Tea Party Terrifies The Mainstream Media

Tea Party Terrifies The Mainstream Media
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

In less than three weeks Americans go to the polls determined to change the federal government back to a responsive, responsible, government, which actually HAS the consent of the governed.

The Mainstream Media is flat-out “hacked-off” by this unparalleled behavior by the people they, too often in the past, have counted as sheep to be led by their left-wing propaganda which they have spoon fed the masses with their pabulum presses and mediocre “news” broadcasts.

The American public is NOT responding and NOT behaving as it is supposed to, and they are frightened.

See – this Tea Party “thing” was never supposed to happen. Nosiree! Just as they have for decades, the American public was supposed to act -- and re-act -- based upon the propaganda fed them by the Mainstream Media. Not THIS time.

It seems the MSM had not factored in an extremely important part of Americans lives today. The Internet.

No longer are Americans shackled to their TV sets at 6:30 PM, or their newspapers at the breakfast table. Now, with the Internet, Americans are plugged into news from around the world on a 24-hour basis. Often the news is “raw.” In other words, it has not been filtered through editors.

And then there are the “citizen journalists.” Oh, THAT is a term the newsies absolutely HATE! For years now members of the MSM have declared there is no such thing as a citizen journalist. All the while those citizens journalists were plying their trade 24 hours a day on the Internet, directly under the noses of the MSM. In other words, those news amateurs were doing the jobs of the MSM. While “raw” their reports were reaching hundreds of thousands of readers hours, and even days, before those same reports appeared in the print and broadcast media.

It did not take the public long to learn there was a constant source of news right at their fingertips anytime they wanted it. That was when the MSM learned they were in BIG TROUBLE!

Then something called a “Web Log” was born. The two words were soon contracted into the single word “Blog” and those who wrote in those “Blogs” became known as “Bloggers.”

The problem with the bloggers was, and remains, that they tend to tell their readers, right up front, where lies their bias. Bloggers do not tend to proclaim themselves non-biased. In fact, they oftimes go out of their way to make it clear to readers whether they are conservative, or liberal, right wing, or left wing. Turns out that was a smart move. It also turns out that readers are comfortable with that knowledge. They can go directly to their favorite conservative blog, or news source or their favorite liberal blog or news source and not have to wade through all the “blather” from the political philosophy they abhor.

Then there is the communications afforded by the Internet which is instantaneous, 24-hours a day 7-days a week. Americans could, for the first time, have a never-ending conversation with each other about anything they wanted.

As it turned out, many Americans wanted to swap political ideas. They began to form into online communities. That’s when the American electorate really found its power.

Soon after the election of 2006, Americans found their government had gone rogue. “Rogue” in the sense that it was no longer responsive to the wishes and desires of the electorate. As the months and years passed the Congress became less and less connected to its constituents. They simply forgot or chose to ignore the fact that they govern with the consent of the governed.

That was when the American electorate decided to use the power they had (with the Internet) to form a resistance movement which would confuse the legislators efforts and if not render them impotent, then certainly slow them down in their efforts to transform America into some sort of excremental socialist nightmare.

Today the landscape of the cyber sphere is littered with portals for all kinds and sorts of political philosophies and organizations. If not the most powerful, then certainly ONE of the most powerful turned out to be the Tea Party.

Demanding that the United States be returned to its status as a constitutional, representative, republic the Tea Party grew with the ferocity of a wind swept prairie fire until it became a juggernaut of like-minded Americans with one goal in mind: to rescue America from the clutches of a government drunk on power.

The power of the Tea Party has influenced primary elections across the country and are now set to rearrange the US House of Representatives and, quite possibly, the US Senate, as well, while plans for the drive to retire the US President loom dead ahead.

There is little to prevent the Tea Party from becoming a third powerful political party in America should the new Congress fail to live up to their expectations in the next few months. It is possible they could replace the Republican Party just as the Republican Party replaced the Whig Party a century and a half, or so, ago.

All of this can be traced back to the arrogance of BOTH political parties in America and to the elite Mainstream Media and their continued support of left wing politics.

The Tea Party reflects the unique American trait of revolution based on the ballot box rather than the cartridge box.

