The One Percenters of the future
by digby
So apparently, some protesters are following Zephyr Teachout the candidate in New York who’s challenging Andrew Cuomo for Governor. They seem nice:
Inside the subway, three of the protesters got on a train to go downtown. On board, two of the protesters discussed how “creepy” they thought Teachout’s supporters were. The third protester, a young man in a bright blue shirt took out his wallet and began fiddling with an identification badge from the real estate firm SL Green that had his face on it.
According to Project Vote Smart, SL Green is one of Cuomo’s top ten corporate campaign donors. A spokesperson for SL Green declined to comment on this story.
While on the train, we attempted to get a picture of the protesters. As we departed at the Bleecker Street station, another passenger pointed us out to them and told them we tried to take their picture. The young man in the blue shirt cursed at us and the group left the station.
Outside, we saw the young man again and walked some distance behind him. Two blocks from the station, he turned and entered an NYU Law School residence. He approached us in the courtyard in front of the building and began to shout.
“You’re going to take out your phone and you’re going to take my picture, I should break your f**king phone right here!” he said.
After explaining who we were and showing press credentials, we asked him whom he represented and why he was protesting Teachout’s campaign.
“I’m a college student!” he exclaimed.
The young man turned around to leave before returning to inform us he wasn’t refusing to answer for “political” reasons.
“This is not a political thing where I’m walking away from your questions,” he explained.
He went on to say he merely objected to us personally before turning around and going inside.
“F**k you! You are the worst member of society,” the young man said. “I don’t need to speak to you. … Have a nice f**king life.”
I’m sure this young man will go far.
It’s probably not fair to blame Cuomo for this. It’s likely that his megabuck donor is doing this on his behalf and who knows if he even knows about it. But it’s so telling that some One Percenter would feel the need to recruit people to do this regardless of direction from the candidate. This silly behavior is indicative of the general thin-skinned nature of this crowd — which, I’m sure includes Cuomo himself. There’s nothing a liberal sell-out hates more than being accused of being a liberal sell-out.
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