I didn’t see anyone on Fox News asking that about the Tea Party movement, but the anti-finance protests of the past three weeks have brought about a much different reaction.

There seems to be a line of thinking, especially on Rupert Murdoch’s networks, that those taking part in the Occupy Wall Street protests in Manhattan and elsewhere are un-American.

Is there anything more American than taking to the streets to protest inequality? The defining moments of this country's progress have come when citizens decided they no longer felt like attempting to participate in a system that refuses to give them a seat at the table.

David and Charles Koch, heirs to a massive fortune, have used their extraordinary wealth to fund the Tea Party movement. On Monday a wide range of unethical international business tactics employed by the Koch Industries, Inc. were exposed in Bloomberg Markets Magazine.

The Bloomberg article summarizes their story: “Charles, 75, and David, 71, each worth about $20 billion, are prominent financial backers of groups that believe that excessive regulation is sapping the competitiveness of American business.”

Turns out part of the Koch brothers’ business empire has been bending rules and passing bribes in order to make millions in Iran.

What extraordinary patriots.

This latest revelation, and the financial crisis that has caused economic calamity around the world, was largely caused by a lack of regulation in the first place.

Somehow the Koch brothers and others on the right have managed to convince many to fight against their own best interest.

Yet, the narrative of dirty hippies against proud patriots seems to continue playing out across cable roundtables.

Americans, Tea Party members and otherwise, need to wake up to the economic realities we now face. The anger that kicked off the current surge of populism on both sides of the aisle should be directed at the bloated and irresponsible financial institutions that landed us in this mess.

Mother Jones has done an excellent job of sizing up the wealth disparity in this country as it stands now. Its data, much of it from 2007 (compiled before the housing collapse of 2008, so it’s safe to imagine things are even worse now), should be alarming to any American, but the truths it contains seem obvious to anyone in Michigan.

Mother Jones reported that more than 73 percent of America's net worth is owned by the richest 10 percent, with the top 1 percent alone controlling more than a third.

Take a breath. Then feel yourself getting angry. This isn’t the country we learned about in civics class.

There are those who have decided to express their anger — the protestors in Manhattan, Chicago, San Francisco and elsewhere.

I think it’s about time the already-educated, uninsured and indebted Americans, who did the hard work of doing everything they were told to in order find employment yet remain out of work, cry foul.

These aren’t (all) bratty art school kids who decided to take the afternoon off.

These protestors are nurses, teachers, retirees and skilled workers who have been punished with excessive austerity measures for mistakes made by a financial sector that has already bounced back quite nicely.

Those protesting aren’t out for blood, only shared sacrifice and, most importantly, measures to make sure our country is never put at such enormous risk by the greed of so few.

Serious problems face our country, public health, environmental and otherwise, and they are here to stay. Tearing into one another while a tiny fraction of Americans sip on drinks that stay cool in the shade of their own umbrellas is one way to guarantee we never deal with the actual pressing issues of today and tomorrow.