{"id":49140,"date":"2011-11-23T17:09:27","date_gmt":"2011-11-23T22:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=49140"},"modified":"2011-11-23T17:10:01","modified_gmt":"2011-11-23T22:10:01","slug":"easy-debate-tips-about-ows-you-can-use-at-thanksgiving-dinner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/by-fe-bongolan\/easy-debate-tips-about-ows-you-can-use-at-thanksgiving-dinner\/","title":{"rendered":"Easy debate tips about OWS you can use at Thanksgiving Dinner"},"content":{"rendered":"

We thought given the powerful position of the planets in Sagittarius — the sign of telling it like it is — and Mercury going retrograde Thanksgiving Day, that a little help was in order, in case you’re a part of a number of American families whose political views may run fully to the right of vegan. <\/em><\/p>\n

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Multibillionaire on stilts, Occupy Seattle, Photo by Genevieve Hathaway.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ministry of Truth, aka Jesse La Greca, is from New York and is a regularly featured blogger at Daily Kos. His outstanding responses to the mainstream media’s serious and often non-serious questions about the OWS Movement have earned him national attention. Here are his recommendations<\/a> if and when your family engages in a dinner table debate about current-day politics. — fb.<\/strong>
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by MinistryOfTruth<\/a><\/p>\n

I thought this would help us keep the conversation about Occupy Wall Street from veering off into nonsense when we have to discuss it in the media. These are also useful when you are talking with your friends and family, whether it is on Facebook or in the real world, or just at your thanksgiving dinner table.<\/p>\n

If someone makes the following statements, here are my suggested responses<\/p>\n

Statement: \u00a0 \u00a0“Occupy Wall Street protesters are dirty and need a bath.”<\/p>\n

Answer : “Don’t change the subject, we are talking about reforming the banks and our government. We need to clean up Wall Street and Washington DC. That is more important than what you are talking about.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Remember that it is important NOT to let a conversation about Occupy Wall Street become a discussion of petty side issues. Immediately shift away from side issues and get back to the BIG issues of bank accountability and the corporate lobbyist influence over our democracy.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Statement: \u00a0 \u00a0“Occupy Wall Street protesters are (insert distracting Right Wing talking point about socialism\/anarchy\/personal insults here)”<\/p>\n

Answer: \u00a0 \u00a0 “Don’t change the subject. Conservatives who hated Martin Luther King Jr used to say the same thing about him.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Make sure to dismiss insulting talking points as fast as you can so you can get back on message about the good things OccupyWallStreet is working to achieve. Then tell your story about the good things and good people you have seen at OWS.<\/p>\n

Statement: \u00a0 \u00a0 “Occupy Wall Street protesters should get a job”<\/p>\n

Answer: \u00a0 \u00a0“We would love to as soon as Republicans stop filibustering job bills so they can blame President Obama on the bad economy George W. Bush left him. We Occupy for Accountability. Why are you afraid to talk about corporate accountability?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Frankly, I have ZERO patience for Republicans who scream “GET A JOB!” while Republican politicians do everything they can to filibuster and block job bills and stimulus bills. Remind Republicans that they helped create this mess and shift the conversation back to OWS in a positive way by discussing accountability for corporate politicians and corrupt big business.<\/p>\n

NOTE: Occupy Wall Street is NOT about Democrats or Republicans, it is about ALL of us. Republican voters are hurting too, we are here to help them as well.<\/em><\/p>\n

Statement: \u00a0 \u00a0 “Why doesn’t Occupy Wall Street have a clear message?”<\/p>\n

Answer: \u00a0 “We do, but the people telling you that we don’t do not want to honestly discuss cleaning up Wall Street and Washington D.C., let me tell you more . . .”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Simple and short, OWS has a clear message about reforming Big Business and Government. Remind people that OWS DOES have a clear message, but some people simply do not want us to have this honest conversation about our future so they distract with side issues. Tell people that OWS DOES have a clear message, and then tell them what OWS means to you.<\/p>\n

Statement: \u00a0 \u00a0 “Occupy Wall Street is associated with people who have done criminal things (drugs\/rape\/etc) . . . ”<\/p>\n

Answer: \u00a0 \u00a0“Who is the bigger criminal? Occupy Wall Street or Wall Street? Surely OWS could never compete with Wall Street on the matter of whose crimes are worse. I don’t want to dismiss criminality, I support accountability for everyone, but this is a side issue that distracts from the larger conversation we want to have about our future.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Address the question, than dismiss it and go back to talking about accountability and our future. Stay on message, and the message is “Occupy Wall Street stands for accountability and justice for ALL, not just those who can’t afford lobbyists and high priced attorneys<\/p>\n

Statement: \u00a0 \u00a0“I saw on (Fox News\/Rush Limbaugh, insert corrupt media outlet here) that people at Occupy Wall Street are doing X”<\/p>\n

Answer: \u00a0 \u00a0“Those aren’t real news sources, they are propaganda outlets for corporations and the corporate agenda. You shouldn’t believe everything you see on TV or hear on the radio.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Again, address, dismiss, and then get back on message about the good things Occupy Wall Street is trying to achieve.<\/p>\n

The formula I would advice you to use is very simple, and it works whether you are on camera or at the grocery store or church in your hometown or sitting around the Thanksgiving dinner table. Address the concern, dismiss it as a side issue that detracts from the larger discussion about OWS and our future, and then talk about the good things that OWS means to you.<\/p>\n

If the conversation goes into “So and so said X about bad things about OWS” remember to remind people that the politicians and pundits who are bad mouthing OWS are the very same corrupt politicians and pundits who are selling an agenda that only benefits the wealthiest 1% at the expense of everyone else.<\/p>\n

The reality is, corrupt politicians and pundits are TERRIFIED of having a conversation about income inequality, lobbyists or anything else when the conversation is based on FACTS, they can NOT win that debate, so they would rather change the subject to anything else. DO NOT LET THEM! Don’t let them change the subject, just keep going back to the MAIN issue, that the rich are richer than ever while at the same time the other 99% of us are being asked to sacrifice and suffer, that the lobbyists for big business would rather bribe our politicians than pay their fair taxes, and that the same politicians and pundits who are bad-mouthing Occupy Wall Street are fighting to defend corruption, and they will lie and say anything to protect their corporate gravy train. Then go back to talking about the good things you have seen and heard about Occupy Wall Street.<\/p>\n

Talk about our library. Talk about our love and compassion for one another. Talk about Jesus stuff, like healing the sick and feeding the poor. Don’t get sucked into conversations about violence or the police. Stay positive, and talk about the good things you have seen in Occupy Wall Street and why everyone who isn’t a multimillionaire should support Occupy Wall Street.<\/p>\n

The reality is that the corrupt politicians and pundits out there who are bad mouthing Occupy Wall Street are a lot like the one person at your Thanksgiving dinner who you know is going to make things uncomfortable, the person who is going to say something awful or embarrassing, that guy. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. We should try to be respectful, but we should also be determined to not let petty side issues derail this honest conversation we want to have.<\/p>\n

Just some thoughts I wanted to share. If you have other questions or need help answering questions about Occupy Wall Street, just let me know in the comments below and I will be glad to help if I can.<\/p>\n

Cheers<\/p>\n

Peace and love to all,<\/p>\n

Jesse LaGreca<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We thought given the powerful position of the planets in Sagittarius — the sign of telling it like it is — and Mercury going retrograde Thanksgiving Day, that a little help was in order, in case you’re a part of a number of American families whose political views may run fully to the right of … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[301],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49140"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49140\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}