of how defenders of the nation's unofficial (i.e., corporate) government are at an utter loss to respond to the growing protests with any sensible narrative that ordinary people might be expected to believe.
CNN gives this account of Bloomberg's rant:
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a WOR radio appearance that city's labor unions depend on salaries that "come from the taxes paid by the people they're trying to vilify."
Bloomberg did describe the city's unemployment rate as "unacceptably high," and acknowledged that "a lot of people are disaffected."
"Some are legit, some aren't," Bloomberg said, describing the concerns of the demonstrators in Lower Manhattan.
His comments coincided with the city's announcement that 700 education workers will be laid off in an effort to close a budget gap. They also follow recently released census data that shows New York's poverty level has increased to 20.1%, the highest in more than a decade.
'Scuse me, Mr. Mayor? You're saying that the high rollers whose legally-abetted tax evasion blows a Cayman-Islands-sized hole in the national budget, and whose lying thievery took down the economy, are somehow the tax-paying saviors of the perilously-dangling folks still lucky enough to have jobs? That's the best you can do in trying to fend off widespread public loathing of Wall Street? Gee, Your Honor, you're more desperate than I thought. No wonder you can't see the hilarious buffoonery of your presuming to judge which of the protesters' demands are "legit" and which are not.
The same goes for Republican High Hypocrite Eric Cantor, who – in the midst of the G.O.P.'s long-running campaign of class and race warfare to shield the plundering rich and to vilify any brown people they can blame for stealing jobs or building bombs – now rails against what he calls the "growing mobs" of Wall Street protesters who are "pitting ... Americans against Americans." That one's worth a good chuckle, Eric.
Last and least, President Irrelevant mouthed some pretty words about how protesters "are giving voice to a more broad-based frustration about how our financial system works," while he then went on to defend Wall Street. Yawn. Nudge me when he says something worth paying attention to.
Here is what matters: Most Americans (including the 75% who favor a tax targeting millionaires) know that the corporate sector is both dishonest and in charge, and their anger as citizens, however lacking in clarity and leadership, is based in reality.
So, Mr. Mayor and Mr. President and Mr. House Majority Leader, you'd better work a little harder at generating excuses and distractions. I know you've got your best minds on it. You're going to need them.