I attended the Indianapolis Tea Party yesterday at the State House...a very worthwhile venture. A few impressions:
MUCH bigger than I expected; deep down, I was afraid that it would turn out to be nothing more than a lot of smoke and mirrors, with no one much showing up. The entire State House South Lawn was jammed, with more protesters marching around the perimeter. Police estimates, according to the Indianapolis Star, assessed the attendance at 2,500. No way. I don't know how the police, for whom I have profound respect, gauge these things, but there were a lot more than that. The organizers stated from the podium that there were 10,000 people there; that, on the other hand, seemed a tad high. I would say that there were very likely between 5,000 and 7,000.
There is something afoot here, and the Obama Fan Club (i.e., the "mainstream media") knows it. So does the White House. This is a movement that is effervescing at the grassroots level. Not a single politician spoke yesterday, although I saw Congressman Dan Burton (my Rep) walking around on the platform and heard Congressman Mike Pence in studio on WIBC in the car on the way there, so he also had to be close by. Very few signs (and there were a ton of them) were professionally printed; almost all were hand-designed and every one I saw contained a pungent message of opposition to bailouts, high taxes and endless financial red ink. The tone was respectful, but firm: "We have HAD ENOUGH!"
WIBC morning host Greg Garrison spoke for about 15 minutes, followed by several "soapbox testimonials" from common citizens who were in attendance. Among the latter was an Irish lady (Tara Destak?) who had moved to America with her husband 20 years previously, after failing for years to save up a downpayment for a house due to excessive taxation rates. They arrived in the US with 2 suitcases full of possessions and nothing else; they had jobs in 3 weeks, had saved enough for a down payment on a home in (I believe) 2 to 3 years, and today is living the American dream as a homeowner. She just received citizenship last week. VERY inspiring.
We also heard from the man behind the Jason Chaffetz victory in Utah; I can't remember his name, but you can find the whole story in brief on Chaffetz's Wikipedia entry or in much greater detail on icaucus.org. This man has a network that is being put in place all across the country to duplicate the Chaffetz drafting and get more congressmen and women in Washington who will do the right things, without regard for media outcry.
The event closed with a brief, but highly animated speech by "Thomas Paine": yes, the some one whose Youtube videos have been making the rounds and receiving millions of hits, coverage on TV, etc.
We've only just begun.
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Glen-
Let's pray that people have really been awakened to the dangers of letting the government protect (control) our lives. The timing of the events that prompted your last two blog entries seems to be by design not accident.
May the events of the last several years and the heightened attempts at take-over of the private sector "scare" people to be involved-- not sit back and let someone else take care of politics. May they learn to take positive action, one good way to start would be for every American to read the constitution.
How many people really have ever read it? And it would be great if the message could be understood so people know why it is very important to continue to run the government in this manner! While it can be entertaining to watch a presentation of "Jaywalking" when no one knows very common parts of our history--it is disturbing! Disturbing because if I do not know the importance of my country's history (like the constitution) it will hold no value for me. Then it becomes easy for a party (or two) or an individual to smooth talk others into blindly following which ever direction the wind is blowing that day!
When people do not understand how important ideas are they will be attracted by many artificial "answers." Many people do not vote ideology--they vote for who promises the most or wears the coolest clothes and because that can change by the day or moment --the politician is very susceptible to whims of the people.
It is time to be involved! Do not wait for someone else to do it! Let's hope the tea parties all over America are the beginning as you say (We've only just begun).
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