Tea Party revolution brewing

[HisDaughter]

Tea Party Rally Sparks Dispute Over Potential Turnout

A House leadership aide warned fellow Democrats in a memo obtained by FOXNews.com that up to 2 million people may attend.But conservatives believe Democrats are playing an expectations game to claim the event was a failure. 
FOXNews.com

Friday, September 11, 2009

Democrats are sounding the alarms over the potential turnout at a planned protest in the nation's capital Saturday by opponents of President Obama's domestic policies, but protest organizers say the Democrats' numbers don't add up.

The demonstration is part of the Tea Party Movement and the culmination of a 34-city, 7,000-mile bus tour that began Aug. 28 in Sacramento, Calif. The "partiers" want any health care reform to create more competition and be guided by market principles, not a government-run plan.

D.C. police are closing streets on Pennsylvania Avenue between 14th and 3rd St. NW as protestors march from Freedom Plaza to the National Mall, where there will be a rally.

But there is some confusion over how many people will show up, and where Democrats are getting their estimates. A House leadership aide warned fellow Democrats in a memo obtained by FOXNews.com that up to 2 million people may attend.

"It looks like Saturday's event is going to be a huge gathering, estimates ranging from hundreds of thousands to 2 million people," Doug Thornell, an aide to Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., wrote, noting that a demonstration held Thursday turned into an impromptu rally for Rep. Joe Wilson, who has come under fire for his outburst during Obama's nationally televised speech to a joint session of Congress

Conservatives have seized on this memo as proof Democrats are playing an expectations game. They say the House leadership wrote the memo in hopes it would be leaked and inflate expectations for the turnout anticipating that it will fall short.

"It's an old political tactic to get out in front and make wild projections and when they're not met, claim their opponents don't have the juice," said Pete Sepp, a spokesman for the National Taxpayers Union, one of the organizers of the rally.

Sepp said there's only one reason to float a number that high.

"You set the bar at 2 million and anything under it becomes a failure," he said, adding that any event in D.C. that attracts 50,000 is considered a success.

A crowd of 2 million people, he said, "would exceed our wildest dreams."

Even President Obama didn't attract 2 million people to his inauguration, when estimates ranged from 1.2 million to 1.8 million people.

But Thornell told FOXNews.com that he was not playing an expectations game and that he simply used the numbers cited by organizers.

"I was using their own words and predictions and estimates," he said, explaining his memo was a compilation of statements from different Tea Party Web sites.

Thornell said he wrote the memo in response to inquiries from Capitol Hill staffers about the rally.

"If you read the memo, it doesn't convey any feeling about this event at all," he said. "I think the memo speaks for itself. … It's not about setting expectations."

FreedomWorks, the lead organizer who has largely bankrolled the rallies leading up to Saturday's march in Washington, D.C. has said it is expecting tens of thousands to attend. Adam Brandon, a spokesman for FreedomWorks, told Politico he expects the crowd to be in the 20,000-30,000 range.

In a blog post, Brendan Steinhauser, the nonprofit group founded in 1984 by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, quoted Morton Blackwell who said "You should underpromise and overachieve."

"That is what we are trying to accomplish by not giving the media any crowd estimates that they use against us," Steinhauser wrote. "We want to surprise them and shock the nation by the massive turnout that we expect on 9-12. I can only ask you to trust our judgment in this, and promise you that we will have a huge turnout."

[HisDaughter]

A million or more rock Washington
Taxpayer march could be biggest rally ever in capital
(To see some wonderful pictures of this event, you can view them on WND.com)
Posted: September 12, 2009
9:57 pm Eastern

Chelsea Schilling and Alyssa Farah
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

WASHINGTON – The capital was rocked today by a taxpayer march and rally that could be the biggest protest ever – potentially dwarfing the Million Man March and the Promise Keepers Rally.

Though crowd estimates vary from as low as 60,000 to 70,000 according to ABC News to a high of 2 million by London Daily Mail, photographs and videos of the march and rally demonstrate its enormity.

The taxpayers stormed Washington, D.C., today, taking their fight against excessive spending, bailouts, growth of big government and soaring deficits to the front door of the U.S. Capitol.

All week citizens have been heading to the Hill by the busloads for the showdown today. The Tea Party Patriots' "Tea Party Express" national bus tour has been hosting a series of tea party rallies all across the nation. A caravan of buses, speakers and entertainers arrived in Washington, D.C., just in time for the march. The taxpayers have paid their own way to the event.

The White House said Friday it was unaware of the rally. President Obama has traveled to Minneapolis, Minn., to promote his health-care plans at a rally there.

But so many taxpayers showed up on Pennsylvania Avenue that the crowd ran out of room and the march was forced to begin early.

WND was at the scene to get crowd reaction and take photos of the protest.

