Suit Up, And Show Up For Gun Appreciation Day

The Washington Post reports that gun supporters behind the event are modeling the program after the tactics of marriage equality opponents, such as Mike Huckabee’s national Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day in response to the backlash the fast-food chain experienced from same-sex marriage advocates. Nearly a dozen organizations, including the Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, are encouraging supporters to shop at gun stores and visit shooting ranges in protest over potential crackdowns. Caption: TIME Magazine / Image Credit: gunappreciationday.com

Suit Up, And Show Up For Gun Appreciation Day

Those of us who appreciate our God granted (not "strong man" or government granted) freedoms protected through the Constitution of the United States and the Bill Of Rights, now have another day on which we can express our gratefulness. 

Gun Appreciation Day - January 19, 2013 

Gun Appreciation Day is happening for the very first time this year, and it’s a direct response to recent national conversations about gun control following a year of high-profile mass murders. 

It happens at a time when many feel that this is not a government for and by the people but a government that has de-evolved into a "ruling class" versus those who are bought off by the ruling class in the face of a Constitution and Bill of Rights that are there to protect against these type of manipulations. It happens at a time where this government has not operated the country on a budget (an unconstitutional act without legal consequence) for 3 years and 8 months. It happens at a time where the president of the last four years has spent more taxpayer money and accumulated more national indebtedness than the total of nearly all of the previous 43 presidents that have led this country over the last 235 years. 

Or as TIME Magazine writes: [It happens at a time] two days before President Obama’s second inauguration, nine days after a teenager opened fire at a California high school, the same week as the one-month anniversary of the Newtown, Conn. school shooting and the same month as the second anniversary of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting in Tuscon, Ariz.

This excerpted and edited from Gun Appreciation Day website -

Petition to Defend Gun Rights

Petition To The United States Congress
The President of the United States
The United States Supreme Court

Whereas, the Bill of Rights added further declaratory and restrictive clauses to the U.S. Constitution in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers; and

Whereas, those further declaratory and restrictive clauses relate directly to the fundamental rights of individuals, including the sweeping declaratory Ninth and Tenth Amendments, which guarantee that powers not delegated by the people to the United States in the Constitution and those powers not granted to the separate states were reserved to the people; and

Whereas, history demonstrates convincingly that the first act of tyrannical governments in expanding their powers beyond those granted to them is to disarm or short arm individuals so as to render them defenseless against the state’s heavily armed police and soldiery; and

Whereas, the authors of the first ten amendments included the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights because they understood this lesson of history and consequently believed as a matter of fact that a well-armed citizenry is both a necessary condition of liberty and the only effective deterrent against tyranny; and
[MORE Here]

The website provides assets for social media communicators to help spread the word about threats focused on our second amendment rights.

Share Gun Day Memes on Facebook

It is time to show up and push against an "Autocratic" and budget-less government leadership! 

We'll add this one day of appreciation with Tea Party gatherings around tax day (April 15th) and the Fourth of July ... Independence Day. 


** Article first published as Suit Up, And Show Up For Gun Appreciation Day on Technorati ** 

“Day One” In A Romney Run Executive Branch Of Government

 

Mitt Romney has outlined a bold agenda to spur economic growth and create jobs. On his first day in office, he will approve the Keystone pipeline, introduce pro-growth tax reforms, and repeal Obamacare [ctrl-click HERE to launch video ad]. Credit: mittromney

“Day One” In A Romney Run Executive Branch Of Government

Today, Mitt Romney’s first commercial of the general election will be released (see video) and it says that on “Day One” in the White House he would … Approve The Keystone Pipeline, Introduce Tax Cuts, and Issue Orders To Begin Replacing Obamacare. The Romney campaign’s first official ad in over a month will air today through next Tuesday in Ohio, Iowa, Virginia and North Carolina.

In 2008, we all had “Hope & Change” but no real understanding what an Obama run Executive Branch of government would look like.

In 2008, then candidate Senator (Illinois) Barack Obama promised Reducing The Deficit And Debt, Lobbyists “Won’t Find A Job In My White House”, and Transparency In Law Making complete with a minimum 72 hour internet posting of any proposed law before a vote by Congress.

In 2009, President Barack Obama further promised The Stimulus Will Keep Unemployment Below 8 Percent, Stimulus Jobs Will Not Be Shipped Overseas, the Housing Plan Will Save Millions From Foreclosure, Health Care Negotiations Will Be Televised, ObamaCare Will Reduce Premiums, and The Stimulus Will Create “Shovel-Ready Jobs”.

