Post-Tea Party thoughts
[A new poll question: Do you believe the Tea Parties will lead to any sustained political activity by the day’s participants, or was it basically a one-time thing for the vast majority of them?]
It was a day to inspire a little optimism for those of us who believe in liberty and expect better from both our state and national governments. Denver’s Tax Day Tea Party was, in my opinion, a great success despite not having a great sound system in place.
The crowd, from young to old, was enthusiastic and generally in an excellent mood.
And the Gadsden Flag (yellow, rattlesnake, Don’t Tread On Me, etc) was on wide display…doing good for the heart of a libertarian.
Although I heard of two people being removed from the event, I never personally saw disruption, nor jeers nor signs from leftist disruptors.
There were hundreds of flags and signs being held by the (my guess) 3,000 people there. Others have estimated as many as 5,000 people. Unlike left-wing highly organized rallies with professionally made signs, you could tell these banners were efforts of love (for our nation and liberty) and frustration (with governments which are destroying both.)
Although a lot had been going on before the noon start time, the proceedings officially began with the Pledge of Allegiance. My thought was “I’m sure MoveOn.org rallies are JUST like this…not.”
Speakers talked of being “sons and daughters of revolutionaries", of “taking back our country", and repeatedly of the massive debt that the federal government is saddling future generations with.
Jon Caldara led the crowd in a round of cries of “No you can’t", as opposed to Obama’s empty “Yes we can” mantra. “Gunny” Bob Newman talked about the time of our founding, including the fact that his great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather (maybe I missed one “great") was the guy who signaled Paul Revere to start his famous ride. Politicians and candidates spoke, but mostly avoided partisan politics or mention of political parties.
About 10 members of the General Assembly (and a couple of state Senators) came out to the balcony above the crowd, bringing great cheers as well as a minute-long chant of “Where is Ritter?” (For those of you not in Colorado, Bill Ritter is our truly horrendous governor who has every reason to be a one-termer and actually left Denver today, presumably to escape questions about the Tea Party.)
The Tea Party, rather than being about partisan politics, was about people finally getting angry enough with government to get involved. The message was to stay involved, that the winners in politics tend to be the ones to make an effort.
It’s unusual for conservatives and libertarians to protest. That’s generally something liberals do. Particularly libertarians…we just don’t normally think of telling others what to do. Again, that’s something liberals do. But as I said, the energy in the crowd was consistent and uplifting.
I realize that my liberal readers (not that I have very many of those) will simply not understand what I’m talking about. But that’s OK. Just as they think the world is full primarily of people like them and that we lovers of liberty and respecters of the constitution are a fringe group, I look forward to the day when we can, at least for a few minutes, think the same of them. That time is coming. And the further both the Colorado and the federal governments continue down their current paths, the sooner that time will arrive.
| Print article | This entry was posted by Rossputin on 04/16/09 at 12:19:42 am . Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. |
Yours truly
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04/16/09 @ 10:59:53 am
Wow! Great crowd. In Orlando, FL, we had the same fervor! May it continue to grow and grow.
Thanks for the pics.
JC Wagner
04/16/09 @ 01:59:48 pm
Thank you for the excellent reporting of a very enjoyable event. I wasn't sure whether or not I would attend, but was pleased when I arrived shortly after noon, and saw the numbers that were there already and continued to come after.
Your reporting is clear, balanced, and concise. And whether you have one view or not you did not ry to exploit it for your gain. You are honest.
I did see the two individuals that were escorted out by the Colorado State Police, but I honestly couldn't tell if they started a small fight with someone else or just among themselves.
In answer to your poll question: "I hope that it will be more than a one time event, and unless and until the take over of government by the left stops, I for one will be participating in this way and in writing and speaking against the leftists.
04/16/09 @ 02:38:23 pm
I feel so good about the tea parties across the nation. I for one will continue to support this cause with my Time, Talents (although limited), and Treasures (also limited)
Although our tea party at Porterville, Calif. was not well advertised the people who came were well versed in what the tea parties were all about. Our basic freedoms are at stake.