Citizens carried hand-made signs that read:

2010: Vote all incumbents out!

Our Constitution has termites!
We are under attack by our own government
Stop the march of socialism
You can put lipstick on communism, but it's still communism
My family, my doctor
Obamacare makes me sick
Go green: Recycle Congress
I'm not your ATM
We had a dream. We got a nightmare
Is this Russia?
You Lie!

Some people donned colonial costumes while the crowd was sprinkled with U.S. and yellow "Don't tread on me" flags.

Others, like Laurie Slough of Orlando, Fla., also dressed in costume to demonstrate their message. Slough wore a prison costume and carried a sign that read, "Criminals in Congress, your judgment day is coming."

WND also noticed many anti-ACORN signs, following the recent controversy in which one of the organization's offices was exposed supporting prostitution and human trafficking.

Politico reported among the signs seen were those asking "Where's the Birth Certificate?" – reflections of WND's extensive coverage of the yet-unanswered questions surrounding Barack Obama's constitutional eligibility to serve as president.

Fox News reported lines of citizens completely filled Pennsylvania Avenue for blocks.

"It was wall-to-wall people. I felt like I was in line for Obama health care," said participant Robert Barney of Chesapeake, Va.

Organizers have told the media they expect the event to be the largest group of fiscal conservatives to ever gather in Washington.

Richard Brigle, 57, a Vietnam War veteran and former Teamster, came from Paw Paw, Mich. He told Fox News that he believes the nation needs health-care reform – but not President Obama's plan.

"My grandkids are going to be paying for this. It's going to cost too much money that we don't have," he said while marching with a wooden cane.

According to the Washington Times, the "Tea Party Express" tour was the fourth most popular topic searched on Yahoo last week. Joe Wierzbicki, national coordinator of the Tea Party Express, told the Times he expected a large turnout.

"We were expecting 25,000 a few weeks ago, but now we are hoping for over 50,000," Wierzbicki said.

Several organizations united to help organize the National Taxpayer Protest's descent on the Capitol, including: Freedom Works, Grassfire/ResistNet, Tea Party Patriots, National Taxpayers Union, Club for Growth, Americans for Tax Reform, Young Americans for Liberty, Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights, Our Country Deserves Better, Campaign for Liberty, Leadership Institute, Free Republic, Young America's Foundation, the National Association of Rural Land Owners and Smart Girl Politics.

Brendan Steinhauser of FreedomWorks, one of the groups that organized the event, told WND, "People want to do this. The people who have been protesting around the country want to come to Washington and do this in D.C. In a lot of ways, they are being ignored and the media is underrepresenting them and their numbers. They want to come together for one big event and send a very clear message."

[Soldier4Christ]

Even though it may well be the largest protest ever the WhiteHouse was still unaware of it? I don't that. It is more likely that they just chose to pretend it isn't happening. That way they can deny it all later and continue on with their plans.

[nChrist]

What this administration wants to do is illegal and Unconstitutional. They need to consider the consequences before trying to ram something through that the states and the people won't TOLERATE. This is not just a matter of politics, rather a matter of THE RULE OF LAW AND THE CONSTITUTION. It's also a matter of FREEDOM AND OUR WAY OF LIFE that we will not give up to TYRANTS. This is not a matter for negotiation or debate. The answer was NO before they started, and the answer is still NO! Our so-called representatives will be held accountable under the Law and the Constitution, and they should know that the people will not accept TYRANNY!

[Soldier4Christ]

It is now certain that this was the biggest rally ever to hit Washington DC and that doesn't count all the rallies nationwide of protesters that held rallies locally because the couldn't make it to DC. Even though ACORN tried to infiltrate the DC rally and sell American flags and the yellow Don't Tread On Me flags in order to increase their coffers there still weren't any arrests reported at any of the rallies. This really speaks volumes about the protesters.

btw The ACORN group was figured out early on and peacefully expelled from the area by the police.

[nChrist]

Ref. Acorn, I feel quite certain there are some people working for Acorn who are decent, God-fearing people who don't know yet what Acorn is. They would be like the rest of America and need to WAKE UP, LISTEN, AND LOOK. Those decent people need to separate themselves from Acorn and all of Acorn's affiliates. It's time to leave Acorn with the crooks or go down with the crooks when PRISON TIME COMES, and prison time will come. Eventually, the politicians in bed with Acorn will go down also. Acorn simply has tons of dirt - so much that it's impossible to hide it. The same is true for all of Acorn's affiliates. There are many ongoing investigations of Acorn and affiliates whether Congress orders one or not. Congress is part of what's being investigated. Acorn and affiliates are so dirty and corrupt that Barney Fife and Goober could make multiple rock-solid cases against them. Many people in high places will SURELY be found out and EXPOSED. I think they should be given a choice of seeking political asylum in Iran or PRISON. AND, we should all be able to guess by now that the corruption starts at the TOP and is orchestrated from the TOP. Our politicians know exactly what's going on. Washington, D.C. is an open sewer, and most of the politicians love playing in the sewer. The STINK will get out, and they can't hide. On the other side of the coin, there are some good politicians who are trying to do the right thing, and we need to get behind them and support them. The tables are beginning to turn, AND THEY MUST IF WE WANT TO SAVE THE REPUBLIC FROM SEA TO SEA SEWERS!