After over three years, we have a clear understanding and, sadly, the type of Executive Branch that was promised … never materialized.

We, at MAXINE, all now have a new target to have hope for in the nature of the change in the promises made by a replacement leader for the Executive Branch of government.

Let the 2012 election season begin!

Public OpinionPoll Results

In Indiana, Sen. Dick Lugar's Political Career Put On Ice At Age 80

 

Ice Sculpture created for Senator Dick Lugar's primary victory celebration. Image Credit: NBC's Kelly O'Donnell

In Indiana, Sen. Dick Lugar's Political Career Put On Ice At Age 80

Can anyone believe that the Tea Party is just an "astro-turf" political/cultural movement that has outlived its time in the functional protest limelight?

Tonight, Senator Dick Lugar doesn't think so. After 6, six-year terms, and running for a 7th, lost the ability to represent the Republican political party for one of the State of Indiana's two federal Senatorial seats. He was swept aside by a challenge from Richard Mourdock.

Richard Mourdock had a successful 30 year career in the private sector, managing businesses in the energy, environmental and construction industries. He also served two terms as County Commissioner of Vanderburgh County.

Mourdock became a viable challenger for the Senate seat after he proved as Indiana’s State Treasurer that he had been an integral part of the state’s fiscal health.  His leadership earned over $1 billion in investment income for taxpayers and successfully expanded the state’s college savings plan.  At the same time, his office has returned an average of 10% of his budget back to the Treasury each year.

Richard Mourdock out on the campaign trail. Image Credit: NBC's Kelly O'Donnell

Richard Mourdock also became known nation-wide for leading the legal fight to challenge the Obama Administration’s illegal bailout and takeover of Chrysler. Richard took this case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Indiana pensioners. Further, his conservative message of constitutionally limited government was heard by over one million people in attendance during the Glenn Beck promoted 9-12 March on Washington in 2009.

So what has current Senator Dick Lugar done to gain the positive attention of the Tea Party activists throughout Indiana? Well, he spent his last full day on the stump defending earmarks, touting that he won over a pair of voters who saw him as the “least worst of the two” and pinning his hopes on the unlikely scenario that Democrats and independents will turn out in higher-than-expected numbers to hand him a victory.

 Mourdock was endorsed by Sarah Palin and Rep. Michele Bachmann, and Lugar had the backing of the party establishment, including Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Six-term Senator Dick Lugar throwing darts out on the stump. Image Credit: NBC's Kelly O'Donnell

To be honest, we at MAXINE believe, no human should be allowed to hold any office, elected, or otherwise, past the age of 70 years old. Senator Dick Lugar is 80 years old and was hoping to be able to occupy the office for another six years!

Lugar, known as one of the more centrist members of the Senate, was befriended by Barack Obama during his time in the Senate. Obama touted the friendship during his 2008 campaign for president, angering some of Lugar’s constituents.

The Senate’s longest-serving Republican, Lugar also suffered a blow earlier this year when a panel in Indiana ruled that he was ineligible to vote in his former home district because he no longer lived there.

I guess we will just have to say,  Dick Lugar's political career, tonight, has been put on ice.

The real trick now that the Tea Party has brought down one of the centrist stalwarts of the Senate, long seen as a Republican not holding strongly to fiscal and constitutional matters, can they carry this momentum forward to the general election against Democrat political party Rep. Joe Donnelly, a three-term congressman from the South Bend area, this fall. The matchup is a preferred outcome for Democrats, who view Lugar’s ouster as an opportunity to pick up a longtime Republican seat. 

This contest will show if the Tea Party is dormant or if the protest movement has just moved from demonstrating in front of City Halls to electing Conservative answer based, solutions-oriented representatives to bring America back to its citizens and not the political class who have given us all a 16 Trillion dollar debt.

Public OpinionPoll Results

** Article first published as In Indiana, Sen. Dick Lugar's Political Career Put On Ice At Age 80 on Technorati **

Romney And The Uphill Slog Of Transaction With Tea Party Trust

The pressure is on the rest of the Republican presidential field to knock Mitt Romney down a peg after the former Massachusetts governor sailed to victory in the Nevada caucuses following his big Florida win earlier in the week. Romney won Nevada by a decisive double-digit margin. The field charges next into a quartet of contests that will either fuel or check Romney’s momentum. Caption & Image Credit: FOXNews.com

Romney And The Uphill Slog Of Transaction With Tea Party Trust

Mitt Romney wins big in Neveda - Romney 48% | Gingrich 23%. It says a lot about a man that due to his embrace of Mormon religious beliefs doesn't gamble, smoke, or drink to win by such a large double-digit margin in a state that made its name for a lax attitude for vices ... he deserves a serious look.

