Special Thank You for the November 28 Tea Party

Okay, I’ll admit it.  It’s really cool to help set a stage where 4,000 or 20  or 10,000 good people can look into the federal government eye and say, “Walk slow, and if I tell ya stop, stop; or I’ll stop ya.” (Be the first to name the movie in the comments below, and get “Zen Conservatism” ebook free when it’s published.)

First thanks go to everyone who attended, giving up a beautiful Saturday when you could have hung Christmas lights or finished that last outside project that wasn’t done when the weather turned.  And to everyone who’s been to a Town Hall or street protest or written a letter or visited a district office or just told your friends, “I’m a Tea Partier.”

Next, to the many, many people who sustain this movement with your donations.  You allow us to have an effective online campaign, to make 3,000 phone calls into NY-23, to have headline-making speakers, and, yes, to have Port-a-Potties.

You have made the Tea Party more popular than the GOP. (To my many Republican friends who tell us we just don’t get it, I can now reply with certainty, “No, you don’t get it.”)

For last week’s Tea Party, some people jumped in helped to an extraordinary degree—mostly pulling me out of the fire.  I owe them all a special thanks. I will tell you now that this list is far from complete—that’s not because I don’t appreciate everyone’s contribution, but because we’re blessed with so many helpful people that I can’t keep them all straight sometimes. Let me apologize now if your name should be here.

So here’s a thanks to the people who sustain me and make events like November 28th possible.

THE DONORS

• John Sikorski of Sikorski Audio Visual Inc. (www.sikorskiav.com) provided the sound.  He was there early and stayed late and accommodated every one of my annoying and confusing ideas to move the stage to different locations.
• Annette Read and “I Heard the People Say” provided event insurance, without which we could not have held the event.  Not only that, the group delivered a lot of people and a lot of publicity, as always.  Thanks for everything you do, including Wednesday’s Healthcare Press Conference at 10 a.m. at Chesterfield City Hall. (Google address.)
• Nelson Hemphill who generously stepped up to rent the park on our behalf AND turn me onto James Thurber’s “The Owl Who Was God.”
• R & R Sanitation who came to the rescue with Port-a-Potties.
• Campaign for Liberty
• The dozen folks who responded generously to our last minute call for Port-a-Potty rental help.
• Marty Bennet and Gary Fuhr headed up security and crowd control and, along with well behaved Tea Partiers, deserve great credit for yet another incident-free Tea Party.
• Bob Becker and Mark Schmidt provided tools, transportation, and muscle to the Gulag, which required early rising and late return.
• Chuck Drury and his asst, Jane who spent literally hours on the phone between Chuck and me and his grandmothers funeral. The Drury’s provided fantastic accommodations for our out of town guests.
• Ken Horton who bought our dinner at the pizza place next to Ed’s Beds

THE LIFTERS

• Brian Bollman and Jedidiah Smith and the hundreds who followed their lead in the West County and Franklin County Rolling Tea Parties!
• John Loudon spent a day trying to get our vendors license last minute and for spending one sleepless entire night on the phone getting the all too complicated tickets for our guests, and paying for all of them. Then he had Bible Study at 6 and work at 8. And for FINDING Mike Carey and getting him there to speak.
• Chris Loesch produced the final, fantastic Tea Party Logo that now adorns our official Tea Party Gear (what a great Christmas idea!).
• Graphic designer, Nicole Challans, for her logo design work leading up to the official Tea Party logo.
• John Burns of www.campusgulag.org is the mind behind the Gulag.  John ran a great show in addition to working with Bob and Mark throughout the deliver, setup, and strike.
• Ed Schultz did everything.  There was no aspect of the event, including entertaining the out-of-town talent, free from Ed’s fingerprints.
• JoAnn Raisch ran the information and ticket sales booth fantastically, along with my own sisters, Mickey Holman and Mary Vance.  (My sister Sue couldn’t make it, and this was the first Tea Party my dad has missed.)
• Once, again, the video coverage was top shelf.  Thank our team of Darin Morley, Michelle Moore, Sharp Elbows, Robert Brenner, and Patch Adams, Alex Rife, Ken Horton. As James O’Keefe pointed out, we’re all the 4th Estate, now, and these people are showing the way.
• JoAnn Anderson of the City Parks Department, who makes renting the park as easy as falling off a log
• The St. Louis Police Department who kept us all safe Saturday and every day.

THE SPEAKERS (AND MORE)

• Marty Martinez, a passionate native of Cuba who warned us all that Obama is doing to America what Fidel did to Marty’s homeland.
• Tina Ann, who delivered her original Patriot poem.
• Gina Loudon and her husband John keep me sane and balanced in addition to their endless stream of great ideas and her inpsiring message for the tea party. Gina’s new segment on KTRS in the mornings makes St. Louis an even better place to live and raise a family.  Thanks, Gina, for all you do, and congratulations on this well deserved assignment.
• Dana Loesch not only turns on the crowd like no one else, she’s launched the Official Tea Party Gear store on this site.  We’ve NEEDED spirit wear for months.  Identification with the movement is critical, and the hoodies, Ts, and long sleeve Ts are beautiful (and the T.E.A shirts and caps are killer).  Thank Dana for the National Anthem, Jay Stewart, Stepahnie Rubach, Dave McArthur, and for continuing to her American message on 97.1. And that just BEGINS to tell you what Dana’s done for this movement.
• Jim Hoft, the Gateway Pundit, for continuing as St. Louis’s number one Ambassador of Conservatism through his amazing blog.  Jim is about to bring down yet another Obama Czar—the school safety czar who has a penchant for teaching children about dangerous and deviant sex acts.
• Jay Stewart who gave St. Louis and the country a new star to watch
• Stephanie Rubach for her summer of sustained effort on blocking a Washington takeover of healthcare
• Dave McArthur of McArthur’s Bakery his outstanding, inspiring, educational, and uplifting remarks.
• Mike Carey who kicked off the show, reminding us of just how much America stands to lose if Cap and Trade passes.
• James O’Keefe delivered a vital message to everyone:  you are the news media.  His vision for a world of 300 million reporters ferreting out corruption 24/7 is our best defense against encroaching socialism.

THE LOVER

And, Angela Hennessy who suffers quietly night after night while her distant husband types furiously on her laptop until long after she’s gone to bed alone. (This war will be over soon, honey; I swear.)