Nearly Wordless Wednesday
--Thomas Jefferson"You stand here this day, all of you . . . you elders
and you officials . . . you children, you women,
even the stranger that dwells among you,
from woodchopper to drawer of water--
to enter into the covenant . . ."
--Devarim 29: 9 - 11
In the original standing, the people stood to enter into the Covenant of Israel. Yesterday, between 7,000 and 10,000 New Mexicans stretched over three miles, gathered along one of the busiest roads in Albuquerque; they stood to say this:
"We stand here this day, affirming our First Amendment rights:
we elders and we children, we men and we women,
even the strangers that live among us, all of us,
from our professors to our drive-by ice cream vendors,
to say to our servant government: Restore our Covenant,
the Constitution of the United States of America . . ."
The Engineering Geek and the Boychick hold the signs up against the wind behind the Independence Grill.
Flags, including the sign of a nation in distress,
in the parking lot in front of the
Independence Grill, as the Albuquerque
Tea Party gets underway.
The Chemistry Geek Princess joined us on the northwest corner of Montgomery and Louisiana, and took her turn holding one of our signs up agaisnt the wind.
Many of the vehicles driving by honked their horns, and gave signs of support. Some sported flags, like the SUV that has the American flag,
the Army Ranger flag, and another.
This mom is protesting the overly generalized DHS report that was released just before the Tea Parties. Any of us who support the Constitution--limited government, the Second and Tenth Amendments--are now extremists. A Homeland Security Vehicle did drive up and down the street, filming us all.
We are all extremists now!
Along with the American flag, many people had different versions of the Gadsen Flag: Don't Tread on Me. My favorite was the New Mexico Libertarian Party'a rattlesnake (not pictured). The legend on it says: I Dare You to Tread on Me!
Many signs dealt with the bailouts, and the fascistic nature of recent Federal actions, such as nationalization of the banks and the automobile manufactureres.
Many signs had historical references:
This sign refers to King George III's plan to make the American Colonies into Crown plantations, in which the residents were to be essentially indentured servants to the British Crown.
Now, the same stark choice confronts us. Do we live free or do we become tax slaves?
My favorite! If we are radicals, we are in good company.
George Washington (picture blew off in the wind) said:
“Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”
This is probably enough to get our First President on the DHS list as an extremist, too!
There is a three minute video that features a drive along the road with commentary by the radio station that was broadcasting live. It can be found here.
11 comments:
Why is it that we didn't see any teabagging when George W. Bush started all this supposedly horrible communistic stuff last fall when he was president? After all, it was Bush who moved to bail out Wall Street, nationalize AIG and take over the car industry. Why were there no protests when Bush turned a big surplus into a huge deficit and doubled the national debt through reckless tax cuts and two botched wars?
The simple reason is that the "tea party" movement is not about opposition to government policy. It's about opposition to Barack Obama, plain and simple.
It doesn't matter that 95% of Americans are getting a tax cut under Obama's economic plan. Nor does it matter that even after tax rates on Americans making more than $250,000 a year go up when Bush's 2001 tax cuts expire, they will still be paying a lower tax rate than they did under Ronald Reagan.
None of that matters to the teabagging organizers, because it's not a real grassroots movement. It's what political junkies call "astroturfing" - fake grassroots activism. In this case, it was instigated and coordinated by right-wing lobbyists, the Republican Party and Fox News as well as the rest of the conservative media as a means of bashing Obama and rallying support to an otherwise floundering GOP.
Sorry, but you're being used for purely political purposes.
Awesome!
We had between 600-700 at our rally. Pretty good for a very small city. Of course, our local newspaper didn't post one single thing about it.
Great pics, Elisheva. I like the last one too.
Champaign's Tea Party had an estimated 400, which was more than I anticipated. It was great!
Mark, you need hipboots.
The Tea Parties are about government policy. The fact is that many of us in the third parties did stand up and complain about Bush policies, and especially about his economic policies. I personally stood up and loudly complained about the Patriot Act, the war in Iraq, the bugetary madness and TARP. Many others, including some of the nationally know conservatives (I'm not a conservative). It's just that you don't watch the same news, listen to the same radio and read the same papers that the tea party goers do.
Huffington Post never covered us then because it would have broken their stereotype of us. Now much of the mainstream media coverage encourages the Big Lies you are telling above, because to do so promotes their agenda.
Amie: Sadly, the press has underreported this story or done so in biased way, all across the country. Our own Albuquerque Journal couldn't even be bothered to check out the real numbers, reporting "a few thousand" and then instead of getting the local story, relied on the Big Lies told by the AP.
"Mark, you need hipboots."
Couldn't have said that better.
Our count in northern MS was 1,400 people. Everyone signed in, so I am assuming that count is based on signatures.
As a no-party voter, I've been griping since NCLB. No, I don't like President Obama's policies, but I wasn't crazy about a lot of President Bush's, either.
Activities Coordinator: Isn't it interesting how you and I started to be concerned with NCLB? It starts with the kids, and I think we are still concerned about them.
I call myself a third party voter, which really means that I have never voted for a presidential candidate that won, because the major parties so dominate American politics, something our founders warned us against.
Well, now I've done it.
http://lifeontheplanet.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/04/time-for-tea.html
My Lord and Savior, according to Karen in comments, is not happy with me.
The day I presume to speak for my creator, someone please tell me to hush-up!
This is just silly and Mark, I'm afraid you must read some mantra somewhere. Phrasing to tell people they really experienced and really think. "Sorry [Mark], but you're being used for purely political purposes" indeed!
"astroturfing"..."Teabagging"...I've learned so much from people like you in the last few days.
But this is the almost funny one:
"The simple reason is that the "tea party" movement is not about opposition to government policy. It's about opposition to Barack Obama, plain and simple."
Ya think? Which tea party did you attend?
NCLB stinks. The last 2 presidents support NCLB. It was a bi-partisan effort to pass it. It hurts those who have the least. It hurts them the most.
Susan, don't you just love it when someone who "knows better than we do" steps up to the plate to tell us what we think and what we experience? This is the problem with the whole Progressive movement since TR. They know . So they never have to question, to listen, to think.
The BS is getting deeper and deeper, there in the Congress, the White House, and among the Progressives. Soon, very soon--did you see the leaked Bank stress test--we'll all need waders.
Lord, here comes the flood . . .
This experience of the last week or so has been very enlightening. I thought I'd seen plenty before.
It's very inspiring. Not the way the brain washers would hope.
I'm ready to fight this now with whatever I've got to give.
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