Mitt Romney claims he is a (big c) Conservative but has trouble proving it. When ever he opens his mouth shows he has a disconnect when it comes to firing people or the poor. We know what he meant to say but the method of articulation leaves a lot to be desired.

If one looks at the way Government has honorable business people follow the law, they actually believe the Government has adequate "safety net" program solutions to help the poor and if they need fixing, fix them. Afterall, businessmen provide jobs at every level of the scale and if someone wants a job ... they are available, even at a minimum wage.

This is one area a career businessman can be blind to the fact that minimum wage, which is legislated and has to be followed, may cloud the thinking on a Conservative level. It is hard to see the equation that a minimum wage creates dependency on a very deep level that can not be broken.

Mandated minimum wage, it could be argued, eliminated basic apprenticeship and building block skills through which young businesses learn how to treat entry level workers, and young entry level workers learn how to treat a businesses they work for.

Another issue that has voters uncomfortable with Romney is his ability to become a Chameleon in the face of what he feels is the path of least resistance to win. It is this quality, that if recognized to be the core political survival instinct of Mitt Romney, might be the path that Tea Party principled voters could embrace a Romney Republican party nomination for President of the United States.

This excerpted and edited from Townhall -

The Case For Romney
By: Jonah Goldberg - Townhall - Feb. 3, 2012

Years ago a friend told me a story from her days living in South America. The movie "Wayne's World" had come out, and she went to see it. She spoke English, but it was interesting to read the Spanish subtitles.

For instance, early in the film, Wayne says: "Shyeah, and monkeys might fly out of my butt!"

The Spanish subtitles read: "Yes, when judgment day comes."

Needless to say, something was lost in translation.

This, in a nutshell, is Mitt Romney's biggest problem.
----
Romney doesn't speak the language naturally.
----
He speaks conservatism as a second language, and his mastery of the basic grammar of politics is often spotty as well.
----
Many conservatives argue that Romney's stiffness is a superficial objection, and that he's a solid conservative who can appeal to moderates and independents. Other conservatives think Romney's lack of fluency is a real problem, not because it proves he's faking his conservatism but because it would put him at a severe disadvantage in the general election in the same way authentic but stiff liberals like Gore and John Kerry suffered from their inability to comfortably interface with carbon-based life.

And others simply think Romney's a big faker.

It's this last group of anti-Romney holdouts I'd like to address.
----
The Tea Party arose in no small part out of a delayed allergic reaction to the rhetorical and, to a lesser extent, policy problems of George W. Bush's presidency and the deep resentment that came with having to vote for John McCain in 2008. These disappointments were visited upon the conservative base by something the naysayers (often problematically) call "the Republican establishment."
----
With the raised expectations from the Tea Party's earlier successes, conservatives are extremely reluctant to settle or compromise simply on the say-so of the establishment. For good reasons and bad, Romney seems like a compromise. And no matter how begrudgingly a conservative comes to accept the reality of Romney's nomination, the diehards immediately proclaim any support for Romney to be proof of membership in the establishment. In fact, it seems like the best definition of a Republican establishment member these days is simply someone who has made peace with his disappointment prematurely.
----
It is better to have a president who owes you than to have one who claims to own you.

A President Romney would be on a very short leash. A President Gingrich would probably chew through his leash in the first 10 minutes of his presidency and wander off into trouble. If elected, Romney must follow through for conservatives and honor his vows to repeal ObamaCare, implement Rep. Paul Ryan's agenda, and stay true to his pro-life commitments.

Moreover, Romney is not a man of vision. He is a man of duty and purpose. He was told to "fix" health care in ways Massachusetts would like. He was told to fix the 2002 Olympics. He was told to create Bain Capital. He did it all. The man does his assignments.

In this light, voting for Romney isn't a betrayal, it's a transaction. No, that's not very exciting or reassuring for those who'd sooner see monkeys fly out their nethers than compromise again. But such a bargain may just be necessary before judgment day comes.
[Reference Here]

Before the Tea Party became the Tea Party, it was Tea Party principles that had George W. Bush withdraw Harriet Meyers name from being considered for the supreme court ... and GWB was never accused of having Chameleon political instincts.

Duty and purpose combined with Chameleon political instincts of Mitt Romney means that Mitt Romney could be turned through a dedicated focus put up from a Center-Right country. One might say that trust will not be earned or given, but ... applied.

