Comments on: On Tax Day, You Ruled the Country UPDATE

By: bhennessy

bhennessy — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 17:25:33 +0000

Truth & Justice,
I’m sorry you feel that way. I agree that service members stand heads and shoulders above the rest of us. I take issue, though, with your characterizations of both the Tea Party protesters and business people.

Most business owners I know want to provide fair value to their customers. They are entitled to a profit, and they have no obligation to provide more quality or service than the market expects based on the seller’s characterizations. I know a lot of these people, and they are anything but “greedy.”

Additionally, everyone who attends a Tea Party, who follows up with action, who participates in the process of forming a more perfect country advances the cause of freedom. Eight thousand people came to Kiener Plaza on Wednesday despite Janet Napolitano’s assertion that doing so was a symptom of terrorism. It takes courage to do what’s right despite government objection. It takes patriotism to give up the comforts of home to sit in a park for 3 hours.

Finally, we do have an obligation to help each other voluntarily; we collected over a ton of food and $600 cash to help those most in need. But no one, including government, has a right steal what is mine in order to give to someone else. Americans are not greedy, mean, people. We are the most generous people on earth. We give more to charity than any other nation. And despite trillions and trillions in money stolen by the government for redistribution schemes, poverty persists. The taxes we paid on Wednesday will help someone in need in about 18 months. The food we collected on Wednesday, voluntarily, fed families on Thursday. You tell me: which plan works better?

Cordially,
Bill Hennessy

By: Truth & Justice

Truth & Justice — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 16:01:51 +0000

You know people claim that they are patriotic and they want to be kept safe while keeping their freedom. Unfortunately that freedom comes at a price. This tea party BS is nothing more then a mockery of an important historical event. Furthermore the only people protecting freedom are the soldiers of this country. The men and women who come back and find that they can’t find a job. This country has forgotten about customer service. Companies and entrepreneurs have decided to produce lesser products and services while charging ridiculous prices in order to get rich quick. That is the real reason we are all in this mess. This is not patriotism or the American dream that some people claim it is. This is nothing more then greed. You want to be free? then this country has to pay for it on a whole and if lower class and the poor can not pay( which any moron would know that if they can get jobs then they can’t pay, and don’t give me that “they are just lazy crap”) then the rest of the country either has to step up and do it. It is either that or just let the U.S.A. be come another third world country. Funny though I see many people protesting this now when they should have been protesting years ago to prevent this.

By: steve shields

steve shields — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 12:41:56 +0000

Thanks Bill and everyone else for a great event. I brought down some food for the agency trucks. Friends of mine weren’t aware of the food drive. I think it should be a major part of future rallies. It might help to get more favorable coverage and promote real volunteerism and charity rather than “paid government volunteerism”.
All in all, a great event , great speakers and great vibes.

By: Barry W.

Barry W. — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 03:49:57 +0000

My son and I were standing on the northwest quadrant of the plaza.
I can say that at my age, I need to move around a little so the legs don’t lock up. I couldn’t move more than 12 inches in any direction without bumping into somebody else. I have never seen that many people in Kiener plaza since Kiener Plaza was built! It’s unfortunate that You can only take a picture of one half of the crowd the way Kiener plaza is built. My rough head count put the number close to 10000. When we were leaving, something occurred to me to tell my son. We Missourians, when we go to the primary elections to help choose our leaders, go into a booth alone, make a selection, and leave. In Ohio, and New Hampshire, You have to get up, go to the townhall, discuss your beliefs with your neighbors, and then You have to stand up and be counted. We in Missouri are sort of cheated out of that experience. But today, on tax day, 10000 of us got at taste of what it feels like to get up, and stand up and be counted. It felt real good, to experience real life democracy in action. I have a much better understanding of what Thomas Payne, and Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington felt when they stood up against King George. You just had to be there folks, and I hope next time you will. I know I will. This used to be a great country. If we want to save tomorrow for our kids and grandkids, we better be willing to stand up and be counted, again.

By: KandDinMH

KandDinMH — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 01:52:22 +0000

My husband and I went to the St. Louis Tea Party and had a great time.
Everyone was friendly, the speakers where remarkable, the music was
fantastic, and the signs were honest. I felt good about being there and
it was nice knowing that other people felt the way we do. The mood was
very patriotic, I was proud to there, and bursting with pride in America
again!

I was extremely disappointed to come home and find out that we were
being labeled extremists, terrorists, and worst of all tea
baggers!!!!!!!!!!! I am very offended by this. For one thing there were
a lot of children there. What kind of low-life would say something like
that. To be honest with you, I did not know what that meant until now.

Obama says he know’s nothing of the tea parties, then explain to me why
we
have a Home Land Surety report that labeled us as extremists! Liar! That
is the wrong answer. He should know about all the Tea Parties. They are
after all his constituents and he should listen to all of us, whether we
disagree with his policies or voted for him.

It really scares me the way the government and the media has handle the
coverage of the Tea Parties. Most of the attendees were registered
voters, tax-paying, law abiding citizens, and to be talked about like
this is truly disgusting. But I will say this, it has really fueled my
fire! We are going to the July 4th Tea Party and bringing friends and
family.

By: Ginny

Ginny — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 01:50:11 +0000

Kudos to Bill and Dana: The teaparty was great.

My friend and I hung around afterwards for a while and watched people as they left. One thing that struck me was how clean we left Kiener Plaza – almost no litter. This was unlike the pictures I saw of political rallies in the fall and the inauguration where the grounds were left totally trashed. I guess conservatives clean up after htemselves and liberals expect others to do it for them!

By: Rick

Rick — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:56:39 +0000

I was there in the front row, and it made me even prouder to be an american and patriot. Thanks much!!!!!

By: Love America

Love America — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:02:37 +0000

So everyone, how about a new political party? The Tea Party? For all of you who were here, have you ever considered running for office? We need YOU. We need fired up people with a love for the Constitution to run and turn this country around, and fast. I think such a candidate, for any office, would have a great showing at the polls.

By: Kay

Kay — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:38:56 +0000

Awesome !

Wish I could have been there ….but I was there in spirit!

By: Thomas L. Knapp

Thomas L. Knapp — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 09:12:20 +0000

Bill et al,

THANK YOU for all your work in making this event possible. I hope to be part of the team that makes it happen again on July 4th.

I can’t say I’m surprised at the snark from people who weren’t there and didn’t meet or talk with any of the thousands of participants, but as a non-conservative, non-Republican I can attest that this was anything but a GOP “astro-turf” affair.

To the person who asked “Can progressive Democrats who support President Obama be patriots?” — well, sure you can. Love of country and being right about any particular issue aren’t the same thing.

But, I hope some progressive Democrats who support President Obama were Tea Party participants. Supporting President Obama doesn’t mean blindly accepting that every decision he makes is correct, and if you really support him, the best thing you can do is participate in activities which push him in the right direction when he’s wandering off in the wrong one.

Corporate welfare is not a good thing. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard progressives say so in the past. If it’s not good when the Republicans are doing it, it’s not good when the Democrats are doing it, either.

Deficit spending and the attendant accrual of massive amounts of new government debt are not good things, either. If they aren’t good things when George W. Bush is pushing them to finance wars in the Middle East and Central Asia or to bail out AIG, they’re not good things when Barack Obama is pushing them to continue those wars or to bail out General Motors.

Best regards,
Tom Knapp
Chair
St. Louis County Libertarian Central Committee

Comments on: On Tax Day, You Ruled the Country **UPDATE**