Helen Weir
Did you "Tea Party" on Wednesday? Tell us about it!
By Helen Weir
Perhaps you, like me, woke up on Thursday to discover that — in addition to being labeled a potential "terrorist" — you have also been classified as "anti-government." At least, that's what the mainstream media outlets are saying about anyone who attended one of the many tax-day "tea parties" on Wednesday, as I did in Eau Claire.
Anti-government. Let's think about that for a moment.
As astute conservative commentators have been pointing out, during the "W" era, dissent was touted by the Democrats as patriotic — the "proof," as it were, of the American "pudding" itself. Since January 20, that magical day, people expressing political disagreement have suddenly become deranged. Yet the "anti-government" allegation runs much deeper than this hypocritical contradiction itself.
If taking exception to anything Barack Obama does or may decide to do is tantamount to opposing government itself, then Barack Obama is the government. His ideas, his wishes, his commands are what we will soon be bound, by seeming force of law, to obey — unless we accurately identify this threat and effectively counter it. This is the ultimate reason why the issue of his eligibility to hold the office of Chief Executive in the first place is so non-negotiably crucial. But whether Obama/Soetoro is a citizen or not — as vital as that issue is — it pales in comparison to the question of whether he is under the Constitution like the rest of us, or not. Why does this matter? Because if he isn't, then neither are we. We're under him.
I was listening to the Laura Ingraham Show the other day when Texas governor Rick Perry said that the developments we are witnessing in our nation are "unprecedented." For a nanosecond I misunderstood this term as "unPresidented," which would, come to think of it, have been a brilliant way of summing things up. The understanding motivating the tea parties, dimly glimpsed or sparklingly expressed (consider the sign of my fellow Cheesehead protester, which read, "USSA: No Way!") is that the last 100 days have seen not the actions of an American President, Republican or Democrat, but the establishment of a beachhead of power for a man whose governing motto is evidently L'etat, c'est moi! ("I am the State").
Tyranny is, in the realm of politics, the most serious of all possible charges. I do not think that any of Wednesday's protesters have raised it lightly or mindlessly. The "stimulus package" has precipitated this nationwide outpouring of outrage and concern not only because of its own ludicrous and irresponsible provisions, but also because it has become a symbol of the "mandatory volunteerism," the threatened elimination of conscience protections for healthcare workers, the attempted seizure of the census process, the contempt for free speech posed by the so-called "Fairness Doctrine," and the many other red flags the Obama administration has, in its brief existence, already raised. I heard one leftist commentator mocking the Tea Party crowd for not being able to bear a couple of months of electoral defeat. Electoral defeat is one thing: being jerked around by socialists with no respects for elections, human rights, or the rest of the constitutional apparatus of ordered liberty is quite another.
So if you were at a Tea Party on Wednesday, please take a moment and tell us about it. Where were you? What is your crowd estimate? Did any signs or remarks stand out in your mind? I am not, by the way, a Tea Party organizer or official — just a concerned participant. Since the mainstream media is only interested in maligning and minimizing this phenomenon (a remarkable achievement for the Tea Party people, given the information brokers' strong preference for ignoring the whole thing entirely), let's share some actual facts among ourselves.
Please send your response to contact@americasrevival.com.
God bless,
Helen M. Valois, MI
National Grassroots Coordinator,
America's Revival
© Helen Weir
April 17, 2009
Perhaps you, like me, woke up on Thursday to discover that — in addition to being labeled a potential "terrorist" — you have also been classified as "anti-government." At least, that's what the mainstream media outlets are saying about anyone who attended one of the many tax-day "tea parties" on Wednesday, as I did in Eau Claire.
Anti-government. Let's think about that for a moment.
As astute conservative commentators have been pointing out, during the "W" era, dissent was touted by the Democrats as patriotic — the "proof," as it were, of the American "pudding" itself. Since January 20, that magical day, people expressing political disagreement have suddenly become deranged. Yet the "anti-government" allegation runs much deeper than this hypocritical contradiction itself.
If taking exception to anything Barack Obama does or may decide to do is tantamount to opposing government itself, then Barack Obama is the government. His ideas, his wishes, his commands are what we will soon be bound, by seeming force of law, to obey — unless we accurately identify this threat and effectively counter it. This is the ultimate reason why the issue of his eligibility to hold the office of Chief Executive in the first place is so non-negotiably crucial. But whether Obama/Soetoro is a citizen or not — as vital as that issue is — it pales in comparison to the question of whether he is under the Constitution like the rest of us, or not. Why does this matter? Because if he isn't, then neither are we. We're under him.
I was listening to the Laura Ingraham Show the other day when Texas governor Rick Perry said that the developments we are witnessing in our nation are "unprecedented." For a nanosecond I misunderstood this term as "unPresidented," which would, come to think of it, have been a brilliant way of summing things up. The understanding motivating the tea parties, dimly glimpsed or sparklingly expressed (consider the sign of my fellow Cheesehead protester, which read, "USSA: No Way!") is that the last 100 days have seen not the actions of an American President, Republican or Democrat, but the establishment of a beachhead of power for a man whose governing motto is evidently L'etat, c'est moi! ("I am the State").
Tyranny is, in the realm of politics, the most serious of all possible charges. I do not think that any of Wednesday's protesters have raised it lightly or mindlessly. The "stimulus package" has precipitated this nationwide outpouring of outrage and concern not only because of its own ludicrous and irresponsible provisions, but also because it has become a symbol of the "mandatory volunteerism," the threatened elimination of conscience protections for healthcare workers, the attempted seizure of the census process, the contempt for free speech posed by the so-called "Fairness Doctrine," and the many other red flags the Obama administration has, in its brief existence, already raised. I heard one leftist commentator mocking the Tea Party crowd for not being able to bear a couple of months of electoral defeat. Electoral defeat is one thing: being jerked around by socialists with no respects for elections, human rights, or the rest of the constitutional apparatus of ordered liberty is quite another.
So if you were at a Tea Party on Wednesday, please take a moment and tell us about it. Where were you? What is your crowd estimate? Did any signs or remarks stand out in your mind? I am not, by the way, a Tea Party organizer or official — just a concerned participant. Since the mainstream media is only interested in maligning and minimizing this phenomenon (a remarkable achievement for the Tea Party people, given the information brokers' strong preference for ignoring the whole thing entirely), let's share some actual facts among ourselves.
Please send your response to contact@americasrevival.com.
God bless,
Helen M. Valois, MI
National Grassroots Coordinator,
America's Revival
© Helen Weir
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