What the Tea Party Believes

In words everyone can understand*

1) Leave me alone

2) Leave my stuff alone

3) Get out of my way

4) Don't be an jerk

Among other things, this is what the above can mean:

1) Government that doesn't tell me what to think, what I must say, what I can't say; that doesn't intrude on every moment and area of my personal, religious, political life; that doesn't spy on me, listen to my phone calls, go through my bank account, persecute me because I belong to the Tea Party.

2) Government that doesn't regulate my company (the one I own or the one I work for) out of existence; that doesn't tell me "you didn't build that"; that doesn't tax every dollar I make, because I am self sufficient and productive; that doesn't steal my property, or the just, honest, fair and reasonable use thereof.

3) Government that doesn't require excessive licensing, applications, proofs, petitions, oaths and bonds...to do anything from starting a business, setting up a lemonade stand, hiring a babysitter, walking a dog, making a donation, home-schooling kids, and pretty much everything else...

4) Citizens (in and out of government) ought to try to be moral, ethical, virtuous. We should all practice the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Would we have Fast & Furious, NSA, IRS, Benghazi, the VA SCANDAL, the Border Crisis, the lawless pRresident and Justice(!) Department, the "Knock-out Game", the perpetual "Race Card", the  rising crimes rates in cities like Chicago, voter fraud, voter fraud coverup, voter intimidation/un-prosecuted, welfare fraud, bald-faced lies by Øbama, Pelosi, Reid, et al, if we all actually believed and practiced that?

Leave me alone. Leave my shit alone. Get the fuck out of my way. Don't be an asshole.

(Hey...I'm still working on #4.)

/gun


*(With thanks and appreciation to Bill Whittle, who started it...)

We The People

ZZZZZzzzzzzz....

In case you've been wondering, here's a recap of the differences between the Occupy "movement" and the Tea Party.

A few scofflaws might make us a little less boring.

Not suggesting it. Just making an observation.

The Gunslinger

Did you get this in your email box yet? - The Gunslinger

Grey-Haired Brigade

They like to refer to us as senior citizens, old fogies, geezers, and in some cases dinosaurs. Some of us are "Baby Boomers" getting ready to retire. Others have been retired for some time. We walk a little slower these days and our eyes and hearing are not what they once were. We have worked hard, raised our children, worshiped our God and grown old together. Yes, we are the ones some refer to as being over the hill, and that is probably true. But before writing us off completely, there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration.

In school we studied English, history, math, and science which enabled us to lead America into the technological age. Most of us remember what outhouses were, many of us with firsthand experience. We remember the days of telephone party-lines, 25 cent gasoline, and milk and ice being delivered to our homes. For those of you who don't know what an icebox is, today they are electric and referred to as refrigerators. A few even remember when cars were started with a crank. Yes, we lived those days.

We are probably considered old fashioned and out-dated by many. But there are a few things you need to remember before completely writing us off. We won World War II, fought in Korea and Viet Nam . We can quote The Pledge of Allegiance, and know where to place our hand while doing so. We wore the uniform of our country with pride and lost many friends on the battlefield. We didn't fight for the Socialist States of America , we fought for the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave." We wore different uniforms but carried the same flag. We know the words to the Star Spangled Banner, America ,and America the Beautiful by heart, and you may even see some tears running down our cheeks as we sing. We have lived what many of you have only read about in history books and we feel no obligation to apologize to anyone for America .

Yes, we are old and slow these days but rest assured, we have at least one good fight left in us. We have loved this country, fought for it, and died for it, and now we are going to save it. It is our country and nobody is going to take it away from us. We took oaths to defend America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and that is an oath we plan to keep. There are those who want to destroy this land we love but, like our founders, there is no way we are going to remain silent.

It was mostly the young people of this nation who elected Obama and the Democratic Congress. You fell for the "Hope and Change" which in reality was nothing but "Hype and Lies." You have tasted socialism and seen evil face to face, and have found you don't like it after all. You make a lot of noise, but most are all too interested in their careers or "Climbing the Social Ladder" to be involved in such mundane things as patriotism and voting. Many of those who fell for the "Great Lie" in 2008 are now having buyer's remorse. With all the education we gave you, you didn't have sense enough to see through the lies and instead drank the 'Cool-Aid.' Now you're paying the price and complaining about it. No jobs, lost mortgages, higher taxes, and less freedom. This is what you voted for and this is what you got. We entrusted you with the Torch of Liberty and you traded it for a paycheck and a fancy house.

