Joel Award Winner: Eric Cantor

It is time to give out the Joel Award. The award goes any celebrity, pundit, blogger or politician that purposely contradicts himself or herself.



House Majority Leader Eric Cantor refereed to the Occupy protesters as a "growing mob." Cantor is tripping over himself trying to backtrack from his position.

"People are upset and they're justifiably frustrated. They're out of work. The economy is not moving," Cantor said. "Their sense of security for the future is not clear at all. People are afraid and I get it."

Cantor first gave us the impression that we needed to hide the children and lock our doors in fear the the "angry mob." Suddenly, Cantor gets why the Occupy movement is angry about the economy. For that flip flop Cantor receives a well-earned Joel Award.

Cantor never flipped that fast on his messaging for President Obama. If you follow or read the blogs of Joy-Ann Reid and Angry Black Lady, they will bash progressives that say bipartisanship has been a failure for Obama. I asked Angry Black Lady to explain to me how Obama is playing 3-D chess? Angry Black Lady tweeted she didn't have time to get in a fight with me. She then proceeded to pick a fight with Marcy Wheeler (aka Empty Wheel) of FireDogLake. So much for a productive use of time.

The Occupy movement isn't interested in working with Republicans. Occupy is making demands to make a more progressive tax code and for financial reform. These are things that Cantor is against. Yet, Cantor goes out of his way to say that he feels the pain of the Occupy movement. The reason Cantor is playing nice is because the Occupy movement is populist and he is feeling political pressure. Cantor doesn't respond to bipartisanship. He does care about his political survival.

As for an angry mob: that couldn't be further from false. Occupy Tampa has been complying with the police.

Demonstrators have obeyed police commands to keep sidewalks clear and to not camp in city parks, Westlake said. Late Sunday, about 15 protesters were told to move from Lykes park to Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, a few blocks away.

They peacefully complied, Westlake said.

So far, officers have not made any arrests in the lingering rally, police said.

"It's going very well," police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said. "Any rules we've explained to them, they've been very accommodating. I think they had their mission, which was to make sure their voice was heard on their issues, and they didn't want to interfere with anything going on in the city."