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News & ArtsThursday, December 8, 2011
Occupy / Politics / Economy What Republicans Really Think of Working Class Americans
Posted by Goldy on Thu, Dec 8, 2011 at 11:10 AM
If you want to know what most Republican representatives really think about the 99 Percent, you need look no further than Rep. Joe Walsh's (R-IL) Twitter feed. "My office was invaded by the Occupy Protesters today & all I saw were $1000 laptops & vomit on the carpet. Thank God for #febreze," Walsh tweeted late Tuesday night, presumably after a few too many beers.
"Febreze!" Ha, ha!
In fact, Walsh's office was visited by a couple dozen unemployed or underemployed constituents—taxpaying voters in his and surrounding districts—and all he could offer them was an insult. Asshole.
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His constiuents have the ability to organize his ouster in the next election. They should direct their efforts there as well as occupying now.
4
Working class? 28% of AMericans have the privilege of college degrees. 75% of 'occupiers' either have degrees or are in college. Working class they ain't.
5
did they vomit on his carpet or not?
so, purchasing a "$1000 laptop" before you become unemployed, but not selling it after it depreciates and you become unemployed invalidates your cause. got it.
so, purchasing a "$1000 laptop" before you become unemployed, but not selling it after it depreciates and you become unemployed invalidates your cause. got it.
7
If you are trying to clean vomit with Febreeze, you are REALLY doing it wrong. But most Republicans have never done any real work, so I can see why they'd be confused.
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I don't quite understand your outrage, Goldy. Are you honestly surprised? All I'm doing is rolling my eyes. It's par for the course with this guy, and in keeping with what a lot of tools of the 1% are already saying.
10
He is the deadbeat dad. He's also the guy who got all huffy with a constituent asking him a reasonable question at his last "town meeting" - which was captured on video. Even by Illinois standards, the guy is an embarrassment. I only regret that I will not be able to work against him in the next election because of redistricting.
11
Amazing how he was able to ignore the PEOPLE standing in front of him. He's not being re-elected.
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Also: if one of the "constituents" did in fact laugh at his carpet, he's got a right to be pissed. Especially since, as Catalina points out, Febreze isn't going to help, and he's going to be smelling it for the rest of his term.
14
@4, it's almost as if the structure of the population and workforce is changing over time. Why don't you go look up statistics about educational attainment by age group or generation, then compare them to employment vs. age?
But I doubt you need to go look it up. I think you're being deliberately obtuse. I think you already know that educational attainment is significantly higher in younger generations, while employment and income relative to level of educational attainment are lower. In other words, your granddad probably has no degree and, historically, good employment and income; your parents probably have some college education between them and relatively less income for it; and your friends probably all have Bachelor's degrees and are unemployed or have shit entry-level jobs. College education IS the new working class.
Population structure matters, friend.
But I doubt you need to go look it up. I think you're being deliberately obtuse. I think you already know that educational attainment is significantly higher in younger generations, while employment and income relative to level of educational attainment are lower. In other words, your granddad probably has no degree and, historically, good employment and income; your parents probably have some college education between them and relatively less income for it; and your friends probably all have Bachelor's degrees and are unemployed or have shit entry-level jobs. College education IS the new working class.
Population structure matters, friend.
15
and just what do democrats think of working people? that they have to give them just enough lip service to get their votes? don't fool yourself. one party is just open w/ its contempt. the other feels the same way, they just lie about it.
17
@14
Um hmm. My grandad on one side didn't have a college degree. He built rail-cars and repaired locomotives for BN. On the other side that grandfather owned a small chain of grocery stores, of the size we'd call convenience markets now. No college degree there either.
Graduate with a degree today, though and what have you learned? Well, how awful the United States is, for a start. You've learned how you can't make a living because you're being kept down by a regressive tax/social/economic/political structure. You've learned a whole lot of BS from far left pony tail wearing tenured morons, but strangely not one usable job skill.
So which contributes more to society? My grandfathers who worked and did something useful, or the I-phone carrying whiner who won't work even if they can get a job with their useless degree?
Um hmm. My grandad on one side didn't have a college degree. He built rail-cars and repaired locomotives for BN. On the other side that grandfather owned a small chain of grocery stores, of the size we'd call convenience markets now. No college degree there either.
Graduate with a degree today, though and what have you learned? Well, how awful the United States is, for a start. You've learned how you can't make a living because you're being kept down by a regressive tax/social/economic/political structure. You've learned a whole lot of BS from far left pony tail wearing tenured morons, but strangely not one usable job skill.
So which contributes more to society? My grandfathers who worked and did something useful, or the I-phone carrying whiner who won't work even if they can get a job with their useless degree?
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@17 So I take it you go to a faith healer then? Clearly doctors and nurses with their college educations must have no usable skills? You must also have no use for accountants, lawyers, computer programmers, engineers, architects, scientists, etc. since every college education contains absolutely no usable skills. I'd call you a moron but that's already been well established by your comment.
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While I agree, Joe Walsh is an asshole, he's not an asshole for commenting about some protester throwing up on his carpet.
http://dailycaller.com/2011/12/07/rep-jo…
Oh and its hard to not look like a hipocrit when you protest about the massive income gap between rich and poor, when holding a 1,000+ MacBook.
http://dailycaller.com/2011/12/07/rep-jo…
Oh and its hard to not look like a hipocrit when you protest about the massive income gap between rich and poor, when holding a 1,000+ MacBook.
