Well said, sir!

I just got back from the Tea Party rally in Augusta, Maine. The rally was planned for 5-7pm, but there were a couple hundred there by 3pm, and when we left, at 6:30, the crowd had swelled to several hundred, with a steady stream of more arriving even as we were departing. There were many, many wonderful signs, with probably 90% of them handmade. Also quite a few “Don’t Tread On Me” flags, many Betsy Ross flags, and other American flags.

What was interesting was how many fokks brought their children along, and the cross-section of the state. Rich, poor, old, young, they were all there, and all were mad as hell. If an actual politician had shown up, he/she would’ve been given one serious earful of talking.

The other interesting thing was that the organizers had a small PA system, and anyone, and I mean anyone who wanted to speak for a few minutes was given the opportunity. It was eye-opening, because everyone there was on the same page. They are all fed up with what has happened, and they mean to see that it gets corrected in 2010.

Time and time again, speakers reaffirmed that “elections have consequences” and that our only chance to correct this was to elect responsible folks to office who would follow the Constitution, and put and end to this foolish taxation.

If, as it is estimated, only 1 in 100 of those who feel the same way actually turn up for a rally, then the leftists and the rightists who are so strongly in favour of POTUS’ tax plans, TARP, etc, are in for a very rude shock in the next round of elections.

All in all, there was a whiff of rebellion in the air, and town meetings are apt to get right interesting for politicians when they come home to visit.

respects,

Well, yeah.

Doc

I would have stayed longer, but I could not hear the speakers. The PA system appeared to be a small microphone connected to a bullhorn. What Glenn said–the organizers are still learning.

Lots of great signs, lots of articulate people.

I was struck by the following contrast.

While I was eating my lunch on a park bench, a man in a business suit asked me what all the people were about. I told him. He said he didn’t agree with the protest. I asked him to give me his perspective. Well, he said, he thinks Obama is just so intelligent. I asked why he thinks that. Well, he said, everyone seems to say so, and besides, Obama went to Harvard. And he was on the Law Review. I asked if he agreed with the actions Obama has been taking. His answer was that this is the biggest financial crisis ever, so of course we have to do something. He didn’t seem to think the specifics mattered much. But he was pretty sure that the “keep your money” point we were making at the rally was not going to be helpful.

Bob from Weymouth, on the other hand, took the day off from his job working on the city sewer system to attend the rally. He had a sign that said “Don’t spread my wealth, spread my work ethic.” And on the other side it said “Stimulate business, not government.” I asked him why he was at the rally. He said “we’re a capitalistic society and a lot of people in government are trying to move us toward a socialistic type of society. And if you read history, that type of society doesn’t work. It fails.” I asked Bob how he defines capitalism. He said: “Capitalism is pretty much the free enterprise system. You have the freedom to go out and start a company. You take risks. You succeed or you fail, and if you fail you start over, or you try something else. The government shouldn’t reward failure.” Bob mentioned he recently read The Forgotten Man (by Amity Shlaes, a new history of the Great Depression–terrific book). “It was eye-opening,” said Bob. “I grew up thinking that FDR ended the Depression, but he prolonged it. His policies were similar to what’s going on today. He took money that should have been in the private sector and put it in the public sector.”

Yeah, they say Obama is really smart.

I’m putting my money on Bob from Weymouth.

The release of the “right-wing’ threat paper by the Obama regime yesterday was a deliberate attempt to intimidate people into staying home.

If taxpayers don’t resist now, it will be much more difficult later – before Obama confiscates most of your earned wealth!

I am going to the one in Augusta, and bringing my 10-year old daughter along. She’s excited about being able to protest in front of the State Capitol. Two close friends are also coming. From what I hear so far, ought to be a good turnout all over Maine.