No matter what your feelings about the Tea Party happen to be, this is an important and historical moment in American history. It has shaken the world of the Mainstream Media to the core. They are confused and frightened. They still don’t get that this is America and when American feel their freedom is under attack, they will, as ever, fight back.

J. D. Longstreet

The GOP’s Choice For President

The GOP’s Choice For President
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

There are those who will say NOW is not the time to expend mental energy on ciphering the inner workings of the GOP and the machinations they go through to choose a presidential candidate. Those who say that may very well be correct, but here we go, anyway.

If I could make one suggestion to the GOP candidate selection corp – it would be that they not present their base with the same tired old candidates they continue to run out each h election cycle.

Oh, and allow me to mention something they may have missed. Sarah Palin, for all her likeability within the conservative branch of the Republican Party, will not be an acceptable choice to carry the GOP banner into the 2012 election for President of the US.

Don’t misunderstand. I LIKE Ms. Palin. In my opinion, she is a powerful engine within the conservatives of the GOP. She can gather a crowd, create a tidal wave of energy within the ranks of the party, and her skill at raising money is akin to that of a money machine. Her support can push a little known candidate across the finish line to victory, as we have seen a number of times already. But she cannot win a race for President against Obama.

That needed saying, as the expression as it, so I said it.

In the first place I think the upper echelon of the Republican Party had rather ingest cyanide than support Ms. Palin as their candidate for President. Left to their own devices I am convinced they would, as they did in 2008, discard the conservative wing of their party and place their support behind a liberal or a RINO candidate with the belief that they can win the 2012 Presidential Election with the support of only liberal and moderate republicans, plus the independent voters. That move was doomed to failure, right from the start, in the 2008 election cycle and it has even less chance of ending in victory in the 2012 election cycle.

I have voted a conservative ballot since my first election at the tender age of 21. I will do the same this next month and again in November of 2012. Like all conservatives my votes always reflect my core beliefs. Conservatives are like that. We will not compromise our beliefs to vote for a GOP candidate who does not share those beliefs just so the Republican Party can claim a victory. Such a victory often turns out to be pyrric, anyway.

There is some evidence that the “higher-ups” in the GOP are beginning to understand this fact. I hope so, for, indeed, the survival of the Republican Party, as a political force in America, literally hangs on their understanding that and accepting that and embracing conservative republicans.

The Republican Party must recognize that Conservatives have the power now to create that viable “third Party” which, I am convinced would quickly move the GOP into third party status and itself into direct contention with the Democratic Party to become the controlling political party in the US. The truth is the Tea Party Movement in America has accomplished that for conservatives.

In one month America’s electorate will go to the polls to decide whether America remain a constitutional republic or is dragged into the slavery of a socialist state akin to the pathetic European socialist entities sometimes referred to as “states.” The conservative movement in America is going head-to-head with the liberal socialists in America to stop that from happening. Conservatives understand, better than anyone, it seems, that socialism is assured death for the American way of life. They give all indications they are determined to concentrate their considerable power on preserving the country and the political system our forefathers labored so hard to obtain and to guarantee for us.

The GOP MUST understand conservatives will settle for nothing less than a genuine conservative candidate for President of the US in 2012. This is not negotiable, period.

Before the GOP makes a mistake they will rue to their dying day, allow me to state as clearly as I know how the following: Conservatives are not so desirous of being rid of the Obama Regime that they (conservatives) will vote for practically anyone the GOP decides to push forward as the party’s choice for President. I assure you that is NOT the case. In fact, it is a sure and certain way to return the Obama Regime to power for another four years.

The bottom line is this: If the GOP decides to ignore the conservative branch of their party this time around, then I expect conservatives will accept the GOP rejection of their values and move on to form their own political party, separate from the Republicans, into which they can pour their considerable political clout, their energy, and their collective talents in an effort to build a better America.