Well, don't worry youngsters, the Grey-Haired Brigade is here, and in 2012 we are going to take back our nation. We may drive a little slower than you would like but we get where we're going, and in 2012 we're going to the polls by the millions. This land does not belong to the man in the White House nor to the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. It belongs to "We the People" and "We the People" plan to reclaim our land and our freedom. We hope this time you will do a better job of preserving it and passing it along to our grandchildren. So the next time you have the chance to say the Pledge of Allegiance, Stand up, put your hand over your heart, honor our country, and thank God for the old geezers of the "Grey-Haired Brigade."

Author, Anon. Grey-Haired Brigade Member

--------------

Footnote:

This is spot on. I am another Gray-Haired Geezer signing on. I will circulate this to other Gray-Haired Geezers all over this once great county.

Can you feel the ground shaking??? It's not an earthquake, it is a STAMPEDE.

I for one will do my part to remove the current residences of the White House on election day. Please do your part come election day. If my comments ofend you, delete this message. If you agree pass in it so others can take action on election day. Dennis Bacon USN (Ret)

" LAND OF THE FREE, BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE "

Are We Still This Man?

"And when at last this rebellion compelled the British Government to use the only power that any Government has -- force, used with general consent -- and British troops moved into Boston to restore order, Americans did not consent. They stood up and fought the British Regulars.

"One man began that war. And who knows his name?

"He was a farmer, asleep in his bed, when someone pounded on his door and shouted in the night, 'The troops are coming!'

"What could he do against the King's troops? One man. If he had been the King, that would have been different; then he could have done great things. Then he could have set everything to rights, he could have made everyone good and prosperous and happy, he could have changed the course of history. But he was not a King, not a Royal Governor, not a rich man, not even prosperous, not important at all, not even known outside the neighborhood. What could he do? What was the use of his trying to do anything? One man, even a few men, can not stand against the King's troops. He had a wife and children to think of; what would become of them, if he acted like a fool?

"Most men had better sense; most men knew they could do nothing and they stayed in bed, that night in Lexington. But one man got up. He put on his clothes and took his gun and went out to meet the King's troops. He was one man who did not consent to a control which he knew did not exist.

"The fight on the road to Lexington did not defeat the British troops. What that man did was to fire a shot heard around the world, and still heard...

"That shot was the first sound of a common man's voice that the Old World ever heard. For the first time in all history, an individual spoke, an ordinary man, unknown, unimportant, disregarded, without rank, without power, without influence.

"Not acting under orders, not led, but standing on his own feet, acting from his own will, responsible, self-controlling, he fired on the King's troops. He defied a world-empire.

"The sound of that shot said: Government has no power but force; it can not control any man.

"No one knows who began the American Revolution. Only his neighbors ever knew him, and no one now remembers any of them. He was an unknown man, an individual, the only force that can ever defend freedom."


-- from THE DISCOVERY OF FREEDOM: Man's Struggle Against Authority by Rose Wilder Lane, daughter of, and secretary to, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and powerful thinker in her own right THE DISCOVERY OF FREEDOM was voted among the top 100 non-fiction books of the 20th Century in the Modern Library readers' poll, with hundreds of thousands of votes cast, once posted HERE.

The Sincerest Form of Flattery

Christopher Adamo at Intellectual Conservative has written an interesting analysis of the Occupy Wall Street mob.  He suggests they are trying to be the Progressive version of the Tea Party in the same way Air America tried to be the antidote to Rush Limbaugh and the rest of Conservative Talk Radio.

He thinks they'll accomplish just as much and be just as successful.

And that's a cozy, comforting thought.

Endowed with a mantle of sanctimony conferred upon it by liberal mouthpieces on the nightly news, its members possess neither the conscience nor the dignity to be embarrassed to stand in public and assert an “unalienable right” to mooch from the productive segment of society. Clearly an orchestrated event, this overhyped exhibition could never have gotten even as far as it has without massive behind the scenes effort and funding from organizations such as ACORN (regardless of whatever name its members currently claim). Nor can it continue without a massive and ongoing infusion of money and effort from its subversive sponsors. And so the protestors continue, with increasing ferocity, making their demands. All the while, they remain unaware of the one indisputable truth of a cancer, namely the absolute impossibility, under any circumstances, that it could ever outlive its host. So in the end, the “Occupy Wall Street” circus will go the way of “Air America.”

In the meantime, its abhorrent ugliness must be inextricably linked to its philosophical allies in the Democrat party, where the concept was originally spawned.

The Gunslinger

What Jesus said...

...from a commenter at American Spectator:

Riff Raff 10.13.11 @ 11:18AM
“In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have a right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: 'If a man will not work, he shall not eat.'" (2 Thessalonians, 3:6-10)

The Bible commands that we gve alms to the poor, not subsidize the laziness of sloths.

