Remember, Folks, The Tea Parties Aren’t About You
Michelle Malkin, quoting Glenn Reynolds who in turn quotes the organizer of the Tax Day Tea Party in Chicago: “This is an opportunity for Americans to speak, and elected officials to listen, not the other way around.”
Nevertheless, there are quite a few politicians who think we’ll forget that they voted for some of these gargantuan bailouts and other big-government nanny-state power grabs just because they come out and show the flag at a Tea Party.
Not so. Folks tend to remember who is there sincerely, as a member of the fed-up public and who is there to burnish their conservative bona fides in front of a few cameras. Glad-handing will be noted, especially from those who only recently showed up to the fiscal sanity party.
I will say this also goes for some of the more prominent internet personalities and companies who have decided to grab themselves some time in the spotlight. This protest has always been a grassroots movement and it serves the famehogs poorly to give short shrift to the people who really got the ball rolling. Sincere kudos to folks like Michelle Malkin, Tammy Bruce, and Glenn Reynolds who could very well have grabbed more of the attention but chose instead to use their considerable influence to point tens of thousands to the real, everyday folks behind today’s extraordinary events.
They understand what a lot of publicity hounds do not: Today isn’t about you or me. It’s about us.
I’ll be updating this post throughout the day with news and posts about ongoing tea party events. It ought to be fun.
UPDATE: Here are some very good tips for what to do if you end up being interviewed today. Cynthia will be at the Tea Party in Bel Air, MD today (where it’s probably drizzling and unseasonably chilly like it is here).
UPDATE 2: The Foundry is passing along a Fox News report that the Secret Service has shut down the planned protest at the Treasury Building and is asking everyone to move to the protest already planned at nearby Lafayette Park. No reason for the cancellation yet.
UPDATE 3: A few updates from today’s protests, which have been notably free of broken bank windows and looted Starbucks:
- Conn Carroll found the sign of the day in Washington, DC along with several other photos.
- If you’re on Twitter, Michelle Malkin has a live feed for you.
- Mark Krikorian reports on a note from a participant in Greenville, SC, where they’ve come up with a great idea.
“They will be selling the ‘Obama burger’ — you pay for one and they cut it in half and give the rest to the guy behind you for free!!”
- Front page coverage in the New York Times? Holy crapweasel, the Apocalypse is upon us!
- Douglas TenNapel is taking his family to the gathering in Los Angeles.
UPDATE 4: Olympia, WA.
Other Posts of Interest:
- A Protest in Red (or Pink)
- This Takes The Notion of “Having Some Skin in the Game” to a New Level
- The New Barack Obama Salute (Update: Lefty Life Imitates a bad Star Trek Episode?)
Category: Featured, The Economy and Your Money, The Rise of the Nanny State
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