Mark Polege
Keyboard Militia
The Tea Party
The St.Louis Tea Party marked its one year anniversary where it all began, below the towering Gateway Arch in downtown St. Louis. Like the first 1500 who first braved the cold of last February, this Tea Party rally along the shores of the Mississippi River was populated with 1500 concerned citizens taking a stand against the socialism & progressivism threatening to be integrated into the American government by the Obama Administration and current members of Congress.
Though clouds were forecast, the afternoon sun pierced through the air along with the voices of 1500 singing, cheering, and ready for the hard it will take to stay off the progressive takeover of the freedoms the U.S. Constitution protects. “Its time to put the work boots on,” was one phrase uttered by the emcee. Some of the speakers were Bill Hennessy – St.Louis Tea Party co-founder, Dana Loesch – St. Louis Tea Party co-founder, Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit, Stephanie Rubach, and James Greyfalcon.
To say there was a tremendous amount of energy at this Tea Party event would not even scratch the surface. Through numerous drive-by honks of support, many of the speakers discussed how a year ago the goal was to wake up our friends and neighbors to the unconstitutional actions of our government. They followed that with the need to get involved, organized, and the need to dedicate several hours a week to the movement because “the real battle will be won at the ballot box.”
Though the ralleries came equipped with their flags and signs (per park regulations), it was clear this crowd was here to celebrate the successes of the past year:
- Stopping the health care bill
- Stopping Cap and Trade
- Spreading the word on Van Jones and other czars
- The election successes of NY, NJ, and VA
- Educating their friends and neighbors of the unconstitutional actions of the Obama Administration and Congress
- and many more…
As Bill Hennessy said, “This is not the beginning of the end, the is the end of the beginning.”
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The Coffee Party
With the obvious growing popularity of the Tea Parties, a new progressive ideological group, known quaintly as the “Coffee Party,” has begun to surface in a few cities in an attempt to harness that same frustration felt by many over the government. Though they timidly describe themselves as ‘grassroots,’ they are still Progressives by even their own description in the Washington Post as they wish to:
“..engage the government not as an enemy but as the collective will of the people, push leaders to enact the progressive change for which 52.9 percent of the country voted in 2008″
Though they claim to be for limited government and other conservative sounding talking points, they are as misleading as they accuse corporate America of being. And if the company you keep is any sign of your character or ideologies, just ask Obama, than the “Coffee Party’s” progressive tendencies are evident with their joining MoveOn.org in rallies.
Upon closer examination of the CoffeePartyUSA.com website we find more ideological allegiances to Progressives despite their use of such words as “limited government” or “founding fathers.” For example, on their ‘Inform’ page, many of their source links are from Media Matters, a well known George Soros & Center For American Progress “progressive” media monitor.
Another example I found interesting was that under their ACORN header there is also ONLY one Media Matters link. Over the past year there have been many good “cutting through the noise” articles about ACORN and yet that is the only one they pick? For a movement that claims to have “no hyper-partisan strategists calling the shots, ” their sources sure seem to be. It is also interesting that they claim to be for limited government and term limits, but make no mention or position on the U.S. Constitution, the founding document of our “Republic.”
It is true that the Tea Parties have reached a great milestone this month and have endured alot of misinformation & reticule from the Administration, the Media, and others but they have become stronger and more embolden because of it. The constantly growing numbers are a clear sign, in addition to their successes in New York, New Jersey, and Virginia, that the battle is far from over.
Over the past year they have become a force to be reckoned with and despite the attempts to peg them as a FOX NEWS-Sarah Palin mouth piece, both Democrats AND Republicans should realize the days of voting “Present” are over. What the Left refuses to understand is that Obama may be the most aggressive, unconstitutional force of the problems in Washington, he is nowhere near the only one or in the only party.
In the days leading up to the elections in November, there may be more psudeo movements like the “Coffee Party” or poser politicians seeking only a blessing from the Tea Parties. It is up to all of us to do our homework on what exactly we believe, what our founding fathers believed, and work toward a revival in the very principles that helped build what Ronald Reagan called that, “shining city upon a hill.”
