Posted by
Sgt.Stryker on Sunday, March 22, 2009 2:19:51 AM
What a fantastic day! I feel so invigorated and energized, better than I do after I have put pen to paper (figuratively speaking) to vent here at TH. I went to the Tea Party in Lexington, KY today, and it did my soul good to see so many like-minded people there, from so many different backgrounds, with so many worldviews, uniting behind a common cause. I'm pretty sure there were more than 400 people there, and the news that we are having another rally in Applebees Park (home of the
Lexington Legends AA baseball team) on April 18th was especially encouraging. What an accomplishment it would be to fill the 6,500 seat stadium. Of course, the fact that my wife called me a "radical" helped get me fired up as well.
There were also folks there from
The Bluegrass Institute For Public Policy Solutions, including board chair
Kathy Gornik, who will be appearing on C-Span this coming monday (3/23/09 at 3 pm EST) as part of a business roundtable discussion relating to the economy and how it's impacting businesses. She gave a truly heartfelt and inspirational speech, even though she said she hates public speaking. On a side note, I found it interesting that she was recently named the first-ever recipient of the Bastiat in Business Award in recognition of her distinguished effort to promote free-market ideas.
The Bastiat Society is a nonprofit foundation created to spread free-market ideas among business people. She will also be speaking to the Bastiat Society (where I linked to her above) on April 1st. You may remember that my last piece was about Bastiat's "The Law". I got some goosebumps when I found that out (cue "The Twilight Zone" theme).
One of our state representatives,
Stan Lee (not to be confused with the comic book artist/creator) spoke as well...I'm sure his ears were burning throughout the other speeches, as everyone was railing against DC pols specifically, and politicians in general.
The only relatively sour moment(s) occurred when
Gatewood Galbraith went off the reservation during his speech, advocating for Kentucky's legalization of marijuana. Most of the crowd may have been ok with that 20 years ago, but now...not so much. Those of us who follow Lexington politics knew this was coming as soon as we saw him, so it wasn't much of a surprise. I will say, his mention that California has already opened up this Pandora's box only begs the question, will Kentucky be second to do it, or last? The fact that so much drug money goes to terrorists and drug cartels, and could be taxed, is certainly intriguing. But, as Bastiat would caution, we have to explore the unintended consequences. And I personally believe we can't go down that road.
The other low point occurred when I spotted two "Obamabots" who looked to be "spying". They actually had the nerve to show up wearing their "Obama/Biden" shirts and buttons. Young, twenty-something artist looking types, they were busily texting on their Blackberries, standing well back of the crowd. I approached them very casually, and tried to hand one of them a
912 Project flyer. He looked up from his texting, and said "you better take your smug self somewhere else." My, they are a testy lot. I looked at the other guy, and said "here ya' go, this is a copy of the Constitution. You might want to try reading it." All he could say is "we support the President." I told him to take the copy, it was free. He says "we are the majority, and we won." Snarky. I told him that he was quite the minority where we stood...then I decided that a scene was probably not what the group needed. I left him with a "good luck with that whole majority thing" and a smile. I seem to remember W had a majority, and we all know how that turned out.
The high point of the day was Leland's speech, when he exhorted the crowd with his directive to DC-"Fear This!!" Our elected representatives as well as the "Administration" would be wise to follow his advice. Smaller government, less spending, transparency...all of the speakers hit these subjects hard and often. Leland was very articulate, however, and very dynamic. One point he made was that "we're not angry, yet." A subtle, but powerful point that was. There is quite a bit of upside to this movement. The anger has yet to boil over, but it won't take much more.
Interestingly enough, the event was scheduled to end at 2 pm, and right on cue, the power to Leland's mike went out. He was wrapping his speech up with no sound, and astutely gave credit where it was due (to the government for cutting him off, right on time), before the tech folks kicked on the generator for his finale.
For all you folks that haven't been to one of these events, I highly recommend it. Washington is noticing, and it won't take many more of these before the moderates realize they are on the wrong side of these issues. We did it to the Immigration bill, and we can sidetrack this budget/bailout insanity as well, if we stay on message and stay united behind the cause.
Here is the link for the National Tea Party Day. Sign up, attend, and call and write your representatives. The spark has ignited the tinder, and the flames are spreading. Keep adding your fuel to this wildfire. It's now or never...
If you're interested, there are a number of great photos (many that I've uploaded) at
Meetup.com on their "Lexington, KY-We Surround Them" page. Some great signs and costumes, and I want to personally thank all the folks for being so willing to pose for pictures.