As the “Occupy” movement continues to grow and expand across the country, some in the media have been trying to make comparisons between it and the Tea Party. In fairness, there are some similarities. Both are comprised of Americans who are angry about unfairness and corruption in politics and business. But the similarities are mostly on the surface. The differences are far more abundant and disturbing. For instance…

No critic of the Tea Party ever infiltrated it in order to instigate violence as Patrick Howley, an assistant editor for the conservative American Spectator, has admitted doing. He bragged about posing as a protester to “mock and undermine” the movement.

No critic of the Tea Party ever accused the Tea Party of plotting mass murder as Glenn Beck has done – twice. Last week he said that this protesting “leads to gas chambers” and to “millions dead.” This week he claimed that the protesters “will come for you and drag you into the streets and kill you.”

No critic of the Tea Party ever made wild, unsubstantiated assertions as to the motives of Tea Party members. Certainly there was strong opposition based on evidence provided by Tea Party members themselves. Their rhetoric and signage expressed some unsavory opinions. But the Occupy critics are inventing criticisms that they cannot support.

No critic of the Tea Party ever encouraged others to break the windows of Democratic offices with rocks and baseball bats as right-wing militiaman Mike Vanderboegh did.

No critic of the Tea Party ever had their own cable news network to hype their agenda and events. The Occupy movement has had to struggle to get the press to pay them any attention, and when reporters did show up they were hostile and insulting. The Tea Party, of course, had Fox News which literally branded the Tea Party as a part of Fox News and gave them hours of valuable air time. Fox praised Tea Partyers as brave and patriotic, but that’s not how they portray the Occupy protesters:

The Occupy movement has been peaceful and focused on communicating a message of fairness and accountability. It is fighting for the rights of the 99% of Americans who have been rolled over by corrupt corporations and politicians. It is not the beneficiary of dedicated news channels and billionaires with vested interests. Other than that it exactly like the Tea Party.