After his decisive win in the GOP Nevada caucuses, if one were to count themselves as being convinced demand the best from Mitt Romney in his support of the Bill-Of-Rights, Rule-Of-Law, and an adherence to the Constitution of the United States.


- Article first seen as Romney And The Uphill Slog Of Transaction With Tea Party Trust at Technorati -

Tea Party vs Occupy Movement - Boston Herald's Confusing Take

The Media’s Guide to Protestors - Image Credit: William Warren via Liberty Features (2011)

Tea Party vs Occupy Movement - Boston Herald's Confusing Take

Over the weekend, the Boston Herald posted an article that tried to make the case of commonality between the Tea Party Movement and the Occupy (wherever) Movement. The proposition that the article tried to make from a national poll with 1,005 American adults (no background on demographic ... assume random) was that people were becoming tired of public political activism.

While the title of the article delivered a direct comparison and linkage of the Occupy Movement to the Tea Party Movement, the first five paragraphs were devoted to the Occupy Movement, the next three paragraphs were devoted to the Tea Party Movement, and the balance of the analysis placed the two movements side-by-side with the conclusion as follows:

This excerpted and edited from the Boston Herald -

Thumbs down for Occupy, Tea Party in new nationwide poll
By Joe Battenfeld - Originally posted November 6, 2011

The Occupy Wall Street movement may be starting to lose its luster with the American public, with four in ten now saying they have an unfavorable view of the protests, a new nationwide UMass Lowell/Boston Herald poll shows.
----
But the UMass Lowell/Herald poll shows one clear trend — that Americans have a more negative view of the Tea Party movement than the Wall Street protests.
----
More than 71 percent of all American adults have an unfavorable impression of the federal government, including 72 percent of Occupy Wall Street supporters and 86 percent of Tea Party sympathizers. And about three-quarters of all Americans say that political action committees and large corporations have too much influence in politics.

This indicates the most successful strategy for winning office in 2012 would be running against both Washington and Wall Street — a strategy already being tested in Massachusetts by Democratic Senate challenger Elizabeth Warren and the current incumbent, Republican Sen. Scott Brown.

But while Tea Party and Occupy supporters may share some views, they don’t have much else in common, according to the UMass Lowell/Herald poll.

Nearly two-thirds of Tea Party sympathizers describe their political views as conservative, while just 14 percent of Occupy Wall Street backers call themselves conservative.

A third of those who have a favorable view of the Occupy movement say they are liberals, while just 5 percent of Tea Party backers describe themselves as liberal.
[Reference Here]

The following poll was featured in the sidebar on the right side of the Boston Herald article:

Herald Pulse

Where do you stand on the Occupy and Tea Party movements?

27% - Occupy campers annoy me
14% - I back what Occupy has to say
7% - The Tea Party annoys me
36% - I’m all for what the Tea Party stands for
4% - I like them both
12% - I dislike them both

Total Votes: 2,018

What if the poll answer choices were arranged a little differently as in like-with-like questions:

Positive
36% - I’m all for what the Tea Party stands for
14% - I back what Occupy has to say

Negative
7% - The Tea Party annoys me
27% - Occupy campers annoy me

General Attitude
4% - I like them both
12% - I dislike them both

When arranged in this way, one comes away with a completely different picture of the attitudes of the two thousand plus Boston Herald reader respondents.

For those having a positive view of either approach, just add "I like them both at 4%" to the affirmative question posed for each movement.

For those having a negative view of either approach, just add "I dislike them both at 12%" to the negative question posed for each movement.

Tea Party Movement
Positive - 40% / Negative - 26%
(66% response attention)

Occupy Movement
Positive - 18% / Negative - 39%
(57% response attention)

Last Comparison
TP Positive - 40% | OM Negative - 39% = 79% similar attitude camp

OM Positive - 18% | TP Negative - 26% = 44% similar attitude camp

Sorry, it just seems that the Boston Herald has its focus on the wrong set of information numbers and thereby performs a disservice to its readers with the conclusions they choose to highlight and put forward. The media seems bent on using polls to shape opinion as opposed to inform opinion.

Why doesn't the Boston Herald look at their own reader respondent poll which seems to be as vetted and directed (with twice as many responses - over 2,000) as the poll they used for the development of the original article that ultimately tries to paint the Senate seat contest between Democratic Senate challenger (OM attitude camp) Elizabeth Warren and the current incumbent, Republican Sen. (TP attitude camp) Scott Brown as ... wait for it ... a toss-up.

A deeper look at the sidebar poll seems to suggest a different projected outlook.



