There are two populist movements emergent in the United States today. My friend and colleague Paul Ogden perhaps disagree on basic political philosophies. I agree with his position that the Occupy Wall Street people and the tea baggers are both populist movements. Did you notice that Occupy Wall Street did not adopt a name that had a meaning of which its participants were unaware? The OWS people have college degrees, from what I understand. A great many of them are angry over having bought the sales pitch and gone to college in search of a good education, a nice-paying job, and the American Dream. Okay, that was a dumb thing on their part, to believe all the hype of high school guidance counselors, parents, college recruiters, etc. They have a statement of goals. Keith Olberman read it on his show last week. Theirs is not an unfocused anger. I find criticisms from people at Fox and other places typically hypocritical on that point. On the one hand they criticize OWS for lack of focus and, on the other, praise the tea baggers for reinvigorating the country's political dialogue.

   I am not sure that Wall Street is the street to occupy. Trends are for people to buy and sell stocks on-line. LaSalle Street, in Chicago and the locale of the exchanges, and Wall Street in NYC are becoming passe. Perhaps the street more appropriate as a target of  organized angst is K Street in Washington, D.C. K Street is home to lobbyists. Pop up at upscale bars in DC with cell phone cameras and get shots of our Republics leaders, and all those lobbyists, in action.

   Did you know that the chief lobbyist for the Federal Reserve formerly was the chief lobbyist for Enron? I have  a couple of questions on that. First, shouldn't that raise red flags for a lot of people? Two, why does the Federal Reserve NEED ANY LOBBYISTS? The Fed controls our economy. 

   Oh well, Happy Discovery Day, all you of European descent. If you are of descent of people who already lived on these shores when Columbus arrived in the Bahamas, this is not a stellar holiday. On the other hand, we all are descended from Africans. That is the place from which we evolved.