Would some actions of our elected officials be considered to be treason?? Ed Doyel
04/16/09 @ 05:44:59 pm
My wife and I attended the Oklahoma City Tea Party where there were well over 5,000 people there. It was an exciting and invigorating gathering and very, very upbeat. I only saw two blacks there but they were applauding with the rest of us. I feel that most blacks were afraid to be seen because of Obama being their President to the tune of 98% voting rate. I hope that more will see fit to attend the September 12th gathering in Washington, D.C. I'm not sure how many folks attended the Norman, Oklahoma, meeting but I heard that Tulsa had roughly 3,000. By the way, when the crowd was voting "Vote them out!" one guy behind us shouted "Assinate them!" and he was quickly booed down. This was not about an armed inserrection but rather the beginnings of a grass-roots campaign by average people to take back our country. Remember this: 56 million people voted for McCain...so we have to get as many of those 56 million people as we can to stand and be counted! There was only a 7-point spread between McCain and Obama and I'll be damned if I'm going to let those people tear my country down without a fight! Let's take America back before it is too late! Stay engaged and involved! We all received a copy of our Constitution at our rally and a listing of all the congressional emails and phone numbers....let's light them up in Washington! From one retired Air Force veteran...Stand up and be counted!
04/16/09 @ 08:36:39 pm
Pay your taxes and STFU, RIGHT-WING IDIOTS!
04/16/09 @ 08:59:28 pm
So, Rauch, just to be clear...you want me to 1) Pay my taxes, 2) pay your taxes, and 3) submit to only allowing the First Amendment to apply to people whose taxes are paid by others?
STFU indeed.
04/16/09 @ 10:45:34 pm
I posted videos of most of the key speeches and some crowd pictures with many of the signs at the above url. The speeches in particular are worth re-visiting and should be shared around.
Ross, I briefly read through the left's baiting you over on freedomworks about the tea party. So many talking points, so little time. Keep the faith.
04/17/09 @ 12:40:09 am
Hello, interesting take on the idea of tea parties and liberal in general. I normally would not respond to things like this, but after reading that you thought few liberals read your site I thought I should at least voice my liberal....well voice.
I must say I think that it is fantastic to see people out and about, protesting and becoming involved in the process of our democracy. That is the foundation of our country and the principle behind democracy.
I have many questions that I would love to discuss with a libertarian, or supporter of the Tea Bag protests. But I will keep to my two largest concerns, and hope to get a response.
I noticed a lot of signs expressing the desire to not pay taxes, or things of that nature. Going beyond the normal, lower taxes, but actually asking for the abolition of taxes. My biggest question is if we did not pay taxes, how would we pay for so many things that are necessary to make our country exist? For instance, police, firefighters, teachers, roads, the navy seals that just saved the ship captain, schools, and well so many things that make the United States a great country.
Secondly, I agree that the government has misspent taxes and that is a cause for concern, but why was their no Tea Bag movement/protest when George W. Bush took a budget surplus and brought the country into the biggest debt that we have had. It seems to me if you are opposed to poor government spending you would have been appalled by the spending that occurred during the previous administration. Why did you not protest then?
04/17/09 @ 05:33:57 am
Garret,
Two good questions, and probably the two most frequent questions.
So, first, I do not support elimination of all taxes because I believe there are legitimate functions of government. They just happen to be a small fraction of what government currently does. I support a flat income tax with very few deductions and with the majority of Americans paying something.
For the record, I oppose public education, or at least education that is only provided by government-employed union-member teachers.
Second, too many conservatives were complacent during Bush's administration, although I (and others) complained frequently about the big spending. So your criticism is valid, though I don't think it applies to me. As for why I didn't protest then, a protest of one or a few is sort of pointless, but I did write a lot about it which was the most I could do.
I'd note that these protests were not primarily partisan Republican events. Republicans were not popular and the mention of the word "Republican" drew hardly any reaction. It's only Nancy Pelosi and friends who claim that these Tea Parties were some sort of big-money conservative scheme. They most certainly were not.
You may find this interesting:
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=324775037199992
04/17/09 @ 10:49:41 am
Cheyenne, WY held two Tax Day Tea Parties. One at noon and another at 5:30. Both were inspirational, motivating and tremendously successful.
The crowds were estimated to be in excess of 1,000 participants. Our Community has a population of approx. 53,000. That's an impressive percentage for events that were planned and executed within two weeks by two unrelated couples who chose to combine forces.
I'm the organizer of the 4th of July Cowboy Tea Party. I can certainly understand the confusion of some, as to the goals of our National Tea Parties. As just one of thousands of organizers across the country, we are functioning from the heart and have no Central Command. We don't agree amongst ourselves, on every issue. What we DO agree on, is that Government is completely out of control, at every level, by all parties.
The media is obsessively attempting to portray the movement as being "orchestrated". This is blatantly dishonest or ignorantly misunderstood. They've invested all that remains of their withering credibility in in their selection and marketing of the least experienced candidate in our Nation's history. Since the coronation of their chosen, well groomed, puppet, they have behaved like those annoying used car salesmen who attempt to convince you that the car they want you to buy is the best deal in town. If that were true, it would sell itself, with little need of aggressive sales pitch.
