Did Occupy Wall Street find its Rick Santelli?


Is MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan Occupy Wall Street’s Rick Santelli?

The above video with TV business/financial journalist Dylan Ratigan going on a “mad as hell” rant has been among YouTube’s trending videos over the last few days.

In this video, Ratigan’s message is associated with the Occupy Wall Street protests, but the rant was actually made on August 9 before the protests began in New York.

A version of the video went viral then as well. Ratigan explains his rant in more detail on his blog.

It’s strangely reminiscent of Rick Santelli’s Feb 19, 2009 rant on CNBC that called for a Chicago Tea Party that helped give voice to that movement.

Like Santelli, Ratigan seems to articulate the rage and frustration of the grassroots picking up on their message (those who identity themselves as in the Tea Party in Santelli’s case and those in the Occupy Wall Street movement in Ratigan’s).

In both cases, it is an odd role for journalist as observer.

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