“Tea Party” and “Occupy” Movements: How similar?

Have you heard claims that the Occupy movement is very much like the Tea Party?  Strange - it seems only the commentators on the left attempt to reach such conclusions.  What similarities does the left cite?

• They are both large, politically motivated groups.  This is partially true.  They are both politically motivated.  But a deeper look at the Occupy movement reveals most participants are  clueless joy riders and riff raff participating in anarchist activities with no understanding of their purpose except to disrupt the lives of average citizens in the vicinity of their protests.
• They both demonstrate.  True, but look at the characteristics of the way they each demonstrate.  There is a day and night contrast.
• They are both concerned with corruption. Both are concerned about government and corporate corruption; the Occupy movement is more concerned about corporate existence.
• They are both spontaneous.  Actually, most leftists portray the Tea Party movement as artificial; Astroturf, they call it.  The fact is, the Occupy movement has been planned for many months by a core group of Marxists.  The formation of the Tea Party was a true grass roots event.

That is the extent of similarities.
Now let’s take a look at the differences between the Occupy movement and the Tea Party movement:

Characteristics	Occupy Wall Street	The Tea Party
Who planned and formed it	Marxists and radicals who hate America and desire revolution	Conservatives who love America and want to reform it
Personal responsibility	Little.  Relies on government for most needs	A core focus of the group.
Patriotism/love of country	Dislikes America, the economic system and the political system; proposes revolution	Proposes reform, not revolution.  Strongly exhibits patriotism.  How many American flags at Occupy events?  At Tea Party events?
Constitution	Revolution is promoted which would replace the constitution	Promotes returning to constitutional principles.
Spontaneous	Organized, funded, and promoted by a core group of leftists and Marxists over the previous year	Spontaneous alliances resulting from expansion of government into mandatory universal health care
Civil disobedience	This is the core tactic of the movement; promotes anarchy	Totally abstained from civil disobedience as a tactic; promotes order; speeches and education are primary tactics
Violence/arrests	Significant violence and hundreds of arrests	No violence; no arrests
Littering/sanitation	Demonstration sites became hovels of litter, poor sanitation and infectious disease	Demonstration sites left cleaner than found.
Capitalism/free enterprise	Capitalism and free enterprise are the major targets of the movement	Promotes capitalism and free enterprise as core values
Big vs. smaller government	Want bigger government; more governement spending, welfare, and entitlements	Want smaller government, less government spending and fewer entitlements
Marxism/income redistribution	Promotes Marxist ideals and income redistribution	Disdain Marxist principles; promotes principles of personal freedoms and responsibility
Respect for laws	Little respect for law; incites violence through provocation, civil disobedience, and anarchy	Great respect for laws; no provocations; promotes ideal of “nation of laws.”
Knowledge of history/governance	Great majority of demonstrators cannot express a coherent or rational reason for the protests or have a concept of historical forms of governance and their consequences.	Most have a significant understanding of our government compared to competing forms.  This is the reason why they choose to promote a reformation of it - to more closely adhere to its founding principles.

So, there you have it.  Is the left correct?  Are these movements pretty much alike?  Oh yeah, as much as darkness and light.   This comparison is hardly “fair and balanced”, but it is the truth.  Give me the truth over “fair and balanced” any time.