Posted by
Catmman on Saturday, April 18, 2009 5:58:07 PM
I attended the San Antonio Tea Party on April 15th, Tax Day. It is with a bit of irony that we now have a day in this country which we refer to as "Tax Day" isn't it? Aren't taxes what started it all, this grand "experiment" we now call the United States of America? Yes and no actually. You see, the original colonists didn't have a problem with paying taxes, not really (just like most modern day American citizens). What ultimately led to the Revolution was the fact that the citizenry was being taxed (ultimately, excessively so) without what they felt was proper representation in the British government. The citizens felt they should have a say in what was being done with their money and they should have some input as to the amount of money the Crown was taking from them.
"Taxes" were the spark. Other grievances the original colonists had were ultimately enumerated in the first ten amendments to the Consitution. This was another message of the Tea Parties nation wide. The people feel the government cares little for their other rights - property chief amongst them. Contrary to popular belief, the wages a person earns are not only a medium of exchange (currency) they are the earners property. Frankly, people are ticked off the government is taking so much of their property (in taxes) with apparently little regard to the long term consequences. What is even more frustrating to the average citizen is what the government is doing with the taxes once collected.
I, nor any other citizen, has an obligation (outside of our own morality) to provide for another citizen. To put it simply, I have my own family and financial issues to deal with; I need my money to pay for my stuff. I have no obligation to pay for another citizens stuff (health care, education, food, housing, etc.) and the government shouldn't force me to do it. This is at the crux of the Tea Parties in my opinion. It's not about political parties, it's not about partisanship - it's about taxpayers and producers being fed up with having the fruits of their labor confiscated at exhorbitant rates and giving it to the non-producers (the looters and moochers as Ayn Rand called them) with no real change in outcomes.
If the government comes to the citizenry and says, "Look, we have to fight poverty. We need X amount of tax dollars so we can lift the poor up. This money will pay for schools, work programs, etc." The average citizen won't hesitate in the least. Their sense of fair play will convince them to say "Sure, here you go." Where we get into trouble is when, year after year, the government keeps coming back asking for money, and more money, and more money, using the same justification over and over. At some point the citizenry will say, "Enough is enough!" Then what happens? The government will come along and enact some legislation confiscating the money the citizen freely gave not so long ago. If that doesn't work, then the government will simply institute a new "fee" or "surcharge" to take the money. Sooner or later, the citizenry is taxed to the hilt - they pay income taxes (including state income tax depending on where you live), payroll taxes, Social Security taxes, Medicare taxes, property taxes, fuel taxes, sales taxes, on, and on, and on.
Still, given the taxes, the average citizen won't mind paying. When we get to outright anger is when the government starts spouting invective that paying taxes is "our patriotic duty". Anger perculates when our elected officials tell us either directly or indirectly through rhetoric that we don't pay enough and must still fork over more. That the citizenry must "sacrifice" for the "greater good". When people blow their tops is when they see that same government, who just had the audacity to lecture us, the citizenry, on sacrifice, doesn't sacrifice anything itself! Private sector people lose their jobs. How many government employees lose their jobs in contrast? Corporations streamline operations to cut cost. Yet government organizations are on an ever expanding diet of excess and waste. (Example: In 1993/94 as today, what area of the government has this administration as in those years put forth to cut? The Department of Defense. The powers that be think it's a good idea to cut funding for weapons systems and modernization as well as personnel and hail it as some kind of savings. However, does the Department of Education ever get cut? The one area of government specifically mentioned in the Constitution - Defense - is cut, while an agency which has failed at every initiative it's ever tried, continues to expand.)
People don't suffer hypocrites very well and when they see blatant hypocrisy occuring right before their eyes, they say enough is enough. They tell the government through phone calls, e-mails, faxes, letters, that enough is enough. In most cases however, these cries go unheeded. Congress, even state and local legislatures continue with their plans, continue with the budgets, continue to raise taxes, continue to spend our money. This is the tipping point - when the citizen feels they no longer have a voice and see their concerns being ignored, they act. Hence the birth of the tea parties.