J. D. Longstreet

U. S. Senate A Lock For Democrats? I’m Not So Sure.

U. S. Senate A Lock For Democrats? I’m Not So Sure.
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

I continue to read, hear, and see reports by the Mainstream Media that Christine O’Donnell’s win Tuesday, in Delaware, insures the Democrats will maintain control of the Senate. Well, I’m not so sure -- and I think the liberal-socialists in the media, in the Republican Party, and in the Democratic Party are fooling themselves if they choose to believe the race in Delaware will determine control of the US Senate.

Mark Tapscott has an article titled “Two initial lessons to be gleaned from O'Donnell victory” at The Washington Examiner in which he, too, explains his reservations about control of the senate being insured by the O’Donnell Victory.

In his article, Mr. Tapscott says the following:

“There are at least two lessons here.

First, the anger among Republican voters is not limited to the far right reaches of its "base." Castle was one of the most popular political figures in the state, yet his support in Congress for TARP bailouts, the radical House version of Cap-and-Trade, and the DISCLOSE Act marked him back home among his fellow Republicans as more a representative of the Washington Establishment to Delaware than Delaware's representative to Washington.

Lesson: The days of "moderate" Republicans in Congress being able to talk the talk of reform in Washington without actually walking it are rapidly coming to an end everywhere except perhaps in the deepest, darkest reaches of the Northeast.

Second, right or wrong, there is no more divisive figure on the Right, for the moment, than O'Donnell. On the issues, she portrays herself as a solid conservative and of course touted her endorsement by Sarah Palin. The problem with O'Donnell is thus not with her ideological orientation, it is strictly because there are serious questions about her financial record and ethical code.”

Tapscott goes on to say: “Still, I question the conventional wisdom that Delaware is now a lock for the Democrats. Despite Scott Brown, Rand Paul, Sharon Angle, and Joe Miller, the talking heads in Washington and New York obviously still cannot comprehend the depth or intensity of anger among voters or the fact that anger is far from limited to conservatives." (The emphasis here is my own.)

We think Mr. Tapscott’s comments are very insightful and right on the money. You may read the entire article by Mark Tapscott (HERE).

The depth and intensity of the voter’s anger is just ignored by the political elite in both parties. The Mainstream Media just sniffs and looks the other way.

Plus, they both fail to understand that the Tea Party Movement is NOT A REPUBLICAN Movement. It is a CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT, which embraces voters from the Democratic Party, The Republican Party, The Libertarian Party, and a host of Independents and others!

To sum up: They haven’t a clue!

The Tea Party is not about much of what the Elite Media and politicians and all the political science egghead’s claim it is. Plain and simple, the Tea Party Movement is about stopping Obama’s “Fundamental Transformation” of America. It is about taking America back from the Socialists, the Marxists, the Progressives, the Socialist-Liberals, and returning it to the status of a constitutional republic as the Founders intended. That is the purpose and the goal of the Tea Party Movement in America.

Along the way we intend to insure that our radical-socialist president is shown the door in 2012.

I just don’t buy it -- and I don’t think America’s intensely outraged voters will either. Frankly, it smacks of a pre-planned effort by the democrats/mainstream media to demoralize conservative voters before the showdown in November. But it is doomed to failure.

The only thing concerning me about the outcome in November is the democrat’s “October Surprise,” which I am reasonably sure will be forthcoming next month. I have no idea what it will be -- but since the democrats are big on fear expect it to something designed to strike fear in the hearts of all who even dare to consider voting against them. Come to think of it, fear is about al the democrats have left, now. Isn’t it?

One thing I’ like to address before I close this rant: For those of you insistent on supporting the Democratic Party -- just as your parents and grandparents did -- and as you have done so faithfully over your lifetime, please understand -- this Democratic Party is NOT, I repeat, IS NOT, the Democratic Party of your forefathers and not even the Democratic Party of your earlier years. The Democratic Party today is a polyglot of Socialists, Marxists, Progressives, Communist, and what we have come to know as “socialist-liberals.” It has shown itself to be the enemy of freedom, of liberty, indeed, of the Constitution, and it (the Democratic Party), we believe, is determined to transform America into a socialist dictatorship. They have already begun the process.

They must be stopped -- else America, the bastion of freedom and liberty, will be no more. It is as simple and as frightening as that.