<Article first appeared as Tea Party vs Occupy Movement - Boston Herald's Confusing Take at Technorati>

Political Definitions For A Difinative Tea Party Movement

Despite the dearth of any proof, the Religious Left climbed aboard immediately with the worst assumptions based primarily on their own projected stereotypes of conservatives. The UCC’s Rev. Black insisted that he was “not surprised because I have long suspected that racism and homophobia are some of the underlying motives.” He called upon his “brothers and sisters in the United Christ of Christ and our faith partners to resist entering into dialog or debate with such demonstrations of hate that go against our Christian understanding to love our neighbors.” Caption & Image Credit: FrontPageMagazine.com

Political Definitions For A Definitive Tea Party Movement

Ever since the Tea Party began to receive real political traction when candidates they supported were winning elections, or primaries to elections, in impressive numbers, the Main Stream Media as well as the White House have tried to define just what the Tea Party Movement really is.

When Rand Paul won in an upset over all other Republican Senate nominee candidates in Kentucky, the MSM tried to characterize this and other wins as "Anti-Incumbency", "Anger", and worse ... "Racist Backlash" in an attempt to discredit the Movement. Taxed Enough Already (which many say what the TEA in Tea Party stands for), however, does not communicate enough to have people understand just how deep this Movement is and how deep the problems we have in our political system as it exists in Washington DC.

The Tea Party is gaining strength because people are beginning to understand that we all are in a Class Warfare but not the class warfare the MSM wants us all to be directed to - IE: Rich vs Poor / Haves vs Have Nots.

No, the Class Warfare we are all involved in is the Political Class vs the Country Class. It is this definition and its understanding that the Tea Party Movement really needs to make as its centerpiece above all other definitions ... Republican or Democrat.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan (L) U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (2nd-L), U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (2nd-R) and South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-Young (R) speak to the media at the UN truce village building that sits on the border of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), on July 21, 2010 in Panmunjon, South Korea. Secretary Gates and Secretary Clinton participated in talks with their Korean counter parts and South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak. Caption & Image Credit: Mark Wilson - Pool/Getty Images/Clarity Media

This excerpted and edited from The American Spectator -

America's Ruling Class -- And the Perils of Revolution
By Angelo M. Codevilla - The American Spectator, from the July 2010 - August 2010 issue

... American people started referring to those in and around government as the "ruling class." And in fact Republican and Democratic office holders and their retinues show a similar presumption to dominate and fewer differences in tastes, habits, opinions, and sources of income among one another than between both and the rest of the country. They think, look, and act as a class.
----
Differences between Bushes, Clintons, and Obamas are of degree, not kind. Moreover, 2009-10 establishment Republicans sought only to modify the government's agenda while showing eagerness to join the Democrats in new grand schemes, if only they were allowed to.

Sen. Orrin Hatch continued dreaming of being Ted Kennedy, while Lindsey Graham set aside what is true or false about "global warming" for the sake of getting on the right side of history.

No prominent Republican challenged the ruling class's continued claim of superior insight, nor its denigration of the American people as irritable children who must learn their place. The Republican Party did not disparage the ruling class, because most of its officials are or would like to be part of it.

Never has there been so little diversity within America's [POLITICAL] upper crust.
----
Today's ruling class, from Boston to San Diego, was formed by an educational system that exposed them to the same ideas and gave them remarkably uniform guidance, as well as tastes and habits. These amount to a social canon of judgments about good and evil, complete with secular sacred history, sins (against minorities and the environment), and saints.

Using the right words and avoiding the wrong ones when referring to such matters -- speaking the "in" language -- serves as a badge of identity.

Regardless of what business or profession they are in, their road up included government channels and government money because, as government has grown, its boundary with the rest of American life has become indistinct.
----
America's ruling class speaks the language and has the tastes, habits, and tools of bureaucrats. It rules uneasily over the majority of Americans not oriented to government [the Country Class].
----
The gravity of such divisions points us, as it did Lincoln, to Mark's Gospel: "if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand."
----
The ruling class's appetite for deference, power, and perks grows.

The country class disrespects its rulers, wants to curtail their power and reduce their perks.

The ruling class wears on its sleeve the view that the rest of Americans are racist, greedy, and above all stupid.

The country class is ever more convinced that our rulers are corrupt, malevolent, and inept.

The rulers want the ruled to shut up and obey.

The ruled want self-governance.

The clash between the two is about which side's vision of itself and of the other is right and which is wrong. Because each side -- especially the ruling class -- embodies its views on the issues, concessions by one side to another on any issue tend to discredit that side's view of itself.

