Over the last few years, Americans dressed as Benjamin Franklin or other well-known red-blooded patriots have been joined at rallies and protests on the Mall in Washington and on Main Streets to yell about how they were going to “take our country back.” Fox News extolled the importance of these homegrown protests as Jon Stewart poked fun on the Daily Show calling them orchestrated political events.
In today’s we-can-yell-louder-than-you-can political environment, what goes around, comes around.
In the last few weeks, demonstrators dressed as zombies or mindless creatures have been joined by many others at rallies and protests around the nation to accuse “corporate America of stealing our country.” After waiting a few days to check with each other about whether zombie-palooza was newsworthy or not, many in the media are reporting about the significance of these organic demonstrations as right leaning pundits claim those on the left have manufactured these events to perpetuate a war between the classes.
Senator Chuck Grassley made this assessment of the Occupy rallies while at KCCI News on Thursday, “You don’t find a consistency in it that you normally would with a protest that’s going to be successful. So I assume that it’s a lot of unemployed young people looking for some dates.”
I could say the same about Congress – ba dum bump.
Senator Grassley who is quick to diminish left-handed speech and his colleagues on the other side of the aisle who dismiss those who support the right’s demagoguery need to take note. The Tea Party and Occupy protests shouldn’t be dismissed. Each says something about the simmering mood in modern America.
Our political system is broken. The majority of those elected in recent years hunker down under the strong-arm protection of the most partisan among them. Acknowledging the legitimacy of the other side and their point of view is considered sedition. Those with R’s dangling after their names seemingly hyperventilate every time they hear a person with a D designation speak and the D’s nearly stagger with rage when an R opens his mouth. Both sides are blind to the reality that the same fuel, the volatility of feeling helpless, powers the Tea Party and the Occupy movements alike.
I have never had the urge to throw on a tri-cornered hat or paint scars on my face and march off to yell and scream with a bunch of other hotheads. Don’t get me wrong, thanks in part to my daughter I have a renewed appreciation for the power of theater, I just like to take mine in a more traditional theatrical setting, not packaged as protest. Nor can it be said I haven’t been viewed as a hothead, I just feel silly in costumes.
Here’s the thing, the lovers of eighteenth century attire and horror make-up and their respective comrades are all looking for leaders. Leaders take more interest in moving the country forward than they do in moving their political power base forward. The funny thing about that is a leader who does the former almost always simultaneously does the latter. The majority of today’s political class do not have a clue how to lead and those who do haven’t the nerve to stand-up to the bullies in charge, regardless of party.
Senator Grassley makes one valid point about the protesters. Many of them are unemployed or underemployed. This has made them disenfranchised just as many of those who rallied on the Mall in front of Glenn Beck were.
Instead of disparaging those seeking to be heard, those in elected office need to give these throngs a voice by climbing out of the bunker and trying to collaborate to improve America’s situation.
Instead of electing those who parrot back protest chants disguised as a political platform, the electorate needs to send people to office who want to do the job instead of those who simply lust for power.
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Graham Gillette can be reached at grahamgillette@gmail.comThis entry was first published as a Des Moines Register guest opinion .
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