Saturday, May 2, 2009

Tea party protesters: Are they really right-wing nuts?

I enjoy watching the Glenn Beck Show on Fox News, I have been watching him since his stint with CNN. I think he is funny as well as being informative. Yesterday, he did a show on the people who attended the tea parties.
The show was done to show that many people across this country are dismissing this movement a little too quickly. Here are some of the reasons that people gave for going:
  • Loss of trust in Washington
  • Afraid of the direction the country is taking.
  • Media not doing the job they are paid to do.

I was one of these protesters. This was the first time that I and many others have ever done it. If you had asked me six months ago if I ever would go to one I would have laughed and said no way. I have always been passionate, but tended not to do much beyond voting and volunteering. The majority of the people in his audience yesterday said the same thing.

There were a few other things that the media, Speaker Pelosi, and President Obama may find surprising:
  • they want to get rid of the two party system; it is no longer working
  • They have left their former party affiliation
  • They are becoming Libertarian leaning
  • They are most upset at the GOP (as they expected all the spending from democrats)
  • They want the media to concentrate on the issues and forget the personalities
  • Fox News Channel is just as bad as MSNBC and CNN
  • Former President Bush is also responsible for the march towards Socialism

The people in the audience was the same as what was at the tea party I attended; across the spectrum of the color and political bars. Another words, we are not racist rednecks that hate President Obama, nor are we terrorists in waiting. We also are not willing to let that be it. We will be marching some more. There is another big one being planned for September 12 in Washington DC. From what I have seen on some of the websites, people are coming from other parts of the country to take part.

We are fighting to get control of the outrageous and unnecessary spending, the out of control growth of government, and how our Constitution is being rendered obsolete by the very people who have sworn an oath to uphold it. I watched some of the media coverage after I got home from my tea party and the local ABC station said we had no real solutions. Here are a few that were mentioned yesterday - as well as any 9-12 meeting that you would go to:
  • Running for office outside of the two party system
  • Getting rid of the income tax
  • Convene a new Constitutional Convention

We would like to follow in the footsteps of our founders; to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson
When people fear the government it is tyranny
When government fears the people it is liberty

The real lessons that need to get across to the naysayers are that we will not be stopping anytime soon, we are mad as hell at all of the politicians, and this is about so much more than taxes. Nancy Pelosi, the mainstream media, and President Obama need to stop underestimating us. After all, a grassroots movement is how we have the current President. I find it interesting how soon he has forgotten the very thing that put him where is now.

2 comments:

  1. Great blog post. I was at a tea party too. First time ever at a protest. Our country is too precious to let slip away.

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  2. I hope that yours wasn't as wet and cold as ours. But, it was still fun. I am looking forward to upcoming ones as well.

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