Join the Tea Party
by Doug Edelman
Issue 128 - March 25, 2009
 Dick Armey recently sent out a modest newsletter:
"Last week you may have seen or perhaps heard about CNBC's Rick Santelli
and
his report from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, ground
zero
for American capitalism and free market commerce, where he called for a
"Taxpayer Tea Party" in the wake of efforts to enact a new,
multi-billion
dollar taxpayer funded housing bailout.
If you are like me, you stood up and cheered.
Rick was channeling what so many limited government advocates have been
feeling now for a long time when it comes to out-of-control spending on
the
backs of hardworking U.S. taxpayers to reward the irresponsible and the
corrupt: enough is enough!"
And with that, FreedomWorks (freedomworks.org) called for grass
roots protests against the massive spending stimuli across the nation.
Bill Hennessy of the St. Louis area was inspired. He contacted local
blogger and radio personality, Dana Loesch (danaradio.com) and the two of them set off to organize the St Louis
Tea
Party at the Riverfront.
The theme: "Repeal the Stimulus Spending, retire, or be retired."
Utilizing the latest in technology - Social networking sites like
Facebook
and Twitter, as well as a flurry of emails, word spread amongst the St
Louis
conservative community. Ms Loesch was even approached by a local TV
station
for an interview the night before the event.
This all began on Monday, February 23, for an event which took place a
mere
four days later on Friday February 28. Organizers were hopeful for a
turnout of 50 to 100 people, and were extremely encouraged when they had
over 200 confirmed attendees on their Facebook event page the night
before
the event.
But even they were flabbergasted when the crowd grew to over 1000
people;
excited, energized, and motivated!
The majority of those attending took time off work - long lunches or
days
off - to attend. Many commented that they'd never participated in a
protest
demonstration before. Said one participant, "Usually, it's the Liberals
who
protest when the government doesn't do what they want. Conservatives go
to
work, take care of their families, and if they're REALLY motivated, they
email their Congressman. This time the stakes are so high we must
resort to
protests in the streets!"
Notable signs included one held by a college student stating she works 2
jobs to pay her own way thru college, and another held by a youngster
asking "Does this mean I can overspend my allowance?"
Drivers passing by honked their horns in support of the demonstrators.
After short remarks by several dignitaries, the crowd descended the
levee to
the Mississippi River, where they symbolically dumped tea into the
river. A
Coast Guard Patrol Boat stood watch a short way off shore, in all
likelihood
a safety precaution against anyone falling in the water. A few
announcements were made to the effect that only LOOSE tea should be
thrown
into the river, lest the Coast Guard cite the protesters for an
environmental violation for throwing paper tea bags into the water!
The event galvanized the conservative population of St Louis, whether
they
were able to attend the event or not. Similar protests are planned in
the
future, with Tax Day, April 15, being floated as a possible protest
date.
Whether this "Tea Party" movement has legs, or is simply a short-term
venting of frustration by a decimated and impotent conservative
constituency
remains to be seen. But at this juncture, this is a force that the
powers
that be will have to reckon with.
Doug Edelman is a conservative political commentator and has been a contributing editor for The
Conservative Voice. He is also an IT Consultant/Contractor and owner of
a Computer Services Business. He has taught PC Maintenance & Repair and
Networking at his local Community College, and maintains a blog at http://edeldoug.blogs.com
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