Kaptur Praises Occupy Wall Street Protesters
Marcy Kaptur defended the Occupy Wall Street political demonstration from the derision of her colleagues yesterday, rising to the floor of the House of Representatives to say:
“Some pundits are criticizing the Wall Street demonstrators as unfocused, inchoate, and disorganized. Well, let me render this opinion:
It is Congress that is unfocused, inchoate, and disorganized. It is Congress that has not met its obligation to the American people. Congress has not addressed the real damage caused by Wall Street greed. This institution can’t even do rigorous oversight hearings across America – starting on Wall Street .
The demonstrators have found the right piece of geography. They have their eyes on the right subject. It is this body that has allowed justice to be denied to millions of our fellow Americans harmed by Wall Street wrongdoers. Wall Street has taken bonuses as we’ve seen the largest transfer of wealth from Main Street to Wall Street in modern history – too much power in too few hands.”
Why did Kaptur choose to give this speech? She may have some genuine admiration for the occupation protests, which as of yesterday include an occupation of Freedom Plaza within view of the U.S. Capitol Building. It may also be that Representative Kaptur sees which way the wind is blowing.
Marcy Kaptur is being challenged by the more-liberal Dennis Kucinich in next year’s Democratic primary. Kucinich has been redistricted out of his own seat.
Dennis Kucinich has yet to make any floor speech even mentioning, much less praising, the occupation protests. Can Kaptur use this issue to convince voters that she will be a better representative of liberal values than Kucinich?
