Candidates using secret service to demonize Occupy, gay activists

Rick Santorum requested secret service protection this week after a relatively mild encounter with Occupy Wall Street and gay activists on Monday. During a campaign rally in Washington State, dozens of Occupy activists raised their voices against the presidential candidate, leading to two arrests during the event and one after, when someone “glitterbombed” the socially conservative, anti-gay White House hopeful. During the event, Santorum went out of his way to paint the activists as unreasonable zealots.

“I think it’s really important for you to understand what this radical element represents. Because what they represent is true intolerance,” he said, CBS News reports. He also said the recent passage of the state’s gay marriage law showed how liberals want to take over American life. “What they said was that anybody who disagreed with them were irrational and the only reason they could possibly agree is they were a hater or a bigot.”

Now, according to the Christian Post, Santorum’s campaign wants Secret Service to protect him from those “radical elements.” Mitt Romney did the same thing last month, again citing ideological opponents as a potential threat. Whether the men truly fear for their safety is unknown, but you can bet your bottom dollar they and their peers are more than happy to portray Occupy protesters as a threat.

Ever since the Occupy movement first came together last year, their enemies on the right have bent over backward to depict them as instigators of “class warfare.” By asking Secret Service for protection, Santorum and Romney both are intentionally reinforcing the image that these activists are somehow dangerous, helping turn public opinion against a movement that speaks for the majority. It will definitely work to the GOP’s advantage — their voters are more than willing to believe the 99% are revolutionaries — while also further dividing our already splintered country. It’s a win-win for them. The rest of us, of course, only lose.