rallying against. Do your homework.

But what bothers me more? Y’all are going to vote for them again.

And so, nothing will change.

The difficult part is, our current system doesn’t allow for a better alternative. We can’t vote for “none of the above”. We can’t cast votes of no-confidence. If all we have to choose from is a Giant Douche and a Turd Sandwich, it’s a guarantee we’ll get one of them and things will continue to suck.

I think the biggest change I’d like to see? Direct responsibility. If I screw up in life, be it in my personal life, my family life, my job, my company, whatever… I am responsible. Bad decisions hold direct and painful consequences for me, so I’m highly motivated to make good decisions. I’d like to see public officials held directly responsible for their actions. Be it a Congressman, a Senator, a President, a police officer, whatever. Maybe we’ll see less knee-jerk legislation. Maybe we’ll see them actually read things. Maybe we’ll see a lot less bullshit going on, if they know a screw-up means their ass in a sling.

I can dream…

The Texas Department of Public Safety just issued a press release.

Six of the seven Mexican Cartels have established command and control networks in Texas and they are recruiting Texas students to support their drug, human, currency and weapon smuggling operations on both sides of the Texas/Mexico border. These Cartels and their operatives are extremely violent, torturing and killing thousands of people in Mexico, and they use transnational and Texas prison gangs to further their criminal operations in Mexico and the U.S.

Go read the whole press release.

And remember folks… we keep drugs illegal because it’s the only way to keep our children safe from the dangers of drugs.

*sigh*

Four Democrat State Senators in New York think we have too much free speech:

Proponents of a more refined First Amendment argue that this freedom should be treated not as a right but as a privilege — a special entitlement granted by the state on a conditional basis that can be revoked if it is ever abused or maltreated.

Uh…..

I thought Democrats were all about The First Amendment (by GAWD!).

Ah but I see… this is “thinking of the children”, so that makes it all ok. Big Nanny is acceptable in that case, right?

Or perhaps we should just use your own logic against you and revoke your own “privilege” to speak so freely, because you’ve certainly maltreated this privilege by the behavior you’ve exhibited here.

Freedom. You fail at understanding it.