Today’s Democratic Party is, in my opinion, determined to collapse the American government and drive Americans into the embrace of a socialist dictatorship, which they have already designed and have waiting in the wings.

America needs all her children to, once again, man the barricades and stop the encroachment on our freedom and destroy the evil attempt to destroy our constitutional republic.

J. D. Longstreet

‘Tea Party’ members offer a ground-level view ... Texas Fred

‘Tea Party’ members offer a ground-level view
By: TEXAS FRED
LINK: http://texasfred.net/archives/7406
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A year ago, the political hurricane known as the “Tea Party” erupted in made-for-YouTube confrontations at congressional town hall meetings on the pending health care overhaul.

This August, the movement’s supporters seem less rowdy — perhaps because they’re pounding the pavement and dialing phones, trying to alter the balance of power in Congress in the fall elections. While Tea Party-favored candidates have lost in contests including the California GOP Senate primary, they have won Republican Senate primaries in Colorado, Kentucky, Nevada and Utah.

They say it’s just the start.

“We’re not in this to make noise and to saber-rattle,” says Dan Blanchard of the Louisville Tea Party, which helped Rand Paul claim the Senate nomination in Kentucky. “We’re in this thing to win.”

Full Story Here:‘Tea Party’ members offer a ground-level view

I believe the more correct way to say this would be, “We’re not in this just to make noise or to rattle sabers.” Of course we must be polite, that goes without saying, but if we meet a violent challenge, we must address that challenge in like, or similar fashion.

I don’t want to go to war! I am too old, with too many health issues to take on FULL ATTACK mode anymore. But if it means the protection of my family, or the security of the USA, I still have at least one more good fight in me.
And I won’t be nice, kind, non-confrontational or politically correct in waging that fight!

The test now: Whether Paul and others can prevail under even tougher scrutiny and win over the broader electorate that votes in November. That will require a sustained commitment from a network that revels in its bottom-up nature and loose organization.

I personally feel that if anything can stop the TEA Party it will be that loose confederation of grass roots activism. A grass roots organization is a marvelous place to start, but where do you go from grass roots?

Again, in MY opinion, NO organization can survive without being properly organized and led by GREAT men and women in positions of strong leadership, be it local, grass roots or on a national scale. We do NOT need Casper Milquetoast, nor those that are afraid of their own shadows, nor those that RUN from confrontation! We must have STRONG, brave, forceful, persuasive and dedicated leaders.

We must have leaders that place the nation above their personal agenda. We must have leaders that aren’t concerned about padding their resume. We must have dedicated leaders that fall in to the same category and hold true to the beliefs held by our Founding Fathers.
We can’t allow leadership that follows the depiction in the above picture. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

We have to see ALL evil and address that evil. We must listen FOR evil that is spoken, and refute that evil for what it is. But, we must speak no evil, we must speak the truth, we must not slander. If we are to hold others to a higher standard, we must be willing to lead by example and take that higher standard to heart and live it ourselves. Truth and courage. Neither will let you down!

“That’s part of the verve and vibrancy,” says Rep. Michele Bachmann. At the first meeting of the congressional Tea Party Caucus last month, the Minnesota Republican underscored the primacy of the grass roots by having members of the public sit on the dais normally reserved for members of Congress. Lawmakers sat in the audience.

Over the last few months, especially the past 2 months, it has been my pleasure to meet and get to know quite a few men and women in my part of Texas that are running for office. There has only been one candidate so far that has addressed the fact that the elected officials in this nation work for We, The People, and then went on to say that far too many politicians see it the other way around.

Many that are candidates will pander the electorate with ANY and all reasons that they should be elected over a particular opponent. Far too many voters simply fall for the rhetoric, or, in a lot of cases, write that rhetoric off to being nothing more than political BS and the lies that so many politicians are known for.

•Keep it local. Chris Littleton, head of a Tea Party group in Cincinnati, says the activists he knows are driven by “this sense that you have to own your backyard first.”

“I can’t fix what is happening in D.C.,” Littleton says. “But I can fix what is happening in my backyard. I can affect my township, my county, my city, my congressional district and my state.”
And THAT my friends is the crux of the matter.

