I apparently can't tell the difference...Follow

... between the Tea Party and the Occupy movement.

I know there are those in either group that are rather offended by the comparison, and I'm sympathetic. To be honest I thought I could tell the difference too. Then I took this little quiz. It's multiple choice (most of the time with 2 choices) and I still only got 5 of 9 correct.

Sad day.

Both sides have enough of the same rhetoric apparently. No wonder us in the middle are all confused and drawing comparisons and such. Or did you just ace it, and I'm the one left in the dark here?

7/9 -- Not sure what it proves though.

They are the first of the "revolutionary freedom fighters" that will war amongst themselves for political dominance in the new third-world America. The winner will proclaim their blood thirsty warlord "president" while the rest of us our assured jobs manufacturing cocaine or digging for diamonds, lest we fall victim to one of the many acts of genocide to follow.

They're both behind you... With a knife.

4/9 because I was trying to second guess the quiz.

Besides, the BBC didn't delve into the real difference between OWS and the Tea Party, which is the age of the participants. Most of the OWS folks I've seen are significantly younger than their Tea Party counterparts. Crikes, a girl who was arrested from OWS had pink hair with a Gir hat on. She looked like she just stepped out of an anime convention.

The quiz is contrived to make it nearly impossible to tell the difference. About 5 of the 9 questions are pretty much just guesses.


There are two missing word questions, which are absolute guesses. If you guess "Government", it's something the Tea Party said. If you guess "Wall Street" (or equivalent), it's something the Occupy folks said. But the entire meaning of the sentence changes based on the word choice. Kinda irrelevant.

Three other questions were so vaguely worded that they could have been said by anyone in any political movement:

"I have children and grandchildren, and I don't want them to grow up in this world. I want the world to change. It can be done." Who said it?

Who said: "I'm just saying this feels an awful a lot like the 60s or 70s when I was a kid. I mean, you have the same feeling out here that government and nation have parted paths and the people will bring government back to the nation"?

"You leave your own country and you expect things to be better in America, a step or two up from what you left back home. And then there's this rude awakening: America is just not what it used to be." Who said this?

So that's 5 of the 9 that are basically just guesses. Add in the trick question at number one (Palin complaining about "crony capitalism" on the part of the Obama administration), and you can argue that 6 of the 9 are designed to be random guesses or misleading at best.

The only three that are clear answers (and which I'll wager nearly everyone got right) are the following:

Who complained: "At this point I don't see any difference between George Bush and Obama. The middle class is a lot worse than when Obama was elected"?

This is actually nearly a guess too, but given the past reference to Obama's election, it's a good bet it's an Occupy person complaining about Obama.

"We got sold out! Banks got bailed out!" Where can this chant be heard?

Obviously Occupy.

"Republicans, Democrats and independents are stepping up and demanding we put our fiscal house in order. I think the overriding message after years of borrowing, spending and bailouts is enough is enough." Who said it?

Obviously Tea Party.



The quiz basically avoids putting in statements which actually differentiate the two groups. Basically, if the complaint is against banks and corporations then it's an Occupier. If the complaint is against government, then it's a Tea Partier. That's a pretty clear distinction. Both groups complain about the state of things, but every group does that. The difference is in who they blame for the problem and what they think should be done.


If you really can't tell the difference (in real life, not in this silly quiz), then you aren't paying much attention.

I believe it's at the Bo Diddly Community Plaza; it's a couple miles from campus, so it shouldn't cause an issue at Shands, but it may depending on if and where they decide to march. Are you going to work at the hospital, or study? I work right across from it.

Called it I doubt there are many people at all, and the location for it is pretty poor if they wanted to get college students involved (as it is a few miles from campus). Would have had much better luck getting a crowd together in the Plaza of the Americas and marching from there.

Probably not even awake yet, Barbie. Calm down.

The power of delusion compels you!