[Soldier4Christ]

This is the best picture I've seen as of yet of the Tea Party march on Wash DC.

http://www.freedomworks.org/files/capitol%20view%20lo%20res.jpg

If you click on the picture you can get an enlargement of it. It still isn't wide enough to take in all the people that we there.

[nChrist]

This is the best picture I've seen as of yet of the Tea Party march on Wash DC.

http://www.freedomworks.org/files/capitol%20view%20lo%20res.jpg

If you click on the picture you can get an enlargement of it. It still isn't wide enough to take in all the people that we there.

Brother, I got a "Site Maintenance in Progress" message, so I assume this site is overwhelmed with users and people wanting to see this picture right now. I'll try again later.

I saw estimates of over 2 million people for the day. As we know, people did come and go. As we also know, many will try to marginalize this and even try to demonize the people who attended. I spoke with someone who was there just the other night, and he said that 2 million would be a conservative estimate. Many of the people there also saw other sites while they were there. Washington, D.C. is a place rich in heritage and history, so many people took advantage of their visit while they were there. By the way, they left it cleaner than it was before they got there, and there was no trouble at all from this great host that has been called dangerous. The closest thing to danger from this crowd was grandma and grandpa putting their teeth in to go visiting. Lots of disabled people showed up, and not one person was assaulted by a cane or a wheelchair. The only thing close to trouble was a group from ACORN, and they were escorted out before they could start any trouble.

A close friend of mine brought me an etching from the Vietnam Memorial of another close friend who gave his life 3 days after getting off the plane. Great numbers of Veterans and Christians were there - and YOU KNOW - they didn't cause a problem for anyone! This is almost unheard of in a demonstration of this magnitude.

[Soldier4Christ]

There are plenty of reasons for this, too. The people in this protest know what these memorials and the ground they are on means. It is not that they worship the ground they stand on nor place these memorials as idols but rather give respect to and honor those that these things stand for. Freedom and those that gave to achieve that freedom not only for themselves but for those that follow after them. It is respect for the good that was in mankind that overcame evil. The very same evil that we see rising up again today that they are quite peacefully objecting to.

[nChrist]

There are plenty of reasons for this, too. The people in this protest know what these memorials and the ground they are on means. It is not that they worship the ground they stand on nor place these memorials as idols but rather give respect to and honor those that these things stand for. Freedom and those that gave to achieve that freedom not only for themselves but for those that follow after them. It is respect for the good that was in mankind that overcame evil. The very same evil that we see rising up again today that they are quite peacefully objecting to.

Brother,

You said this in a way that I understand completely and appreciate. My friend that brought me the etching had like comments about the things he was able to see while he was there. There is a Christian heritage on display there that is worthy for future generations to emulate. You've already said it better than I can. Yes, there is an evil rising up that our founders and decent, God-fearing people of today will never approve of.

[Soldier4Christ]

The revolution is enlarging to take in more than just being against taxes and excess spending.


Feds sued to keep out of state's gun affairs
Complaint filed seeking affirmation of Montana Firearms Freedom Act

In the second major front in the war over gun rights that has developed in just days, a lawsuit has been filed against U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder seeking a court order that the federal government stay out of the way of Montana's management of its own firearm.

The action was filed by the Second Amendment Foundation and the Montana Shooting Sports Association in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Mont., to validate the principles and terms of the Montana Firearms Freedom Act, which took effect today.

WND previously reported on the precedent-setting move taken over the course of recent months when the 2009 Montana Legislature approved the bill and the plan was signed into law by Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer.

*see the following link for full story and map*

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=111759

[Soldier4Christ]

And more still:

Secession movement spreads well beyond Texas

As head of the Texas Nationalist Movement, Daniel Miller of Nederland believes it’s time for the Lone Star State to sever its bond with the United States and return to the days when Texas was an independent republic.

"Independence. In our lifetime," Miller’s organization proclaims on its Web site.

When Gov. Rick Perry suggested that some Texans might want to secede from the Union because they are fed up with the federal government, the remarks drew nationwide news coverage and became fodder for late-night comedians.

But to Texas separatists like Miller and Republican gubernatorial candidate Larry Kilgore of Mansfield, secession is no laughing matter. Nor is it exclusive to the nation’s second-largest state.

