Politics: February 2009 Archives

I couldn't be at Veterans Park myself for yesterday's Tea Party -- too much to do at work -- but plenty of people were and have posted stuff on the web to tell you all about it.

Jenn Sierra has posted photos of the Tulsa Tea Party. You'll find a few more on Chris Medlock's blog (here and here). Joe Kelley has video. Here's KOTV's report.

Here were some of the signs on display:

• Government is not your mommy!


• Repeal porkulus!


• 220 years to build the republic -- one month to destroy it.


• Give me back my 401K -- you can keep the "change."


• Crisis? You bet -- too much government.


• Pay your own mortgage! No freeloaders!


• Grow the economy -- not the government!

You can find writeups about the Oklahoma City Tea Party at Red Dirt Report and on Wizbang, where OKC-based blogger Michael Laprarie is now a regular contributor. (Congrats!)

Tax protesters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who are also protesting a local sales tax increase, wanted to dump tea in the Cedar River, but they were barred by state officials, who consider tea a pollutant because it would discolor the water (via Michelle Malkin):

Tea, although natural and quite tasty, is considered a pollutant that can't go into a body of water without a permit, said Mike Wade, a senior environmental specialist at the DNR's Manchester field office.

"Discoloration is considered a violation," Wade said.

Although not as steeped in history, the Cedar Rapids Tea Party will dump dechlorinated tap water or riverwater from buckets labeled "tea," said Tim Pugh, the group's founder.

"We don't want to hurt the river," said Pugh, 32, of Cedar Rapids.

I thought the whole point of the original tea party was to defy government authority.

Elsewhere in Iowa, David Burge (aka Iowahawk) has a message from the subprime borrower community for "America's Irresponsible Tea Party Whiners":

But through all of it, some of us persevered. We made the hard economic choices.... We spent countless hours applying for the credit cards that would see us through. We made the wise economic decision to stop paying our stupid mortgages -- because we calculated that when the rainy day came, Washington would come to its senses and clear up the tab....

I wish I could take credit for it, but it took the collective effort of hundreds of thousands of us in the subprime community, working with the financial industry and public sector officials. Unfortunately, there is another group out there who is working to kill important financial bailout reforms just as they are sparking a renaissance in the American housing market. I'm speaking, of course, of the so-called "Tea Party" tax protesters.

I'm sure you've heard of them or read their emails: "Wah, I paid my mortgage." "Wah, I didn't use my house for an ATM." "Wah, Dave I need that hundred back I lent you at Christmas." Now, I'm as sympathetic to a good sob story as anybody, but these whiners have nobody to blame but themselves for their predicament. Anyone who kept track of the Gallup presidential polls last year should have known what was coming, so don't blame me if you decided to waste your money paying your stupid mortgage. But, in the six-dimensional bizarro world of these noisy tax gripes, they expect me to give up my bailout to pay for their irresponsible lack of foresight! Helloooo?! Beam me up, Scotty!

There's a lot more to running for office than you might imagine. Tulsa's city elections are coming up this fall, followed by school board elections early next year, and then races for state legislature and county commission the year after that. If you think you might ever want to run for local office or want to be an effective helper to a candidate, consider signing up for American Majority's candidate training seminar to be held in Tulsa on Saturday, Feb. 28.

The event will be held at the Tulsa Radisson Hotel, on 41st west of Garnett. To RSVP, call Pam Pettyjohn at 405-605-6338 or e-mail ok@americanmajority.org.

American Majority would like to cordially invite you to the DO NOT MISS Municipal Candidate Training Seminar of 2009!

American Majority Candidate Training Seminars are day-long events with both 1-on-1 media training and lectures covering topics such as:

"How to Communicate Effectively"
"Your Campaign Plan to Win: Planning for the Time, People and Money to Win"
"Dollars and Sense: Fundraising for What You Need, Not What You Can Get"
"New Media Engagement: The New Ways to Talk to Voters and Engage Supporters"
"Grassroots Action: How Ordinary People can get Extraordinary Results When They Work Together"
"Local Government: Its Structure and How it all Works"
"Making a Difference in Your Local Community"

The cost for this all-inclusive training is $40 per candidate and $20 for each additional staff or family member.

Breakfast and lunch is included.

More about the sponsoring organization:

American Majority Incorporated is a non-profit, non-partisan political training institute whose mission is to train and equip a national network of leadership committed to individual freedom through limited government and the free market. Advocating true federalism, American Majority believes that national change begins at the state and local level. Toward that end, American Majority will build a national network of leaders and grassroots advocates who aspire to increase freedom for individuals, families, the marketplace, and our nation.

No, not me.

For over 20 years, Michael M. Bates wrote a weekly column for The Reporter, a weekly paper based in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. As for his political philosophy, this other Michael Bates outflanks me: "As a lad, Mike distributed Goldwater campaign literature and since then has steadily moved further to the Right."

Bates quit in protest over the headline placed over his January 22 column. He gave the column, a counterpoint to the inauguration-induced Obamamania, the title, "Include Me Out." At the end of the piece, he excluded himself from the company of those wishing the new president success:

The "We Are One" theme comes at a remarkable time. After eight years of liberals bashing President Bush and other Republicans, it's expected that magically all Americans will suddenly, joyously unify as one big happy family under Obama.

That ain't gonna happen. Some Republicans are wishing Obama success. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is one, saying that "We need to get behind our new president and our new Congress," and "support them."

Support them in driving this country into the ground? If Obama delivers on his campaign promises, it'll be an unmitigated disaster. Good luck for him means bad luck for the United States .

Other conservatives may wish the new president success. That's their prerogative. As movie producer Samuel Goldwyn said, include me out.

The Reporter put this headline and subhed over Bates's column:

Success for Obama would be disaster Bitter conservative can't wish U.S. well

Michael M. didn't mind being called a bitter conservative. It was the last half of that subhed that stuck in his craw:

No, the objectionable portion was [the editor's] claiming I can't wish my own country well. It implies I'm unpatriotic. That isn't accurate. Well, he went on, if Obama doesn't succeed, then America will fail. How can you not wish Obama well if you love your country?

I replied that Obama is most emphatically not the United States, even though his admirers habitually think so. His "success" in imposing his radical agenda means America loses. National victory requires a vigorous rejection of most of Obama's schemes.

Michael M. Bates will continue to post columns on his website, michaelmbates.com, and on his blog at Townhall. From one opinionated Michael Bates to another, all the best.