The Tea Party Dog

Smart dog — refuses a government handout.

NEWS FLASH!! Tea Party Erupts in Violence!!

This just in . . . A tea party in Pittsburg has turned violent!

These wacko conservative Republicans have begun throwing rocks at police cars, smashing plate glass windows, and engaging in other forms of anarchist behavior! Go here to see the shocking photos of these out-of-control freaks on a rampage.

What we in the media have long feared has finally come to pass — the Tea Partiers are a powder keg that can explode at any moment. Clearly, they pose the gravest threat to the Republic since Ronald Reagan.

UPDATE:  Stand by . . . okay, it appears that this is not a tea party at all, but anarchists exercising their constitutional right of free expression at the G-20 summit. No news here, move along to the next story . . .

(via Instapundit)

Our Clueless Leaders

Salena Zito warns the political class that their dismissive attitude toward the surging protests will cost them.

The Tea Party phenomanon has moved Americans to mobilize and protest as never before, which makes you wonder why the media and elected officials downplay it so much.

As for racism, the majority of the electorate is white, and a majority of it voted for Obama — and people are now demonstrating because they think our country is going off a cliff, not because our president is black.

9/12 Tea Party: Back to the Future

Barbara Curtis participated in the Sept. 12 Tea Party march in D.C. She sees it as the beginning of a major movement that will have an historic impact on our nation. She should know — she was once a leftist hippie radical in the vanguard of the last such movement in the 60s.

What I observed — no matter how ignored or spun by the increasingly irrelevant dinosaur media — tells me that this spontaneous and improbable gathering of conservatives is just the beginning of a movement that in the end will be as culturally revolutionary as the Woodstock generation.

It’s ironic that the same baby boomers who turned the country upside down in the 60s are about to turn it upside down again. Groovy!

Barbara blogs at http://mommylife.net/.

How to Tell the Difference Between Conservatives and Liberals

Photographic evidence.

A question from the reader comments: “Would cleaning up the mess left by liberals be considered a shovel-ready job?”

The People Have Had It

Dr. Melissa Clothier excoriates the entire political class — both Democrat and Republican — for its gutless, self-centered leadership. The people have had it, and the politicians are feeling just the beginning of a revolt.

The people, at long last, rise. The political class needs guidance, to put it mildly. Basically, things have been good enough and people have been busy enough that they stopped holding those entrusted with the keys to the law and treasury accountable. That time is over. All politicians, both Republicans and Democrats, would like the grassroots people to just go away. It seems evident that these folks are just getting warmed up.

Call them the mob, terrorists, haters, un-American, disloyal, treasonous, immoral, racist, deranged. They’re not going away. They are Americans. They deserve better than what they’re getting from the ruling class.

Tonight, a friend tweeted this timely quote: “It is the responsibility of the patriot to protect his country from it’s government.” – Thomas Paine

The government needs to relearn its place

“A Feeling of Rebellion”

Peggy Noonan accurately captures the angry mood of America this summer, and the “let ’em eat cake” attitude of the Democratic Party machine in response.

What the town-hall meetings represent is a feeling of rebellion, an uprising against change they do not believe in. And the Democratic response has been stunningly crude and aggressive. It has been to attack.

Read the whole article. As Noonan goes on to explain, if  Obama and his Democratic allies would back off, listen more and accuse less, they might have a better chance of getting somewhere. But like King George so long ago, this government is showing contempt for its subjects, and the subjects are responding in the only way left to them.

This could get ugly.

Wichita Tea Party

Below are a few of the pictures I took at the Tea Party in Wichita yesterday afternoon. Officials estimate about 1,000 people showed up, but I’m not sure how they could count them. There was a steady stream of people coming and going the whole time I was there.

The event was supposed to last from4:15 to 8:00 p.m. But by 6:00 most of the interesting speakers had finished, and the crowd was beginning to break up. That’s when I left, too.

It was encouraging to see that many people exercising their right to protest their government. Even so, I fear that unless the Tea Party movement can coalesce around a clearly articulated set of core beliefs — a platform, if you will — it will sputter and fade away. What I heard yesterday was just a bunch of anti-government whining. We need not merely to  complain, but to offer an alternative.

This shot gives a fair indication of the size of the crowd.

This gal was riding around the perimeter of the crowd shouting, "The taxes are coming! The taxes are coming!" Interesting, but I suspect she would have drawn more attention by doing a Lady Godiva re-enactment.

This sign captures the mood perfectly.

Notice the sign the dog is wearing. Maybe he should run for Congress -- he's certainly qualified.

This senior citizen had an eloquent way of expressing his frustration. Notice what he's wearing around his neck.

Senior citizens weren't the only ones complaining. This sign was a perfect melding of hip and history. But you have to think about it to get it.

Tea Time!

I hope to be at the Wichita Tea Party this afternoon. Organizers expect about 800 people to show up. I’ll bring a camera and post some photos.

Tax Day Tea Party in Wichita

There will be a Tea Party protest in Wichita on April 15, from 4:15 to 8:00 near the Wichita Airport Post Office.  Participants are asked to register here.

For more information on other Tax Day Tea Parties across the country, go to the web site here.

The Tea Party Movement

You won’t read much about it in the media, but over the last couple of weeks a seismic rumbling has been felt across the country. Triggered largely by Rick Santelli’s rant on CNBC a couple of weeks ago, citizens in dozens of cities and towns have gathered in small impromptu rallies to protest the out-of-control government spending that threatens our way of life.

Santelli is planning a major nationwide tea party on July 4th. The details are being tracked here.

There are several websites that describe the extent of this grassroots movement.

• Rick Santelli’s Tea Party site.
• Glenn Reynolds (here, here, and here) and Michelle Malkin are providing extensive coverage, including lots of photos.
• New American Tea Party site, focusing on Washington, D.C.
• A list of all the tea parties  known to have been conducted over the last few days.

The Christian Science Monitor had a good write-up on the movement, with details of a rally in Atlanta. (Side note: This story recounts the best placard I’ve seen coming out of these protests: “Pillage and plunder: At least the Vikings did it openly”).

Blogger Clarendon ponders the long-term impact of this fledgling movement:

I wonder, what are we expecting to achieve from these protests? Are we content to merely register our disapproval, or are we seeking to change what Congress and our president have done? If it is the former, I’m sure the politicians will note our objection, and wait for us to quiet down. If it is the latter, I fear our current protests are too scatter-shot to do any real good.

I suspect this July 4th will answer his question.