The administration's Homeland Security report could have saved millions in ink and printing, had they simply chosen to say, "The Ya-Hoos are coming, The Ya-hoos are coming". What a stunning display of ignorant, bigoted, paranoid intolerance. The only thing surprising about it was their willingness to finally put it on display.
I'm grateful to every organizer and each participant for their courage to take a stand and make their principles known. This is a new experience for 99.6% of us and THAT is what every politician is currently fearful of.....we'll begin by taking our Party back and then march toward taking our Country back. Piece of cake.
Lisa Ray
COWBOY TEA PARTY
4th of July
WY State Capitol
High noon
04/21/09 @ 04:21:08 pm
Great turn out like so many "tea parties" across the country. In Flemington, NJ there were over two hundred people. A great turn out for small town america. Isn't this what it's all about.....Great Job Denver. Let's keep it rolling till the big one on 9-12-09
in Washington, DC.
01/26/10 @ 12:22:34 pm
garret, I've not heard many calls for no taxes. None that I can think of, actually. Yes, we conservatives did protest all non-conservative bush moves through blogs, calls, donations. We were not in love with Bush. He is definately no conservative. Also, you are either using a term you've been taught, or just don't realize that you are using. Tea Bagging is slang for a sex act. Your educated opposition is the Tea Party movement. More civil discussions will be garnered if you don't refer to your opposition as a slang term for a sex act.
02/10/10 @ 08:58:48 am
Anthem Blue Cross to raise rate 40%!! It is time for a Tea Party Revolt against this "tax" on the working class of America. If the government was raising taxes 40% we'd be on the streets--well, this is the same or worse. Americans have the right to have affordable health care!
02/10/10 @ 08:16:46 pm
George,
Your comment represents everything that's wrong with American political and economic thinking today, and everything that's wrong with Democratic Party leadership.
First, why do you have a "right" to affordable health care?
Do you have a right to an "affordable" car, and if so do you have a right to an "affordable" Mercedes-Benz?
Second, do you realize that your so-called "right" simply means it's somebody else's responsibility? Is it my responsibility to make your health care more "affordable"?
And finally, do you realize that a very large part of health care price inflation is because of government involvement and that Obamacare or anything even vaguely in that direction will make recent health care price increases seem small?
Health care providers are giving you a valuable service. It's worth what the market will bear, just like anything else, but those costs would be kept in check if (1) there were interstate competition in health insurance, and (2) there were not such a big disconnect between the health care services that someone consumes and what that consumer pays. People should have larger co-pays every time they see a doctor and that would help the overall cost tremendously.
In the meantime, don't try to put anti-capitalist junk economics into the Tea Party scenario. Tea Parties are about liberty, not about you using government to force someone else to pay for your doctors' visits.
04/15/10 @ 09:31:12 pm
PLEASE STOP THE BULL AND TELL IT LIKE IT IS. THIS IS A PARTY OF TERRORIST, OVER THROW THE GOVERNMENT. WHY I ASKED MYSELF ARE HATEFULL CRAZY PEOPLE ALLOWED TO MUCK UP OUR COUNTRY. THE LAST TIME I LOOK THIS WAS THE UNITED STATE OF AMERICA NOT THE RACIST UNITED STATE. GET OVER IT YES WE HAVE A BLACK PRESIDENT AND HE GOING NO WHERE. IF YOU DON'T LIKE THIS COUNTRY I'M SURE YOU BUNCH OF IDIOTS WOULD BE WELCOME BY YOUR FRIENDS THAT KILLED ALL THOSE AMERICA ON 911. THE ONLY PROGRESS THE TERRORIST MOVEMENT HAS MADE IS TO SHOW THAT RACISM IS STLL ALIVE AND GROWING STRONGER. THIS IS NOT THE 1800. WHAT'S YOUR NEXT STEP WEARING SHEETS AN BURNING CROSSES.
04/16/10 @ 07:10:51 am
Vive,
Where is the evidence that the Tea Party groups have any racist motivation?
This has nothing to do with the color of the president's skin. It has to do with his socialist and fascist economic policies and his deliberate effort to weaken the nation abroad and attack liberty at home.
When Tea Partiers went to DC to protest socialized medicine, they stayed around afterwards cleaning up trash from the protests. Sound like terrorists to you?
By the way, the Ku Klux Klan was a Democratic organization, not a Republican one. You basically couldn't get into it if you were a Republican.
07/16/10 @ 04:49:35 pm
I've heard a lot of good things about the Tax party and what the represent. i think what I need to do is to do some research on what the Tax party represents, and see what I can do to help the politics.
08/12/10 @ 12:48:33 pm
Huge crowd! It was a successful tea party and I've heard a lot of good things about it.