An Interesting Letter Regarding the Occupy Movement

Couple of minor points first. Recently it was announced that the government was considering eliminating options trading. Didn't I mention that over a year ago? Yes, I said that this would happen. I am not patting myself on my back for knowing what would happen, it just proves to me how fixed and planned the system is.

A letter has come to surface, it is very interesting. It is from one of the lobbying firms, it asks the American Bankers Association for almost a million dollars to conduct "opposition research" in order to discredit the Occupy movement. I will post a link to the MSNBC article which has a link to the letter.

Why would a lobbying firm offer to discredit the movement and any politicians who support it when as the media regularly reports, nobody knows what they believe. Why discredit a group that the media says has no unified agenda or leaders? And why send the offer to the American Bankers Association?

Well, to begin with the lobbying firm must have made two assumptions. The first was that the bankers saw the movement as an attack on how they do business. The second was that the bankers would pay almost a million dollars just to do an initial study of the movement, that is a lot of money.

MSNBC - "Exclusive: Lobbying Firm's Memo Spells Out Plan to Undermine Occupy Wall Street (VIDEO)"

I just had to post this because I thought my readers should know what is going on. I care about what I write and I care because people read my words. This may not be the most read blog in the world; but, it is read and I do care about those who read it. I want it to be informative.

I have to out myself about something unrelated to this post. Not long ago I posted about how I was thinking about dating again. I let myself look at women again, I gave myself that permission. I went to an event tonight celebrating the life of a friend of mine who passed away and I hate to say it; but, I found myself looking at some of the women. I know, at a wake, really Pimpernel. Sorry, but it is true. I did not hit on any of them; but, I thought about how attractive women can be. Now, I will sound like a real jerk, one of the women was the daughter of my friend and I happen to know she is single. There is nothing to be concerned with, she lives very far away and I don't expect to see her again; but, I feel pretty bad about even having thought about how attractive she was. Am I a complete jerk for that?

I sort of feel dirty for having appreciated the beauty of a lady who was in morning. Yet, I am human and we have thoughts as we have thoughts. A pretty woman is a pretty woman and I am straight so I like pretty women. No, she was not just pretty, I happen to know that she is also very accomplished in her field. If you can understand what I just wrote then I ask you to not hate the lobbying firm for presenting a proposal to the bankers. It is a lobbying firm, it is their job to find out if people want them to push for someone's agenda.

Please understand that it is okay for industries to make sure that their interests are heard and they should be allowed to hire people who can present their side of the story in the best manner possible. I know, I support the Occupy movement, sort of, and then support the bankers having a right to promote their side of the argument. I believe in free speech for all.

My problem with the article is that the lobbyists were willing to misrepresent the truth and work only off spin rather than honest arguments. Law school presented many challenging questions. One moral question we had to address (if we were honest with ourselves) was whether or not it was right to represent people who were guilty. A friend of mine who was a famous attorney, told me the answer. He told me that it was not the job of the attorney to be the judge or jury, it was his job to make sure that the person had a coherent response. It was not a lawyers job to lie for a client; but, it was their job to make sure that they put forth their clients best arguments in order to make the opposition prove their case.

It is not wrong to have feelings. My friends daughter was attractive to me. What would have been wrong would have been to acted on such thoughts in such a situation. Same is true for this lobbying firm. What they did wrong was not that they sought business, what was wrong was that they openly sought to portray others in a negative light regardless of the issues. They basically acted like ambulance chasing attorneys and that is not productive for the nation. It is cookie chasing regardless of the consequences to anyone else.

In every situation our minds toss around a variety of possible responses. We are human, it is how we work; but, we can choose to not act on every impulse. We can choose to eliminate some possibilities because we can choose to act on intent rather than impulse. We can choose to do that which is best for all rather than just act in selfishness. We can choose to matter, to make a difference an to exercise free will with responsibility rather than with only self interest.

Okay, I think that is it for the day. So much has gone on and I am going to listen to some music and drink some wine in a toast to a friend, heck, maybe a friend and another. Be well.