Some conservative bloggers were a little too quick to use made-up satirical quotes from supposed Occupy Toronto protesters to make a point about alleged laziness of the Occupy Wall Street protesters.
The quote in question came from an article called “Occupy Toronto: The one-week anniversary party,” written for the Canadian paper Globe & Mail by Mark Schatzker. The article was labeled as “satire.”
The quote was attributed to “Jeremy, 38” from the Occupy Toronto protests: “It’s weird protesting on Bay Street. You get there at 9 a.m. and the rich bankers who you want to hurl insults at and change their worldview have been at work for two hours already. And then when it’s time to go, they’re still there. I guess that’s why they call them the one per cent. I mean, who wants to work those kinds of hours? That’s the power of greed.”
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The Facebook group “I Am The 53%” — a conservative counter-movement to OWS, referencing the 53% of Americans who pay federal income tax, supposedly in contrast to the protesters who do not — posted the quote and said: “By that logic greed converges almost surely to having work ethics.”
The blog The American Spectator had a post titled “Self Parody Alert: Occupy Toronto Doesn’t Get It” by J.P. Freire, who wrote: “Those perceptive Canadians notice that a disparity of income isn’t the only thing that separates protesters from the so-called one percent.” In an “Update, five minutes later,” Freire qualifies the quote: “Is this a parody? Maybe? In which case, I solicit our readers to offer quotes that are just as wacky but true.”
John Hinderaker posted the same quote on the Power Line blog in a post called “Greed? Try Sloth!” calling it “a hilarious news story about Occupy Wall Street protesters in Toronto who really want to take a stand against ‘greed,’ only…they’re too lazy.”
In an update, Hinderaker clarified that the quote was fake, but still maintained that his larger point was correct: “Upon further review, prompted by my wife, I think the quotes attributed to occupiers at the linked site are jokes. Pretty funny ones, too. The point, I think, remains valid.”
h/t Mediaite.