A quick side note: The tea parties have been characterized by a good bit of the mainstream media as somehow being "anti-government." Being funded by conservative groups or organizations, Fox News amongst them. The rallies have been denigrated by supposedly professional journalists using sexual inuendo on air by referring to the tea parties as "tea bagging." This "reporting" shows the blatant bias of the media. The contrast could not be more clear with a little research. For the past eight years there have been legion of lefty, actual anti-government, anti-war protests all over the country. These demonstrators have actually been funded by communist, socialist and anti-government groups - International ANSWER, MoveOn.org, amongst them. Individuals like the avowed Socialist George Soros, have poured millions into these activities over the past few years. Rent-a-mobs have been bussed in to participate at these protests. Thousands of dollars have been spent creating protest signs, all of the same make, model and message. Participants have called for the outright assasination of the former president. Protesters (as well as some leftist commentators) have called the former president Hitler, likened him to facists like Mussolini and caricatured him as Satan. During these protests, these folks were referred to as patriots. Indeed, none other than our current Secretary of State and former Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton lectured all of us that dissent was patriotic. Those same cheerleaders for leftist, actual anarchistic and communist organizations and protests now call what happened last Wednesday "anti-government". Marxist rabble-rousers can "protest" in Seatle during IMF or World Bank conferences, breaking bank windows, destroying others property and needing to be dispersed with water canons and teargas are patriotic. Yet tax payers waving flags around and who pick up after themselves when the rally is over are somehow anti-government. Go-figure.
Enough pontificating. The following are images I took during the Tea Party rally which took place here in Alamo Plaza. The night of the event we were told by organizers that the San Antonio Police Department estimates of the crowd in attendance at the height of the rally were around 16,000. I had heard the next day on a local radio show that the media estimates for the event were 4,000-5,000. Those lower numbers are surely off by at least half. At the very least, over 10,000 people were there. (
Update: The SAPD has revised the attendance numbers for the event up to 20,000!) For some general impressions of the event I blogged already go
here and
here.
The actual "Tea Party" rally opened with this video:
Now for the pics. Only those needing captions will be annotated. Most are self explanatory:
A rather succint message...
The front of the Alamo mission. This is the iconic image of the Alamo. What most people don't realize is Alamo Plaza is the actual "courtyard" area of the fort at the time of the actual battle. The mission facade isn't the "front" of what was the fort in 1836. An original foundation post of the front wall of the fort can be seen in a special display case across the plaza from the mission facade at the entrance to the San Antonio Riverwalk.
A good message a lot of Americans need to hear:
The sign of the American flag says "Taxed Enough Already!"
Looking towards the stage, you can see the light and speaker support beams in this shot. A good crowd shot as well with a "sea of flags and signs". This was taken just prior to Glenn Beck starting the broadcast for his Fox News show. We didn't get any closer to the stage than this during Mr. Becks broadcast. We are right behind the jumbotron screen you can see in the upper right of the photo.
A better-than-I-thought-it-would-be shot of Glenn Beck during his show. This is a pic of the jumbotron on the opposite side of the stage, obviously facing us.
Gotta have a shot of the flag of the Republic of Texas! Are you kidding me?! There were about 30 rally attendees who managed to get to the roof of the building in the background; you can just see them...
A crowd shot facing east along Alamo Plaza.
A crowd shot facing west along Alamo Plaza.
Aerial video of the event. This looks to have been shot after Glenn Beck finished his show, prior to the actual rally.
One of my favorite signs at the rally!
One of the most creative signs at the rally...
and the opposite side! Gotta love the other sign in the lower right of the picture!
My head in the left foreground wearing the Dallas Cowbots hat...
"Land of the free, NOT of the Freebies!" Another good sign.
Joe Pags from News Radio 1200 WOAI. A local radio host. He has a pretty decent show. He's subbed for Glenn on the radio and TV in the past a few times. He was the lead off for the actual "Tea Party" which started at 6:00PM. After a bit of a break after Glenn Becks show, we were able to get within a few feet of the stage barricades on the west side of the stage, right underneath the giant speaker system. It was a good vantage point and were able to see and engage up close and personal!
A smart alec shows up...
Glenn Beck!
Ted Nugent! A great speech with many postive words for this nations Armed Forces!
The Nug! "shredding" the National Anthem!
