Politicians trying to steal Teaparty Brand

 

My involvement in the teaparty movement in Colorado has perhaps given me a more correct birds eye view of what has been happening than many who have jumped into the fray since it all began back in the winter of 09′.

 

I have just one message for those Colorado Pols who think they can steal the muster from our movement and attach their own campaigns to it.

 

In this political environment, “YOU ARE GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT!!!”.

 

What this means is that if you have been Rino (Republican in name only), have a voting record that puts you in the “Socialism Light” catagory of politicians, and if you think you can shove aside any previous speeches, votes, affiliations, and/or public behavior that would clearly identify you as a tax and spend nothing….

 

..WE WILL EXPOSE YOU TO THE LIGHT OF DAY!

 

Career politicians, you are ALL suspect. 

 

We want those citizen activists/representatives who believe in Free Markets, The Rule of Law, Separation of Powers, and who will honor their Oaths of Office to Protect and Defend the Constitution from all enemies Foreign and Domestic to be our future politicians in this Glorious Representative Republic at both the state and national level.

 

So, if you believe you can just grab the teaparty movement and make it your own, you really don’t understand what it was all about.

 

Here is a quick overview of my year of activism working with the Denver Tea Party Crowd to stand up for Freedom at our state capitol.

 

Just a word to anyone reading this.  I am just a stay at home Mom with five children.  I have not had ANY training in grassroots activism.  I have learned alot these past nine years since I organized my first street demonstration against Al Gore during the “Sore Loserman” street demos that were held after the 2000 presidential election.  Most of what I have learned has been by making embarassing mistakes.  I officially “retired” after the 9-12 Constitution Freedom Vigil, then decided to organize the “Don’t Inject Me” Protest when I learned the facts about the H1N1 Flu Frauds.  Now, I am really finished with street activism, but I just want to tell anyone who is interested, YOU CAN DO THIS!!!  If you feel called to get involved, make a difference, organize a protest and/or stand up for Freedom and the Truth, all it takes is the BELIEF that you are capable and can do it! 

 

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, offend other activists, assume leadership roles, and make some NOISE!  Americans are wired for activism.

 

It is our birthright! 

 

Mike Hollar said to me the day before the 9-12 rally that my lack of funding for a sound system was PROOF that I was real grass roots activism.  All the time I had been thinking I was just an incompetent fool, but his words of wisdom helped me stay focused and see the big picture rather than get lost in the details of organization.  Believe that you too can make a difference in your community, and you will!

 

Here is an overview of the teaparty movement from my perspective and experience.

 

 

 

 

A very short three months after President Obama won the election, the first national teaparty was organized here in Denver.  I gave the opening remarks and talked about Going Galt as a response to the Socialists gaining all three branches of our national government.

 

I also made this movie after interviewing some of the attendees of that Feb 27th event:

 

 

We held the planning meeting for the April 15th Taxday Teaparty at my home, and I made the CD of recorded music that was played at the party, I also made this movie:

 

I was not involved in the choosing of any of the people who spoke or sang/performed live during the teaparty, and was EXTREMELY dismayed at the number of politicians who had been asked to speak at that party.

 

Others in the movement were also concerned that our grassroots effort was being taken over by politicians, and so there was a split for the July 4th teaparty.  Those who organized the April 15th event organized a picnic on Independence Day, and we who wanted to keep the movement pure from political parties and politicians met at the capitol.  This is the movie I made from the July 4th teaparty at the Capitol, organized by Tony Gillis and his Denver Teaparty online activist group:

 

 

 

For the 9-12 Teaparty Anthony and I organized an evening event that took place at the capitol in Denver.  We worked with many other volunteers, groups, and activists to make the Denver Constitution Evening Teaparty and Candlelight Vigil for Freedom A success!  Lisa at the Broomfield 9-12 Project was instrumental in making this event a total success!

 

We had great media coverage of our teaparty and I was thrilled that so many of the local television and print media showed up to cover it.  Both Tony and I were interviewed multiple times.

 

Here is a round up:

 

Denver Post:

 

I did this interview while the Declaration of Independence was being read. The reporter from the post asked me many good questions and I am grateful he quoted me correctly on the little bit he shared…
Crowds also gather in cold rain outside Colorado Capitol
By Michael Booth
The Denver Post
Posted: 09/13/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT

A large crowd of Colorado protesters seeking lower taxes and smaller government echoed a Washington, D.C., rally from the steps of the state Capitol on Saturday, with hundreds lingering despite a cold evening rain.