See full article:  http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1623872.html?storylink=omni_popular

[nChrist]

Secession movement spreads well beyond Texas

The full resources of the FBI and Federal Prosecutors needs to be brought to bear on Washington, D.C. to clean out the CORRUPTION BEFORE ALL STATES LEAVE THE UNION! They need to keep the CORRUPTION in D.C. until the law violators and Constitution tramplers are dealt with and imprisoned! THE STATES DON'T WANT ANY PART OF D.C.'S CORRUPTION!

Things are happening sooner than I thought they would, and that's probably because D.C. hasn't gotten or understood the message yet:  THE STATES AND THE PEOPLE WILL NOT TOLERATE THEIR CORRUPT BALONEY THAT REMOVES FREEDOM! Those in D.C. who still want to serve the people can start by CLEANING UP THEIR OWN HOUSE! They need to keep one LESSON in mind during the process:  they are servants - NOT MASTERS! They are not the RULERS over anyone. LESSON TWO is they are also accountable UNDER THE LAW AND THE CONSTITUTION! LESSON THREE is prison for those who have already gone too far. For those who are still determined to RULE, THEY WILL RULE OVER NOTHING DURING THEIR PROSECUTION! THIS IS A FREE COUNTRY, SO WE DON'T HAVE RULERS HERE!

Here's our proposed UNIFORM FOR RULERS:

 

[Soldier4Christ]

I think that uniform will look better on them than it does on that poor dog.

[Soldier4Christ]

Tea partiers brutally beaten by pro-amnesty group
Shocking! Illegal immigration protesters attacked, pushed into traffic

Che Guevara supporters with a radical pro-amnesty coalition viciously attacked and bludgeoned tea party protesters at a Florida anti-illegal-immigration rally, including a 62-year-old man who was beaten and kicked in the face.

Americans for Legal Immigration PAC called for "Tea Parties Against Amnesty and Illegal Immigration" to form quickly across the nation on Nov. 14. In less than 30 days, protests were scheduled for more than 50 towns and cities.

But two Fort Lauderdale, Fla., tea party protesters were brutally beaten by pro-amnesty activists on the day of the nationwide rally as they attempted to film Florida's Act Now to Stop War and End Racism Coalition counterprotest.

ANSWER members carried Che Guevara signs and other black and yellow placards that stated "Full rights for all immigrants." They shouted, "Amnesty yes, racists no!"

As the two men attempted to film the protest, an ANSWER member in a black tanktop and blue jeans lunged after one of the cameramen and beat him with a sign, pushing him into traffic. Another ANSWER member in a white T-shirt attacked the same cameraman while the victim defended himself with what appears to be a camera tripod.

A female tea party protester began screaming as Dave Caulkett of Floridians for Immigration Enforcement and the initial ANSWER attacker fought in the middle of the street.

"Supporters of President Obama's amnesty plans attacked Tea Party Against Amnesty & Illegal Immigration demonstrators in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009. One of the men attacked is 62 years old," ALIPAC reported. "Dave Caulkett of FLIMEN is assaulted and then kicked in the face while he is down. The other cameraman from the tea party is hit with several signs."

ALIPAC revealed that ANSWER Florida sent out an e-mail invitation urging members to join its "protest to shut down racist anti-'amnesty' rally" in Fort Lauderdale prior to the event. ANSWER's letter stated the following:

    The ANSWER Coalition is calling on all its members, allies, and friends to join us tomorrow to confront and shut down the racist "Anti-Amnesty Tea Party" in Fort Lauderdale.

    The "Anti-Amnesty" rallies being held across the country tomorrow have been initiated by fascist, white supremacist organizations that include the Minutemen and the so-called Americans for Legal Immigration.

    Recent months have shown a significant rise in extreme-right activity with hate crimes and attacks on immigrants skyrocketing. White supremacist and fascist organizations have boasted rapid growth since the onset of the economic crisis. The new administration has continued the government's anti-immigrant policies with "desktop raids" – the liberal response to the fascist like workplace raids of the Bush years.

    Racism is like anything else in this world: in order to make it fall, you must smash it! That is why we are calling on all people to come out tomorrow, to organize a militant confrontation with the so-called "tea baggers." Beating back these forces will require us to organize together, take the streets, fight the racists wherever they show their faces and drive them out of every community. …

    We are building a movement that will beat back racism so that working people of all nationalities can unite and fight against our one, shared enemy: capitalism. Amnesty, full rights for ALL immigrants, is a demand that should be raised not just by the immigrant communities, but by every working class community in our struggle to solve this crisis by our own means.

    Join us tomorrow, and join us in building the movement against racism and capitalist exploitation!

As WND reported earlier, ALIPAC Chief William Gheen said his group had been calling for a "peaceful, political revolution and uprising in America."

A video on this incident can be seen at:

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=116347

Yet it is the Tea Partiers that is being put on the terrorist watch list.