Teh
AWESOME!
Steve Vaus, a country singer who closed up the tea party with a song...
And heading to the barn after the rally...the Alamo at night...
As I wrote in an earlier post, it was a wonderful event. Contrast all the waving of American, Gadsden, Goliad, Texas and RoT flags to a Lefty event. Not one flag burned or trod upon to "send a message" or "exercise free speech". No fights, no riots, no destruction of property. There were a few "counter protesters" there,
three shown in this video. Though there is a bit of vim and vigor to some of the talk, no one was hauled away in cuffs. Additionally, we opened the tea party by singing "God Bless America" and we said the "Pledge of Allegiance" not once, but
twice. That is something you will
NEVER see at
ANY lefty event.
EVER! Yet those of us on the political "right" are the extremists? Right.
I do have a quibble with two speakers. One of them spoke about economic policy. The speech was good for a few minutes then walked a fine line between paranoia and conspiracy theory. I don't have an issue with the negatives of the Federal Reserve, but you could tell the speaker was chomping at the bit to throw in some Bilderberger, new world order stuff. It detracted from the overall message of the event in my opinion.
There was also a speaker who talked about toll roads in Texas. My beef isn't with her message so much as she would not shut up! When giving a speech, you should end things at a logical termination point. This person's overall message was great, but she ruined the delivery by going on and on. She also seemed like she wanted to throw in some conspiracy stuff as well near the end. The rally moderator even went on stage about 7 minutes into her speech to kind of signal her to wrap things up. She went on. There were two points in her speech where she could have (and should have) finished, but she went on. It detracted from her overall point and near the end made it seem like she was preaching instead of trying to inform and motivate. Again, the overall message wasn't bad - but the delivery needs work. Frankly, it seemed like she was more interested in hearing herself talk than giving the message at one point.
It was a great event! I enjoyed myself immensely though my feet are still recovering from standing all day! It went off pretty much without a hitch. It was a truly peaceful protest with a strong message for today's politicians of all stripes:
Stop wasting our money, confiscating our property and acting with an imperial bent. You are elected by the people to serve the people, not your own self-interest. The nation's treasury is not your personal bank account. Politicians must be responsible and accountable. Individual citizens must also be responsible and accountable to themselves, their families and their fellow citizens. I nor anyone else owes you anything - you owe yourself. If you take without earning, you are in essence stealing from the livelihood of your fellow citizens, all the while complaining your fellow citizens owe you a livelihood!
Politicians in Washington have no business spending money that isn't theirs, which they don't have. If a citizen does this, they are sent to jail. If a politician does this, they get a pay-raise. Something wrong with that picture...
The Constitution is the founding of all laws in the United States and foundation which all politicians should base their decisions, their legislation and their votes.
I don't need a career politician lecturing me about what is my patriotic duty.
Washington needs to stay out of the way and let individualism, not collectivism, rule the land. Americans are traditionally individualists, let us suceed or fail on our own. If we do fail, we don't need a handout from the government nor should anyone else - no one in America should be "to big to fail". Conversely, no one should be punished for succeeding. We do not hold to the Communist doctrine of "from each according to his abilities, to each according to their needs."
The State is not the arbiter of freedom, God is.
I personally want to thank the event organizers for what they did. They pulled off a great event, in minimal time to awesome conclusion! I want to thank the speakers at the event (yes, even those who were not so great) for their time and the work they put into their speeches. Yes, thanks to Glenn Beck and Ted Nugent for bringing "star power" and attention to this event, for their words and for the great guitar playing! Also, thanks to Townhall for getting the message about this out and letting those of us who blog continue to have this forum to get our ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and convictions out there to the masses.
God! Bless! America!
NOTE: I took almost two hundred photos. I put up only about twenty seven or so. Those posted were some of the better ones, more representative of the overall event in my opinion. All the videos posted are readily accessible on YouTube amongst many more there. Google is a great tool, use it.
UPDATE (4/22/09): This post has been linked and placed on the San Antonio Tea Party website
here. The home page is
here. Thanks to whomever saw my post and put it here for all of America, and especially my fellow Texans, to see! For anyone who wishes to send photo requests or comments, my e-mail is :
catmman@hotmail.com.