Two separate, but largely sympathetic, gatherings in the morning and evening were part of a national movement opposed to what organizers call expensive, socialist-leaning government programs. Signs attacked economic stimulus plans, “Obama care” and tax increases, demanding that government stick to its purely constitutional limits.

“We want to pay our fair share, but it’s getting to the tipping point. It’s out of balance,” said Ralph Kientz of Boulder, who hunkered down in the cool mist but clapped heartily for each speaker. “It’s unsustainable. We’re kicking the can down the road to our grandchildren, with all this debt.”

Jenny Hatch, organizer of the evening rally in Denver, said she is part of the “Leave Us Alone” coalition. A growing number of people, she said, are tired of government interference from proposals like health care reform or cap-and-trade legislation on carbon emissions.

They “take our whole paycheck and then tell us how to live,” Hatch said.

Longtime conservative activist Freda Poundstone passed out petitions calling for limiting state fees and taxes. “You don’t increase taxes when the economy is down,” Poundstone said. “We’ve got more government than we’ve got anything else.”

It was an absolute honor to have Freda Poundstone speak at our event!

 

Denver Fox 31

 

DENVER – Thousands of Coloradans turned out for a tea party that offered politics and patriotism but no crumpets.

 

They met under the golden dome of the capitol for two rallies – each with flags waving and signs criticizing president Obama and the ruling democrats. “We’re fed up with what’s going on. And I’m not going to take it anymore,” said one speaker to a throng of applause.

 

They say they’re fed up with the government’s intrusion in health care and billions in stimulus spending. “Primary issue brought out is health care reform being debated right now. Just very concerned and our experience is government generally doesn’t make things better, ” says Elizabeth Walker, a mother of four children.

 

Metro state professor Norm Provizer says the Tea Party demonstrations against big goverment, forget that Obama campaigned and won on reforming health care.

 

“‘There’s this terrible government trying to take over.’ First of all, that governmnet is in power because voters elected them to that position. So I think that, I don’t view that as partisan. I view it as rational,” he says.

 

Later saturday evening, Colorado’s Tea Party resumed. Rain thinned the crowds, but didn’t dampen enthusiasm about taking their country back from a government they say is too intrusive.

 

“There a lot of people who feel passionate about not pay other people’s mortages, their neighbor’s health care. So much so, they’re out here in our crowd,” says Jenny Hatch, with the Colorado Tea Party.

 

Denver 9 News

 

 

This video was tied to this story at 9 news web site

 

“DENVER (AP) – President Barack Obama and the health care overhaul were the main targets of large crowds of protesters who gathered in Denver.

 

Saturday’s rallies by a number of anti-tax “tea party” groups took place at the Colorado Capitol. Groups from across Colorado participated.

The events are just a few of many “Tea Party Patriots” rallies nationwide, which have already drawn thousands in other states. In Washington, D.C. thousands of people marched along Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol to protest what they call the out-of-control federal spending.

 

The protesters oppose expanding the federal government and oppose the policies of Obama and the ruling Democrats in Congress.

 

There was one rally Saturday morning at the state Capitol and one in the evening. “Tea Party” groups also gathered in Castle Rock this afternoon.

 

The tea parties took place while President Barack Obama addressed a crowd in Minneapolis about his health care plan Saturday.”

 

Tony did a great interview!

 

Denver CBS 4 has a video from the teaparty hosted on their site here.

 

And the story:

 

Hundreds Rally Against Big Government In Denver

 

DENVER (CBS4) Coloradans who couldn’t make it to Washington, D.C. held two rallies at the State Capitol Saturday to protest health care reform and other issues.

 

One rally was held in the afternoon and one was held at night.

 

The protesters listened to an audio recording of the nation’s founding documents and rallied around the principles stated in the Constitution. They sang patriotic songs and cheered as a host of speakers spoke about the increasing deficit, rising taxes and growing government.

 

Many of protesters held signs that read “No More Debt” and “Vote Out Clunkers In Congress.”

 

“We will not stand by while our free-market capitalist system, the greatest engine of prosperity in the history of the world, is destroyed in favor of yet another disastrous experiment with socialism,” coordinator Tony Gillis said.

 

“We gather peacefully here today because there is a growing concern about what our government is doing to us and our future,” said Dianne Powers, who attended the rally. “We fear for the very survival of our republic. Yet there is much to make us hopeful and to fill our hearts with optimism and courage. This is still our county.”