One side or the other will prevail. The clash is as sure and momentous as its outcome is unpredictable.
Reference Here>>

We, at MAXINE believe, the Tea Party Movement needs to be able to take up the cause of the Country Class. This is the only cause that will tip the balance of this "high school" power struggle, that will be able to maintain our country, and the individual freedoms it guarantees through the Bill Of Rights and the Constitution.

Tea Party Nation: Of Palin, Progressives, New Deal, and party politics

Sarah Palin as she give the Keynote Speech to end the first political convention to recognize the Tea Party Movement - Tea Party Nation. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks from C-SPAN broadcast (2010)

Tea Party Nation: Of Palin, Progressives, New Deal, and party politics

Talking heads and news cast pundits are unanimous ... the Tea Party Movement needs, or has a leader in the visage of former Alaska State Governor, Sara Palin after her rather pointed keynote speech she delivered at the first, official convention put on by the Tea Party Nation organization (one of many grassroots organizations that have sprung up after seeing people gather in protest to this current Government's "progressive" expansion and spending agenda).

The truth about this Tea Party Movement is that it does not need a leader to follow, just a recognition of what many term American constitutional principles and American Culture. What has most people upset with our current political landscape is the direction embraced by politicians from both political parties. Simply stated, a progressive STATE-IST solution to all governance ... there is a governmental solution to all perceived problems in our society, culture, and process that effect our lives.

The problem with this view is that it does not match up with what is stated in the document that is the keel-board upon which our country was founded ... the United States Constitution.

We have had many attempts to turn this country into a fascist, socialist, "PROGRESSIVE" paradise starting at the turn of the last century, reaching major strength through the Herbert Hoover' 31st Presidency, through the Franklin Delano Roosevelt five terms as President (and the main reason why the elected office of President has been term limited to just two terms), and now with a one-party Democrat Congress (House of Representatives & Senate) and 44th Presidency of the politically radical Democrat Party Obama Administration.

Democrats, however, are not the only politicians who can lay claim to a progressive agenda, many recognized Republican Party standouts are very "Big, Bigger, Biggest Government" state-ist as well. Chief among them are George H.W. Bush, the 41st President, Geoprge W. Bush, the 43rd President, Colin Powell, former military Chief of Staff and one-time presidential hopeful, Charlie Crist, former Governor of Florida and Senate seat hopeful, the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City, William Weld, former Governor of Massachusetts, and the jury is out on the politician and successful business mogul who replaced Weld as Governor and 2008 presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, and current United States Senators, John McCain (his progressive stand cost him the 2008 presidency), Lindsey Graham, Olympia Snowe, and Susan Collins.

The Tea Party Movement is not Republican, Democrat, or Independent registered voter driven or, for that matter, owned. That really is the issue here, the Tea Party Movement is about washing out Progressive politics and re-establishing a Constitutional Government that is smaller and attempts to be responsive -- to, for, and by the voting citizen!

Sarah Palin seemed very much in her element addressing the crowd of 1,100 conservative activists, who had each paid several hundred dollars to see the former governor deliver her most-anticipated speech since the 2008 campaign. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks from C-SPAN broadcast (2010)

This partial definition of the Tea Party Movement excerpted and edited from ABCNews-

Palin: 'America Is Ready for Another Revolution' Ex-V.P. Candidate Assails Obama at Convention, Fuels Acolytes' Passion
By STEVEN PORTNOY - NASHVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 7, 2010

former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said the Tea Party movement is the "future of politics in America," and it's got Democrats "running scared."

Delivering the keynote address at the first-ever National Tea Party Convention, Palin brought the audience to its feet several times, taunting the Obama administration, mocking its supporters and warning Democrats that their agenda is "out of touch, out of date, and if Scott Brown is any indication, it's running out of time."

Referring to the Republican who won the late Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in the Bay State, Palin told activists, "If there's hope in Massachusetts, there's hope everywhere."
----
"I caution against allowing this movement to be defined by any one leader or politician," Palin said, calling the conservative populist Tea Party "bigger than any king or queen."

"And it's a lot bigger than any charismatic guy with a teleprompter," Palin said, delivering her first of many swipes at President Obama and his administration.

Taunting those who voted for the Democratic ticket in 2008, Palin asked to laughs, "How is that 'hope-y, change-y stuff workin' out for ya'?" While criticizing the administration for its record of transparency on stimulus spending, and accusing Democrats of committing "generational theft" amid a sharp rise in deficit spending, Palin saved her strongest rhetorical fire for the president's handling of terrorism.

"We can't spin our way out of this threat," Palin said, referring to Obama's reticence to call the effort against al Qaeda a "war on terror."

