Beyond Tea Parties

The big news in Washington this week has been President Obama's huge push to get his health insurance bill passed before Congress takes it's August recess. He is using much of the same retoric that was used to rush through the stimulus bill, and we can see how "urgent" that spending turned out to be. The truth is that Obama and the Democrats don't want the American people to have time to hear what's really in this bill. They must know that if we found out their real plans, we'd have the capitol surrounded with angry voters, demanding the thing be destroyed. So rush it through before the unwashed masses get a clue and let the chips fall where they may. It'll be too late for us to stop them. Rolled again.

To thier credit, the liberals have not come up for air since taking power in Washington. The pace with which they have carried out their power grab has been stunning. It's only been six months, but they have managed to take over the auto industry, the banking industry, passed a huge stimulus package, alienated our ally Israel, buddied up with socialist dictators in Latin America, and now are on the verge of getting their universal health insurance bill passed. Whew! Quite alot accomplished. In my opinion, there's just one thing wrong here. Every one of these things is harmful to America.

I was afraid that when Obama got elected, he would ram through his agenda without much resistance from the Republicans. In most cases, this is what has happened. They have watched most of this damage being done to our country with an occassional, "but...but...", but nothing of any real substance. That's why I was so relieved and excited when I first heard about "Tea Parties." They were going to be a conservative, grass roots protests and opposition to the liberal agenda that would otherwise have free reign in Washington. I made my plans to attend one in Allentown, Pa. Surely the politicians in DC would hear us loud and clear, and now we would be a force to be reckoned with. I couldn't wait.

I'm not going to be specific about what I saw at the Allentown Tea Party. I will say that it seemed typical of what happened in other small cities and towns around the country. Lots of good intentions, but not much enthusiasm for the cause. As I read the following days news accounts of Party's around the country, I was disappointed. Stories that recorded "40 or so folks turned out," or "around 200 people showed up for what looked like a small family reunion," made me wonder just what went wrong. There was serious bickering in some places as to whether politicians should be aloud to speak. In other places, the event was sponsored by a political party, driving legitimacy down. The same things happened again during Tea Party events on the 4th of July.

Hey! We're not getting anywhere like this! We're losing steam at a time that we need to be building it. Network and local coverage of Tea Party's is evaporating because we appear to be so disoraganized and, well, boring. We need to come together to figure out what we are trying to do. My understanding was that we were protesting against liberal and socialist policy coming out of Washington. But even more, to stop these policies from seeing the light of day. Instead, we're gathering together for cookouts, seeing who can come up with the wittiest sign, playing ad nauseum "I'm Proud To Be an American," and listening to politicians rail against what they're doing to us in Washington.

I, for one, would like to make the future rallies and protests a little more meaningful. I would like to see us organize a bit differently in order to be more effective with our representitives. Party's or no Party's, our voices are still not being heard. We're not getting through. When the left protests, whether here, or in a foreign land, they get results. They are heard. They rally enmasse. They get in your face. On the right, we have cookouts and sing patriotic songs. Can we learn something about protesting from the left? I say we must.

Among the things I see as needed in the future is the absolute refusal of a political party sponsorship. I don't care how much money they can put toward the cause. And it's no surprise that when I say that, I'm referring to the Republican Party. I read about Tea Party after Tea Party that allowed GOP candidates to speak at the rally. And the vast majority of them sat in the House of Representitives and voted to let George W. Bush spend us into huge deficits. And I'm talking domestic spending. Here they were at the Tea Party howling about Obama and his spending. But they glossed over the fact that they were a big part of the problem. We just gave them a campaign speech opportunity, and they took advantage of us all. This is why I am against letting politicians from any party speak at a rally.

This country needs to have a huge, loud, active opposition to Obama and his liberal congress. I want to see us move beyond the Tea Party and organize in strength and numbers that will shake the halls of Congress and the pillars of the White House. If you have the same feelings I do, then contact me at ecksbox1@gmail.com. Lets stop them before they destroy that which we have fought for, died for, and wish to pass on to our children.