 
Along with advocating for less government, they also advocated for less government spending, which includes health care reform.”

 

 

After the teaparty I told my friends that I was going to retire from Conservative Street Activism.  I wrote up this After Action Report for Free Republic.

 

Just a few facts about our organizational efforts for this teaparty:

 

I spent two months and approx. 205 volunteer hours planning this event. All time donated for free. I also spent $520.00 out of pocket for the sound and light system rental, batteries, and blank CD’s.  (*Note – when I wrote this report I forgot about the hundred bucks I spent on T-shirts at Hobby Lobby for our Security Team)

 

We had a team of people who donated as yet uncounted volunteer hours helping with the logistics of this event.

 

We had pledged donations of $275.00 before the event (I have yet to see any of this money), and we collected $120.00 at one of our planning meetings, and in our donation bin at the actual event we collected $185.00. We did not charge for booth space at our event, and the permit from the Denver Capitol was free.

 

All speakers, our national anthem contest winner Andrea Chase, and our security team drove themselves to our event (And in Andreas case – flew to Colorado from texas with her mother), and all of them donated their time to make this event a success!

 

No one was paid anything for helping, they all did it because they wanted to step up and spend time, money, and resources on the Defense of Liberty.

 

Jenny Hatch

 

Here is the teaparty as best I can reconstruct it. (We did not have anyone videotape it for us)

 

As my son Andy and I drove down to Denver to pick up the Banner that Jeff at Show Your Colors Flag store created for us, it was pouring rain and the sky was completely dark with clouds. I figured God had some purpose in this, and did not question his wisdom, but drove quickly to get the flag so I could get to the Capitol by 4:30PM as I had promised.

 

When we arrived at the capitol, booths were being set up and we could not figure out how to open the gate that would allow us to unload the sound and lighting equipment I had rented. Our marshall figured it out and by 4:50PM we were unloading. A bunch of people stepped up to help and we had everything connected and ready to go by 5:30 as promised. All of the equipment was soaked despite garbage bags protecting it from the rain. As I flipped the switch to turn everything on, nothing happened, no lights, no sound, yet the receiver was sending out a signal. So I called all of our volunteers together and we said a prayer.

 

A few seconds later a sound tech walked up and said he would like to help. I figured God had sent an angel to help us as answer to our prayer, and twenty minutes later when the sound popped on, I knew that I was right!

 

As soon as the sound came on we started our evening – please note it continued to rain despite all prayers begging that it stop, and I have just decided that Heavenly Father knows what he is about, and if he wanted it to be cold and rainy that was his business. The weather did not dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd in the least and they were all particularly joyful when certain amendments regarding the owning of firearms were mentioned.

Denver Constitution Evening Teaparty Agenda and Speakers

 

5:30 PM Reading of the Constitution of the United States of America 6:40 PM Reading of The Declaration of Independence 6:50 PM Reading of The Bill of Rights

Musical Accompaniment – Various Recordings of Patriotic Hymns and Anthems

7:00PM Beginning of 9-12 Teaparty

National Anthem Contest Winner:

Andrea Chase

 

Runner Up Palmer Kane Allen

Music: The Star Spangled Banner Verse Four – sung pathetically bad by a stressed and overwhelmed Jenny Hatch: (Track 1 – Time 1:24)

O thus be it ever when free men shall stand between their loved homes and the wars desolation! Blest with vict’ry and peace, May the Heav’n-rescued land, Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just; And this be our motto: “In God is our trust!” And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Pledge of Allegiance

Music: God Bless America (Track 2 – Time 3:40)

7:10PM Honoring of our Veterans, Blue Star Families, and Gold Star Families

Music: America the Beautiful (Track 3 – Time 4:39)

7:25PM Opening Remarks by Anthony Gillis – 10 minutes of Colorado Tea Party

Music: My Country Tis of Thee – (Track 5 – Time 2:17)

7:35 PM Mystery Speaker

Music: Amazing Grace – (Track 6 – Time 6:26)

7:45PM Citizen Reports on Colorado Grass Roots Activism (5 Minutes)

Lou Schroeder

 

Freda Poundstone

 

Russ Haas

Music: You’re A Grand Old Flag – (Track 8 – Time: 2:37)

 

Hymns and Anthems (Tracks 10 – 15 Time – 25 Minutes)

 

We finished up the speakers by about 8:30 and I announced that we were going to just have one song’s worth of vigil, I blasted out Martina McBrides version of God Bless America and we called it a night!