"To win that war," Palin said, "we need a commander in chief, not a professor of law standing at the lecturn." The line brought her another standing ovation, and some of the biggest applause of the night.
----
The Tea Party movement, Palin argued, is "about the people. Who can argue with a movement that is about the people and for the people?"
----
Palin took questions submitted in advance to the Web site of Tea Party Nation, the group that organized the event at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center.
----
Palin urged a return to fiscal restraint, an expansion of domestic oil exploration, and for leaders to not be "afraid to kind of go back to some of our roots as a God-fearing nation."

"It would be wise of us to start seeking some divine intervention again in this country, so that we can be safe and secure and prosperous again," Palin said.
----
Addressing the notion that the Tea Party should become the nation's third major political party, Palin instead said, "The Republican Party would be really smart to absorb as much of the Tea Party as possible."
----
Palin urged fellow conservative politicians to "plow right on through" attacks by the "irrelevant, lamestream media."

"The political potshots that they want to take at you for standing up and saying what you believe in and proclaiming the patriotic love that you have for country -- a lot of those in the 'lamestream' media, they don't want to hear that."

But, Palin said, "At the end of the day, it really doesn't matter what they have to say about you, because I really believe that there are more of us than they want us to believe."
Reference Here>>

Q & A with Sara Palin after Tea Party Nation convention Keynote Address. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks from C-SPAN broadcast (2010)

Jay Carroll Jenks, a gentleman who resided on North La Brea Avenue in Hollywood, California and lived through the last great expansion of Progressive Government in the FDR era and suffered through "The New Deal" as an independent letter-set printer (and my Grandfather) left notes describing his frustration copeing with a control, over personal freedom approach tucked in an envelope titled on the front "PET PEEVES ... thru 1938"

Here is a sample of what was written in his own hand:

PET PEEVES against the NEW DEAL from start to and through 1938

F.D.R. and Mrs. F.D.R. -- Too much GAB

Roosevelt Family -- Too much GRAB

CAPITALISTS -- Although blamed for Retrenching - who wouldn't with unsound Democratic Principles being involked every week, and no encouragement to plan for the future

EXCESSIVE TAXES -- in Higher Brackets - discouraging to Big Business, with no incentive to make Sky the Limit

REORGANIZATION THREAT -- Another retarder of Big Business

RELIEF -- Too easy to start with - then too much Politics mixed in

RADIO and SCREEN -- overflowing with Propaganda and Soft Soap

Nat. LABOR BOARD -- Too Much POWER - Too Much C.I.O. [Congress of Industrial Organizations] - Too Much MEDDLING / All Reaching for Regimentation
POWER -- Too Much given to all Federal Bureaus and Agencies - Usurping States Rights
TARRIFFFF -- Too Hard to keep out (too low) Forign Goods which are produced much cheaper than possible in U.S.A.

AGRICULTURAL CONTROL -- Killing Hogs. Restricting Production, etc. Killing the "Land of Plenty" and creating a "Land of Scarcity"

CONGRESS -- Rubber Stampers. Thinking more of Vote Baiting than of the Needs and Welfare of their constituents

PURGE -- what a Mess of Tripe. What the Beginning of the End of all of the above (I HOPE)
OBSERVATION -- HITLER obtained a "SEEMING" Victory. I don't believe it! The English are noted for their DIPLOMACY and the eventual result (in Time) will prove that the "Chess Play" of Chamberlain, et al, was "premeditated" to the Nth degree

--END OF LETTER--

We all know what happened after 1938 ... the World became involved in a bloody world war, the second of the century, and the progressive policies that preceeded WWII were eclipised with the purge of McCarthyism and a free enterprise flood of pent up demand and creativity.

The Tea Party Movement is a response to many of the same type of reflections our country is going through right now ... as if it were 1938. The more things change ... they remain the same.

Let us all get back to the Constitution and the pursuit of happiness.

Tea Parties - When Citizen Journalism Is The Only Outlet

"Citizen Journalist Wanted" - banner ad on PJTV - Photo Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2009)

Tea Parties - When Citizen Journalism Is The Only Outlet

Today, April 15, 2009 … a day when all Americans are supposed to have their taxes filed with the Internal Revenue Service (headed by Timothy Geithner – a man who was allowed to cheat/then pay-up on his taxes), 750 gatherings of citizens are scheduled throughout the nation and not one mention on the front pages of Main Stream Media newspapers.