We have had individuals in our TEA Party group right here in Rowlett that were fired up to beat the band about how they were going to change Washington, D.C. How they were tired of what goes on in our nations Capitol. They wanted to MARCH on Washington and affect change in front of the White House.

That’s not how it works. There’s an old adage that says, “Sweep your own doorstep“. I’m sure you’ve all heard that one before.

We can’t vote in elections held in other states, we can’t vote in elections held in other counties or cities. But there are those that insist that we go here, there and yonder to help change the outcome of in area that has NO direct affect on me, my family, my town, my county or, in some instances, my state itself.

I can vote in a NATIONAL election, I can vote here in Texas, in Dallas county and in the city of Rowlett, my own back yard is where I can bring about the most change. After that, it’s up to the elected officials that We, The People choose to bring change to the state of the nation as a whole.

This is a long and detailed story from USA TODAY.com. Some of it I agree with fully, some I have my own opinion of. That’s the glory of being an Independent and a TEA Party Patriot. We have differences of opinion. Where MY biggest difference of opinion comes in is my total disgust at those who seek to USE the TEA Party to further themselves and those that don’t have the courage to stand and FIGHT for what is RIGHT.

Politics is a highly confrontational endeavor. Building, rebuilding and saving a nation is a very highly confrontational issue as well. Some people just aren’t cut out to be leaders in a WAR that will have far reaching consequences. That’s why there is a rank structure in the military and why it’s not necessarily those with the most passion that are placed in a position of leadership.
If passion would win the day, we wouldn’t need soldiers.

I am a soldier in this battle, I am not afraid of confrontation and I address matters HEAD ON! I speak loud and strong, I am, all too often, far less than politically correct. Be that as it may, the very existence of the United States of America is in the balance.

I still fight today! Damn political correctness, and cowards of ALL ilks!

Texas FredLINK: http://texasfred.net/archives/7406

Americans Seething With Anger

Americans Seething With Anger
Mood Darkens As Mid-Term Election Approaches
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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In an article by Peter Wallsten and Eliza Gray, at the Wall Street Journal’s website, entitled: “Grim Voter Mood Turns Grimmer” The dual scribes write the following: “Americans are growing more pessimistic about the economy and the war in Afghanistan, and are losing faith that Democrats have better solutions than Republicans, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

Underpinning the gloom: Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe the economy has yet to hit bottom, a sharply higher percentage than the 53% who felt that way in January.”

Wallsten and Gray go on to say: “The sour national mood appears all-encompassing and is dragging down ratings for the GOP too, suggesting voters above all are disenchanted with the political establishment in Washington. Just 24% express positive feelings about the Republican Party, a new low in the 21-year history of the Journal's survey. Democrats are only slightly more popular, but also near an all-time low.” (SOURCE)

WOW! Who’ed ‘ov thunk it?!

Well, actually, we THUNK it! That is to say – those of us who actually pay attention to what the politicos are saying -- and doing -- in Washington.

Yes, and we have been yelling and waving our arms about TRYING to get your attention for months on end, now. Heck, we even warned BEFORE the elections in 2006 and 2008 that THIS WOULD HAPPEN IF THE DEMOCRATS AND OBAMA GAINED CONTROL OF THE US GOVERNMENT.

My fellow conservative writers, I assure you, are not celebrating our accuracy in predicting the sorry state America finds herself in today -- far from it. We feel the very same frustration you do. We, too, are angry! We, too, are chomping at the bit, just waiting for a chance to get at the ballot box in November.

History tells us that when the British surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, to Washington’s rag-tag army, the British band played “The World Turned Upside Down.” Maybe we ought to gather a band together and stand outside the White House and Congress and play the same tune 24 hours a day to vent our frustrations.

Talk about a world turned upside down! Back in the 1950’s, as an enlisted man in the US military, I was trained to fight socialism and marxism and communism on the battlefield. Our intelligence services were out there digging, day and night, for Intel to fight those nations who subscribed to the “killer of nations” – socialism. Today, some half a century later, our American government has embraced Socialism/Marxism/Progressivism – and guess what? It is killing America just as it does every country that adopts it.

