Jane Chastain : Politically Direct

“Occupy Wall Street” is a movement in search of a goal. The growing hoards of malcontents offer a convenient stage for anyone or any group with a cause.

It’s a street fair for the disenfranchised with too much time and money on their hands. This may seem incompatible with one of its reoccurring themes: social and economic inequity, but hear me out. The hoards that have gathered in New York, Los Angeles, Denver, Boston, etc. do not appear to be the underclass. They are not malnourished or diseased. As street mobs go they are well-dressed and appear quite comfortable.

If anything, they resemble their brethren in Greece. They are coddled, overpaid and over subsidized by the very systems they despise. If this were not the case, how in the world could they afford these extended vacations? To be sure, many are sleeping on the street. However, many have more conventional accommodations and use their state of the art pop-ups as a convenient place to hang with the crowd in order to whine about their lack of power, political influence, wealth or whatever. Read the rest of this entry »

The question for voters in the 2012 election is not, “Whom do you trust?” but, “What do you trust?” It’s not about Obama versus a Republican candidate, regardless of who he or she may be. It’s about your basic philosophy of government.

Do you put your trust in the free market or do you trust the government to give you a better life?

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There she stands like a queen looking down on her subjects from the steps of her summer palace in San Francisco in her designer suits and her $300 haircut. Her aging skin is pulled tight from the latest nip and tuck from the royal cosmetic surgeon. If you look closely, that plastic smile has a hint of a sneer.

I couldn’t applaud when Nancy Pelosi became the first woman Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Just knowing that she is now third in line to the presidency makes my blood run cold. Read the rest of this entry »