UPDATE: Occupy has canceled its protest due to the Aurora shootings. Mitt can do what he wants.
To: Mitt Romney, Presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee
From: Occupy Orange County
Re: Please cancel your fundraiser set for Monday morning in Orange County
Governor Romney,
We are asking that you postpone or cancel your fundraiser currently scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday July 23 at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Irvine. We have plans to protest your visit to our county as we did last time you were here to suck up money from our local wealthy conservative , when we put together the well-received “Billionaires for Romney” PROTEST!
We have had a really good protest in store for you this time, but then some fracking privileged 1%er* [see update] from San Diego decided to show how smart he was, despite having to drop out of his Ph.D. program, by devising an evil genius plan to kill a bunch of people in a movie theater in Colorado.
We find this massacre really depressing and as a result our hearts are not feeling up for protesting. We’re in mourning. You say that you are mourning too; if you are, you’ll listen to us and make us a deal.
Cancel your flight; cancel your event. At least postpone it while the nation grieves. Your donors should still be willing to send you the money you want from them, shouldn’t they? You can always pose for pictures with them later, win or lose. We have to show up if you show up — it’s our moral responsibility — but what should be a joyous moment of opposing everything that you stand for now looks like it will become a chore. We don’t want to be thinking about politics at a moment like this.
What we want to do is to honor the dead and the wounded by staying away from politics for the next few days. But you, unfortunately, are supporting policies so horrible that we won’t be able to do so if you do show up. So please, have some consideration for us. Stay at home. See your wife and your sons. Think through how you really feel about people being able to buy semi-automatic weapons and 6000 rounds of ammunition with no one batting an eyelash. Have some fellow-feeling with other Americans, for once.
Please understand: we will show up if we really have to. We’ll be in a foul humor at your forcing us to do so, but we’ll do it. We’ll be more subdued than we were in Newport Beach, but more intent than ever on exposing you. We’ll use the opportunity to ask why you don’t seem to have the respect for the everyday people — not your people, we understand, but still good people — who were targeted in this terrible slaughter.
It’s not particularly hard to make you look passionless, inhumane, and out of touch, Governor, but just this once we’d like you to make it less easy for us to do so. Stay home. Ask your contributors to mail your their checks, if that’s what they really want to do. Mourn with the nation, Governor. You do know, don’t you, that the nation is still mourning?
You see, we’re not yet over last Friday morning’s terrible events. Why — how — are you?
*Several commenters have objected to my assertion that the shooter was a 1%er (or I had in mind from a 1% top income family, which represents income of approximately $300,000 per year. That’s my inference from what I’ve learned of the family neighborhood and circumstances, but I can’t prove it and am not going to try.
What I will say is that taking out one’s frustrations at personal failure by coming up with an “evil genius” plan to kill large numbers of people is, among other terrible things, spectacularly arrogant and dismissive of others’ humanity and rights. It’s not fair to impute such a worldview on all or most in the 1% category; we see good 1%ers all the time. However, such arrogance and dismissiveness of humanity and rights is characteristic of the worldview expressed by some advocates of the cause of the 1% — although usually it is manifest in a willingness to see people suffer and die for lack of social services rather than in actively murdering them for sport. I certainly don’t want to lose that distinction or to fail to note that the latter is worse and indefensible.
Not at all cool to label a mass murderer according to his socio-economic status. Very poor exercise in judgement by the author. Not helpful, not accurate, and just plain mean.
I’m surprised that you would have have made that comment under your own name, given that you apparently find it so compelling. I presume that you’re just choosing to throw a rock from behind a wall.
Are we going to stop labeling all killers by their socio-economic status, or is this a rule of limited applicability?
He was a child of relative privilege, which rules out certain other arguments. Noting that is helpful and not mean. I’ll admit that he may just be a 5%er or a 10%er; I haven’t seen his financial records and I’m not about to ask for them.
I’m absolutely fine with not labeling any killer by their socio-economic status.
I’d also be happy to expand that to race, creed, and sex. (I.e., call a terrorist a terrorist, not a Muslim terrorist.)
I don’t believe how rich this individual’s parents happen to be has anything to do with his parent’s social class at large– so why mention it?
It’s also inaccurate. This individual is an adult. He’s also a student, which means he’s more likely to be part of the 99% (with student loans as well) than he is the 1%.
And yes, this is absolutely a stone over a wall. Don’t take it personally, but I do hope the (what I feel is legitimate) criticism at least causes a moment of pause.
When common practice in our culture is truly to ignore demographic factors in all discussions of crime and criminals, then perhaps I will feel bad about bringing it up. Until then, not so much.
I mentioned it to note that he was coming from a privileged rather than a deprived background — even if he had student loans.
Come on Greg, you can do better than follow.
And to be fair, this fellow was clearly deprived of something– be it from his background or elsewhere.
Money isn’t everything.
As I’m sure you know, the phrase “deprived background” usually refers to a lack of money, not lacking in parental love (which doesn’t seem to be true) or moral guidance (no real evidence of that either.)
I think that he was deprived of the success he expected and of the restraint that would lead most people to lean towards depression rather than a desire to kill.
1% ers are not murderers? Some of them must be.
That’s a nice way to politicize a tragedy.
Why not bring up the drought in Iowa?
This and the Ramadan post expose you for the poser you are.
Bring back Pedroza, at least he was in touch.
I’m so glad you liked it. Occupy has called off its event for Monday morning out of respect for the shooting victims and the sensibilities of the public. Your statement that saying that Romney should also call off fundraising is “politicizing a tragedy” seems … politicized.
You can find Pedroza at ocpoliticsblog.com. Have fun.
That you object to the Ramadan post (without saying why) as exposing me as a “poser” suggests that you’re something a lot worse than a poser. What part of it did you find to be “posing”? The anti-McCarthyism part?
wow clueless diamond and when nobama comes down here to suck up LIKE YOU SAY to hollywood libs oh that dont count he is a democrat what a complete hypocrite you are
My beat is Orange County. While I know that Obama spoke to the VFW in Reno, I don’t know if he held any fundraisers on Monday. I wouldn’t have. Romney held three.
According to this Sacramento Bee article, Obama held two fundraisers on Monday: a dinner in Piedmont and a reception at the Fox Theatre in Oakland.
Both presidential candidates are guilty.
Romney’s fundraisers were TV news here, with cameras inside the event providing conversation between Romney and his guests to the networks. Were Obama’s fundraisers TV news there? I take your point, but a fundraiser could be private and low-key or, as in Romney’s case, the opposite.