The writers of the same article, cited above, go on to say: “As in recent polls, Americans are split on President Barack Obama's job performance, with 47% approving and 48% disapproving. But a majority disapproves of his performance on the economy. And six in 10, including 83% of independents and a quarter of Democrats, say they are only somewhat or not at all confident that Mr. Obama has the right policies to improve it.” (SOURCE)

Really? I find that difficult to believe. I mean, the mainstream media continues to tell us what a wonderful President Mr. Obama is, and all. How gauche of conservatives to point out the obvious. “The Emperor has no clothes!”

Only Jimmy Carter can really appreciate Mr. Obama. Now Mr. Carter is no longer the worst President the United States has ever had.

The article goes on to say this about the way in which voters view Congress: “The survey suggests that Democrats should expect little if any appreciation from voters for legislative achievements such as overhauling the health care and financial systems. Six in 10 Americans rated Congress' performance this year as below average or one of the worst. And the economy is dominating voters' worries. Among those who believe the economy will get worse over the next year, 67% want a GOP-led Congress.” (SOURCE)

Well, what about the war, you know—“The Right War” – Mr. Obama’s War in Afghanistan? The article continues: “On the Afghanistan war, which had been an area of strength for the president since he revamped his military strategy, 68% of Americans now feel less confident the war will come to a successful conclusion. Just 44% approve of the president's job on Afghanistan, down from a majority who approved in March, the last time the poll addressed the topic.” (SOURCE)

The war in Afghanistan is what a country gets when it politicizes a war. For evidence, may I present the Vietnam War?

You want to win a war? Forget about winning hearts and minds so the enemy will do what you want! Get them by the “cajones” and you can take them anywhere you want to take them! In other words, FIGHT to WIN!

Angry Americans no longer have faith in either the Democrats or the Republicans to fix what ails our country. Having no viable third party to turn to accounts for some of the frustration.

Americans are tired of choosing between the lesser of two evils. We understand the lesser of two evils is STILL EVIL! BUT, having said that – we are probably going to vote for the Republicans this fall to punish the Democrats. (That is no way to run a railroad, folks, but there it is.) So, the GOP will probably win by default – IF they don’t do something stupid and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

America is one PO’ed country these days.

I was in my barber’s shop earlier this week when someone made the statement that he guessed we were all agreed that America has “one looney President.” Agreement was unanimous. It was also agreed that our longtime congressperson would not get our votes this time around. We, every one of us, expressed our intention of voting for a newcomer republican, an Iraq war veteran, who has demonstrated his intestinal fortitude on the battlefield actually leading men in battle as an officer.

Now, if we can only find a “Fighting General” to run for President against Obama, or Hillary, in 2012. We are going to need him when we go back to Iraq for the third time.

As the Japanese can tell the world, it takes something BIG to wake Americans up. But, by golly, when they awaken, somebody is going to pay -- and pay dearly!

Good Morning, America!

J. D. Longstreet

Picking a Fight with Patriots ... Alan Caruba

Picking a Fight with Patriots
By Alan Caruba

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The British, when they still ruled the American colonies, learned to their displeasure what a bad idea it is to pick a fight with patriots. By the time the Revolution began the colonies had been running their own affairs for a long time and, while many saw benefits in being allied with one of the great powers of their times and their world, they soon tired of “taxation without representation.”

The colonists had no say in Parliament and generally regarded it, not the king, as the source of their problems. The British, however, had spent themselves into huge debt by pursuing various wars. Parliament saw the colonies as a source of revenue with which to dig themselves out of that debt. One way was to monopolize what the colonies could import and another way was to tax those imports.

The problem for the British was the long established practice of Americans to ignore any legislation or taxes they did not like. Decades before the Revolution ignited, a British official named Edward Randolph wrote “There is no notice taken of the act of navigation, plantation, or any other laws made in England for the regulation of trade. All nations having free liberty to come into their ports and vend their commodities without any restraint…” Apparently, Randolph noted, Americans regarded themselves as “a free state and do act in all matters accordingly.”

