I suspect that they genuinely don't understand the Occcupy movement. I don't think they're really together enough to formulate a strategy against Occupy, to be honest.

I have to say I think they're current culture war salvos are ridiculous and backfiring. I also think a lot of what we might see as strategic rhetoric is actually no more than what these bizarre people actually believe. Election fervour, primarily.

it does seem more extreme than in past years. What else to the Goopers have? Nada

As far as sucking oxygen from OWS, it is clear that these fascist wingnuts just plain SUCK.

It came up in the course of the government doing its business, as it usually does.

Even sabotage by Congress couldn't completely kill the long term benefit from stimulus.

Repubs are running low on issues. When it gets to birth control, you know they have no plan B to the referendum on "Obama's" economy. What they didn't plan for was the economy improving. To make matters worse, they so heavily linked Obama to the economy, that now that things are looking up, Obama is getting much credit for it.

Permanent damage is being done to the GOP because it is being done collectively. Not just a couple, but almost all of them are making repeated bonehead mistakes and gaffes.

We all thought it would end with Trump. it didn't. It continued on with Bachman, Perry, Cain, and Gingrich.

The GOP "mad cow" disease has infected Congress. It has infected State houses. It has infected billionaire supporters.

FOX has created a "no win" clown car.

to redirect focus away from the economy and their greedy, sometimes corrupt donors and what they've been allowed to do to OUR country.

I believe mittens publicly said something like he was glad there was a disparity in america. I'd say obscene disparity, shows how much greed and corruption is in the country. But for me, that was a "in your face" moment.

is meant to keep our attention diverted from, but I'm not sure its the Occupy movement. It may be, but I think there's something else. I think we're not supposed to notice the blatant vote rigging going on in their primary.

The billionaires have been trying to vacuum wealth out of the wallets of the middle-class and poor for decades, and have been getting away with it since Reagan.

They desperately don't want attention paid to wealth distribution in this country. They have a far different vision for it than the rest of us. They want a country with two classes - them at the top with virtually all the wealth, and everyone else, dirt poor, uneducated, superstitious, easily manipulated, living in little shacks and scraping a living from what crumbs the billionaires are willing to throw to keep them coming to those jobs. Working for pennies a day, in conditions that make Foxconn look luxurious.

They want America to become their banana republic. A middle class of any size is not part of their vision. Neither is genuine democracy. They want dictatorship with a thin democratic veneer.

But the Occupy movement has called them out on this very successfully, and that has them wigging out.

but I don't think they are on the winning side of, well, just about any issue at the moment..........

and the birth control insurance issue gave them a chance to bring it to the forefront. I don't think there was any Machiavellian intent to deflect attention from OWS - these nitwits are always fighting the culture wars.

Though with Birth control it backfired. Now the OIL barons are trying to tell Israel to start tghe war already, so that they can say "Obama is an Anti-Semite who wants da damn Eyeiranians ta nuke us!"

The right has always thrown out wedge issues to distract the people

But partly...

that is how the 1% wins.

when they are contemplating how to hang the ragamuffin anarchists antics around his neck.

It's the usual distraction in election season. Occupy will not fall for it!