Examples:

New York Times Front Page

Image Credit: NYT.com

Boston Globe Front Page

Image Credit: Boston Globe, Online

The Los Angeles Times Front Page

Image Credit: LA Times online

Code Pink, Cindy Sheehan, A Day Without An Immigrant, Million Man March, and other demonstrations that will have way less people showing up to attend to show support in getting a message of displeasure out routinely get front page spreads and advance information as to the event(s) and what the issues of protest are about from the MSM jungle drumbeat.

This tea party movement has had no such 4th Estate involvement.

A brief history excerpted and edited from Michelle Malkin –

A Tax Day Tea Party cheat sheet: How it all started
By Michelle Malkin • April 15, 2009 08:14 AM

For the Johnny-Come-Latelys in the MSM who will be dispatched by their editors to file obligatory stories about the hundreds of Tax Day Tea Party protests across the country today, here is a cheat sheet to get you up to speed.

Feb. 15: Keli Carender, who blogs as “Liberty Belle” spread the word about a grass-roots protest she was organizing in Seattle to raise her voice against the passage of the trillion-dollar stimulus/porkulus/Generational Theft Act of 2009. It’s the first time she had ever jumped into political organizing of any kind. She is not affiliated with any “corporate lobbyist” or think tank or national taxpayers’ organization. She’s a young conservative mom who blogs. Amazingly, she turned around the event in a few days all on her own by reaching out on the Internet, to her local talk station, and to anyone who would listen.

Feb. 16: An energetic crowd of about 100 people came downtown to lambaste the Chicken Little process and the lard-up of the stimulus bill:

Word of the Seattle protest spread across the blogosphere. Readers suggested there should be a Denver protest on Feb. 17 to greet President Obama for the porkulus signing. Separately, the local chapter of Americans for Prosperity was already working to put something together on the fly. I met the head of the state AFP for the first time on the steps of the Capitol. No conspiracy here, tinfoil hatters. It was a union of like minds in an impromptu show of outrage against the legislation-without-deliberation process in Washington. Also there: Jon Caldara of the libertarian Independence Institute on one end of the spectrum and Tom Tancredo on the strict immigration enforcement end (hundreds of the protesters were mad about the absence of E-Verify standards for the stimulus funding):

On Feb. 18, 500 fed-up taxpayers showed up in Mesa, AZ to oppose President Obama’s campaign for massive expansions of the government mortgage entitlement and to mock what SC Gov. Mark Sanford rightly called savior-based economics. No top-down organization. Just the effort of local talk radio station KFYI. No Beltway GOP involvement. Zero national media coverage.

On Feb. 19, reader Amanda Grosserode e-mailed that she was organizing a tax revolt protest in Overland Park, KS the following weekend. More than 400 people showed up in freezing weather to protest Rep. Dennis Moore’s vote for the bill. Glenn Reynolds did the reporting the MSM didn’t do.

On Feb. 19, CNBC’s Rick Santelli issued his now-famous “Tea Party” call — prompted, many people forget, by Obama’s mortgage entitlement expansion plans (proposals I’ve protested whether from Democrats or moron Republicans):
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On Feb. 21, the grass-roots Internet group, Top Conservatives on Twitter, founded by Michael Patrick Leahy and powered by Rob Neppell, announced “simultaneous local tea parties around the country, beginning in Chicago, and including Washington DC, Fayetteville NC, San Diego CA, Omaha Nebraska, and dozens of other locations”.
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And along the way, detractors have fumbled and bumbled over how to discredit the Tea Party organizers — first blaming a cabal tied to CNBC, then jeering at the amateurishness of the participants before crying “astroturf,” then claiming the events were “financed by Fox News” or (fill-in-the-blank) conservative conspiracy, then smearing the protesters as crazed gun nuts (FNC’s Bob Beckel) and racists (FNC’s Geraldo Rivera).

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if MSM coverage refrained from parroting all the lazy, groundless, uninformed canards and reported the simple truth?
Reference Here>>

Again, large gatherings of Americans - NOT just Republicans, NOT just Democrats – are gathering in over 750 cities throughout the United States, and in most cases, Politicians have been dis-invited. Pretty much a definition of GRASS ROOTS, and all of this activity after the Department of Homeland Security has labeled this type of activity as part of the list of recruitment threats to Radical Right-Wing political activity and terrorism.

Don’t Tread On … Us!

Rise up and report Citizen Journalist!


UPDATE:

Tea Party Tax & Government Revolt Event - Glendale, CA, USA - Report, Photo, & Video Assets Here>>

CNN's "Reporting" of a Tea Party event - Example Here>>

Tea Party Event tally as of the beginning of day April 24, 2009 - (Pajamas Media):

Number of Events: 1,003
Overall Attendance: 847,651