We tend to see men like Sam Adams, John Hancock, and Paul Revere through the gauzy haze of a distant time, but we should remind ourselves that they were real men trying to cope with an increasingly difficult situation. Their grievances were real and they had grown up in a place where liberty, the freedom to worship as they wanted, to publish what they wanted, and engage in commerce as they wanted was not only well established, but valued above all else. They had a good understanding of the British constitution and the rights it granted. It was Britain, far across the Atlantic, that controlled their fortunes and, through a series of abuses, Britain lost their allegiance.

The importance of tea cannot be underestimated. By 1769, Americans were importing 900,000 pounds of English tea, but by 1773 that was no longer the case, in large part due to the Tea Act of 1773. It was a tax specific to the colonies. Americans began to boycott tea. Coffee would come to be seen as a more patriotic brew to drink. Adams, Hancock, Revere, and others had formed the Sons of Liberty, a group that on December 16, 1773 boarded three ships from England, the Dartmouth, the Eleanor, and the Beaver, and dumped 342 crates of tea into Boston Harbor.

The event would become known as the Boston Tea Party and from that event today’s Tea Party members take their name. The source of oppressive taxes, unimaginable waste, and unpopular legislation is now the federal government in Washington, D.C. Such events and groups do not occur in a vacuum. They are preceded by earlier abuses and in the case of the colonies there was a Stamp Act that was so strongly resisted Parliament repealed it. In Massachusetts, the royal governor and other officials appointed by the king were so unpopular that they were frequently under attack. Effigies were hung from an elm in North Boston that became known as the Liberty Tree.

There can be few more foolish acts by any government in power than to ignore Americans, to force upon them legislation the majority opposes, to bring shame to the nation in various ways. Patient to a fault, Americans have a long track record of opposing oppression that runs contrary to the U.S. Constitution.

By coincidence, I have been reading Joel J. Miller’s excellent biography, “The Revolutionary Paul Revere.” Made famous by a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Paul Revere’s Ride”, Revere had made a long ride the night of the Tea Party to inform the New York Committee of Correspondence about the event. Another rode to Philadelphia for the same purpose. The ride immortalized by Longfellow was “On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five.”

Paul Revere, silversmith and patriot, lived to the age of 83, dying in May 1818; long enough a life to encompass the tempestuous birth of America in its earliest years. He would live through the Revolution, the original Articles of Confederation, and in 1787, the Constitution under which Americans live today, still enjoying the blessings of liberty.

In Boston, the church bells tolled his passing. One newspaper said, “Seldom has the tomb closed upon a life so honorable and useful.”

The spirit of Paul Revere and the Sons of Liberty still lives. America is home again to Tea Parties.

Alan Caruba

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Alan Caruba blogs daily at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com/.
© Alan Caruba, 2010

The Rowlett Tea Party

The Rowlett Tea Party

We had a very productive meeting last night, there’s a lot of NEW blood and energy running through The Rowlett Tea Party and we will be holding some exciting new events and sponsoring new and much needed projects in the very near future.

We have a lot of very smart people involved in this organization and we’re not going to sit back and take it easy! We are going to be hammering to get this group headed in the RIGHT direction, we’re not a social organization, our only goal is the betterment of America and the safety, security and prosperity of ALL Americans! Our goals are still the same,to educate the average American in the CORE VALUES of the TEA Party.

Core Values:
Limited Government and Individual Liberty
Fiscal Responsibility
Free Markets and Economic Freedom

We have a full board again, the members are as follows:

The Executive BoardBill Gibson – PresidentSuzan Fulton – Vice PresidentGay DeHoff – SecretaryDr. Richard Bacon – TreasurerFred Witzell – Communications DirectorBoard MembersTom FultonJeff SmithJerry BerggrenDavid Leewright

The full minutes of the meeting will be available early during the week of March 15th and will be posted on the Rowlett TEA Party Site under the Rowlett TEA Party News link!
This is all about transparency folks.

We hear a lot about transparency from the government, but with us, it’s a reality, and we will be posting ALL activities, meetings, rallies and general business of The Rowlett TEA Party for all to see!

Also, you can follow us on Twitter and join our group at LinkedIn.