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@17: Not to mention that the USA, after leading the world in research and development, is beginning to fall behind because we aren't educating enough scientists. China is pulling ahead because they take science education more seriously; we do NOT want them becoming the frontrunner.
I have a good deal of disdain for people who get a degree just to have a degree. But most people who go to college work for a degree because they know how they want to put it to use.
In short: fuck you, you elitist prick.
I have a good deal of disdain for people who get a degree just to have a degree. But most people who go to college work for a degree because they know how they want to put it to use.
In short: fuck you, you elitist prick.
21
So Grandpaw was one of those lazy union workers that destroyed the railroads, Seattleblahs? Did you disown him?
Which railroad did he really work for? The BN was only in existence for about twenty-six years. That's not enough time to build a real career, worthy of a Highly Theoretical Seattleblahs family member. Or was he on welfare the rest of the time?
Which railroad did he really work for? The BN was only in existence for about twenty-six years. That's not enough time to build a real career, worthy of a Highly Theoretical Seattleblahs family member. Or was he on welfare the rest of the time?
22
These jerkwads couldn't be stating their 'case' any more plainly, as they swish their fine haberdashery away from possible contamination by, ugh, the people...
...who, incidentally Rep Walsh, are your employers. You 'serve', or not, at the pleasure of the people, Rep Walsh, a fact you seem to have conveniently forgotten.
You will be reminded.
...who, incidentally Rep Walsh, are your employers. You 'serve', or not, at the pleasure of the people, Rep Walsh, a fact you seem to have conveniently forgotten.
You will be reminded.
23
This is for seattleblues, but the rest of you will probably enjoy it more. Brother Can you Spare a Dime "Once I built a railroad..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eih67rlGN…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eih67rlGN…
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I don't think you really took my meaning, Sb. For that matter, I don't think you really understand the implications of what you said.
Both your grandfathers got career work without degrees, yes? This is what you are saying? They both got living-wage jobs with no secondary education, in a time when people who did have any kind of university degree were considered educated, respected individuals?
And now people who are getting what is nominally the same degree that would have made your grandparents' peers into Men of Letters graduate and find themselves fighting for call center or other bullshit service jobs that have no benefits and no job security.
And somehow you think this makes what point exactly? I mean, clearly we agree about the problematic issue of degree inflation, but you seem to have derived from that some kind of, I don't know, fundamental attribution error that makes this all the damn liberal ponytailed faggot communists' fault by way of character deficiency and "stupidity"?
You've really got a hard-on for the ol' American anti-intellectualism, don't you?
Both your grandfathers got career work without degrees, yes? This is what you are saying? They both got living-wage jobs with no secondary education, in a time when people who did have any kind of university degree were considered educated, respected individuals?
And now people who are getting what is nominally the same degree that would have made your grandparents' peers into Men of Letters graduate and find themselves fighting for call center or other bullshit service jobs that have no benefits and no job security.
And somehow you think this makes what point exactly? I mean, clearly we agree about the problematic issue of degree inflation, but you seem to have derived from that some kind of, I don't know, fundamental attribution error that makes this all the damn liberal ponytailed faggot communists' fault by way of character deficiency and "stupidity"?
You've really got a hard-on for the ol' American anti-intellectualism, don't you?
25
Don't blame Seattleblah's. It's tough when the professor you've been sleeping with dumps you. People tend to get bitter.
But you really need to move on, Seattleblahs. That was twenty years ago. He's never leaving his wife.
But you really need to move on, Seattleblahs. That was twenty years ago. He's never leaving his wife.
27
@19: Come on... really? Here's how it works: each delegation is largely made up of rank and file workers, the majority of which are unemployed, underemployed, or underpaid (like the single mother working 60 hours a week at three part-time jobs, none of which provide benefits.) But each delegation also has organizers attached, plus journalists and bloggers like me. Had I been at Walsh's office they might have sneered at my MacBook and iPhone and video camera... but I wasn't part of the protest. I was merely documenting it.
So the $1,000 dollar laptop line is bullshit. Most people were not carting around laptops.
So the $1,000 dollar laptop line is bullshit. Most people were not carting around laptops.
28
Well, Joe, if you hadn't been facedown drunk on your office carpet, maybe you'd have been able to see something other than your own pool of vomit. Life's Been Good, indeed.
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@27: He takes known liars at their word, what do you expect from his ability to think independently?
30
@19, you know, these people haven't been unemployed for their entire lives. Most of them had jobs before and laptops don't evaporate when you lose your job.
@17, You said:
"Graduate with a degree today, though and what have you learned? Well, how awful the United States is, for a start."
I hear this from conservatives all the time and I just don't understand it. Where the fuck did you people go to school? I was in NY (that fine liberal hellhole) through high school then PA for college and I never took the "Death to America" class that seems to have been a requirement for all conservatives.
@17, You said:
"Graduate with a degree today, though and what have you learned? Well, how awful the United States is, for a start."
I hear this from conservatives all the time and I just don't understand it. Where the fuck did you people go to school? I was in NY (that fine liberal hellhole) through high school then PA for college and I never took the "Death to America" class that seems to have been a requirement for all conservatives.
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