By Tim O'Neil
02/27/2009
ST. LOUIS -- A large crowd braved chilly temperatures downtown today to protest President Barack Obama's stimlulus aprogram and to throw tea into the Mississippi River.
The gathering was organized by several local conservatives, who estimated the showing at more than 1,000 people. There was no official crowd estimate, but the gathering filled roughly one fourth of the grand staircase from the Arch grounds down to the levee.
Among the speakers was former football Cardinals tight end Jackie Smith, who took a bullhorn and said, "We are mad as hell and we need to stay mad as hell. Don't let up."
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Tea Party Republicans by Jeffrey Feldman (He seems so surprised, like the Dems have a lock on true patriotism! G.C.) Excerpted from:
http://scdfa.org/jeffrey-feldman-tea-party-republicans
Everywhere I look, these days, Republicans are revolting. Here are a few snapshots of what prominent Republicans are doing:
Ann Coulter: In weekly column told a racist joke about Bobby Jindal, called the Speaker of the House "mentally retarded," call public schools a "union incinerator" that eat children Michele Bachmann (R-MN): In remarks to the Conservative Political Action Conference, used racist black-face slang to praise RNC Chair Shelby Steele,"You be da man! You be da man!" Rush Limbaugh: On national radio show, called President Obama a "castrati", in response to Secretary of Defense Policy shift to allow press to photograph flag-draped caskets returning from Iraq Michelle Malkin: Maligned American victims of subprime mortgage scams as "predatory borrowers" Dean Grose (Republican Mayor, Los Alamitos, CA): Circulated racist email containing photo of watermelons growing on White House lawn with title "No Easter egg hunt this year" Incredibly, in addition to all this revolting behavior from leading Republican pundits and elected officials, there is also a full scale revolt led by Republicans against the American government, today.
That's right: a revolt.
The Republican revolt is called Tea Party U.S.A. and the idea is that Republicans will stage protests against government spending, today, to send the message to Washington that the American people are tired of taxation without representation--or something like that.
Curiously, the Facebook page for one of the Washington, DC, Tea Party says that this is not actually a Republican event:
This isn't a conservative or liberal thing. This is about government forking over billions of dollars to businesses that should have failed. This is about taking money from responsible people and handing it over to CEOs who squandered their own. (link)
That seems reasonable, until we look at the list of organizations sponsoring the Washington, DC, Tea Party:
Americans for Prosperity Americans for Tax Reform Young Conservatives Coalition The Heartland Institute National Taxpayers Union FreedomWorks Institute for Liberty Not exactly a "Who's Who" of progressive or liberal non-profit groups. And if we head on over to the Tea Party website, we see the following "talking points":
This is a non-partisan event — in fact, it’s critical of both parties — large-scale government interventions into the free market were kicked off under Bush, and Obama’s doing no better. The American taxpayer is better at spending his money than the government. If you ask your average taxpayer if he wanted to spend millions of dollars on golf course renovations, you could be sure he’d say no. Small business owners are the backbone of the economy, not large failing corporations. Amping up regulations only hurts these businesses. It is our *optimism* that guides our frustration. We believe so strongly in the ingenuity and hard work of the American people, that we feel big government measures will only get in the way of their success. Critical of both parties? Those talking points read like they were clipped out of a Gov. Jindal's response speech with a pair of safety scissors.
(Very lengthy and he does get into some mockery) More at:
http://scdfa.org/jeffrey-feldman-tea-party-republicans