Back in mid-October, Business Insider ran a snarky little article, entitled, “Tea Party Or Occupy Wall Street? Bet You Can’t Tell The Difference“. Glynnis MacNichol starts out with this facile comparison:
Ever since the Occupy Wall St. movement caught the mainstream media’s attention the group has frequently been dubbed the Left’s version of the Tea Party… Certainly the coverage often sounds the same. Namely, a lot of cable hosts and newspaper pundits broadly speculating in bold terms what it might all mean.
For the most part their conclusions fall along partisan lines and sound something like this:
- The [fill in the group] is irresponsible, uneducated, dangerous and isn’t at all representative of the country.
- The [fill in the group] is a true American patriot, voicing the opinion of many, about the reality of the country, and is being treated badly by the press.
Sadly, Ms. MacNichol doesn’t bother to go any farther than her compatriots and delve into why one group might be considered dangerous while another might actually represent a majority opinion. She compounds her error by presuming her readership is as ignorant as she is:
Check out the signs we pulled from protests from both groups (some in 2009, some in the last month) and see if you can correctly choose which sign belongs to which group.
It’s not as easy as you think. [Emphasis mine]
Actually, if you’ve been paying any kind of attention, it really is quite easy. Click the link to go to the “bet you can’t tell the difference” slideshow. If you’re not a complete moron, you should be able to distinguish which are which with little trouble. My comments for each photo below. But take the quiz first: bet you can tell the difference!
Click here to see photos and guess which are which.
Click MORE to see my comments.
#1) Hand-made sign, American flag stickers, clean language. Verdict: Tea Party
#2) Crowd of scruffy people, 99% button on Captain America. Verdict: Occupy
#3) Lots of flags! “Can you hear us now” quote. Verdict: Tea Party
#4) Tidy people standing in order along a barricade, American flags. Verdict: Tea Party
#5) Unkempt protester with tattoos, incomprehensible sign, upside-down American flag. Verdict: Occupy
#6) Invocation of Jesus for a political purpose. Verdict: Occupy
#7) Clean, smiling protesters, tidy hand-made and polite signs. Verdict: Tea Party
#8) More smiling protesters, lack of hippies. Verdiot: Tea Party
#9) Tattoo, vulgar language on sign. Verdict: Occupy
#10) Long hair, bandana, scruffy-looking, not smiling. Verdict: Occupy
So here I am, clean, smiling and waving my flag. Verdict: Must be a proud Tea Partier!
Stoutcat
Grand Rants 