This to Leftist trolls masquerading as Christians demanding greedy Conservatives give all their money away, according to the Bible!

Funny and apt, particularly in the face of the Øccupy Zømbies demanding that "the greedy" pay for everything they want - just because they want it.

Can somebody call the irony police, please?

I don't think they're quite clear on the concepts of "covetousness" and "greed".

Of course, it's clear they don't understand much of anything. That would entail intelligence and a modicum of actual information, which is obviously lacking in those I observed so far.

The Gunslinger

Doing it Again

It's getting embarrassing just reblogging AlphaDog's inspirations. But you need to read this.

"...And to the kids camped out down on Wall Street: Look at the phone in your hand. Look at the rat-infested subway. Visit the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue, then visit a housing project in the South Bronx. Which world do you want to live in?"

The Gunslinger

I hope Rich is Right

I love Glenn Beck. Seriously. He's a prophet. He saved me a lot of money, and I trust he's as real as they get.

But Goddamnit, I hope he's wrong.

He's convinced...at least he was the last time I listened to him, that the "Occupy Wall Street" movement that is spreading to other metro centers is the tool of the Left, that will attempt to bring actual social unrest to the country as we are already suffering the mal-effects of the disastrous Øbama induced, lingering recession - for all sorts of nefarious reasons, and permitting tyrannical responses from the Left-Wing government goons now in power.

Rich Lowry (and others) believe OWS to be a sad, ineffective, silly, desperate attempt to pretend there is a Left-Wing equivalent to the Tea Party.

I hope Rich is Right.

(I am hoarding Guns, Grub, and Gold just in case, however...)

The Gunslinger

Original Intent & Creative Solutions

Another interesting idea from around the InterWebs...

The lifetime appointment for Justices was to insulate them from voter retribution for unpopular decisions.

The original thought was: Should the Court grab the wheel and start legislating and exceeding its authority, the legislature and the executive branches would react to limit their activities.

We also have the option to amend the Constitution as a way to get rid of bad SCOTUS output.

We actually should start pushing for an Amendment to put the Commerce Clause back in its cage.

Perhaps actively promoting and passing Constitutional Amendments should be a serious, bread-and-butter tactic for the Tea Party.

We wouldn't have to wait four years, and the pols would see that it was time to get with it or get out.

Paging Tea Party Patriots everywhere!!!!

Don't Tread On Me!!!

The Undeclared Civil War

The Left is already going crazy...nuts, bonkers, insane....generating hate and lies and fomenting violence against the Tea Party.

Expect it to get worse.

The Gunslinger

Left Protests: "Obama is NOT Stupid!"

How cool is this? We have them so on the run they're wasting time trying to defend Øbama against accusations of being stupid and incompetent!

Wow, what a difference 3 years make, eh?

Remember just the other day, he was the Light Bringer...oh, wait...that's Lucifer...

...well you know what I mean.

Now they're reduced to calling the Tea Party Patriots "terrorists"...and protesting that Øbama is not stupid...rather than dismissing us and praising the One as the most intelligent, masterful, charismatic, articulate, educated president in history.

Oh how the mighty have fallen.

And oh how the formerly meek have inherited the earth.

(at least I hope so.)

The Gunslinger

P.S. I remember now, it was "Light Worker" (I do wonder what, exactly, the difference is.)

DON'T TREAD ON ME!

by Metallica.

The perfect Tea Party Theme Song. I suggest you play it LOUD.

Here's what the CD looks like:

Party? Not so much...

My Patriot group had a Tea Party yesterday in our town.

We made a lot of mistakes. And got a lot of complaints.

Sigh.

Our events up until now have been, on the whole, successful. This time we allowed others to have too much control of our event...silly us, we never saw it coming.

Our idea was to have a Tea Party that was the sort with a stage, and speakers and music...a focal point, rather than our typical gathering of patriots lining an intersection of a major thoroughfare interacting with the passersby...enjoying the honks and waves and "thumbs up" of approval of the people in cars as they drive by.

This time we invited several local leaders to speak, and asked them to keep their remarks to 10 minutes.

The first woman for whom I normally have great respect...at least as a fellow traveler and colleague, so disregarded our requested time limit, I'm tempted to say she spoke for 30 minutes!

The reason I can't say for sure, because it was only after much time had passed and she showed no sign of slowing down or concluding that I thought to try to figure out how long she'd monopolized the microphone.

And she was the model for every single speaker after her.

And can I say something here? My particular idea was to have "ordinary people who are doing extraordinary things"....the real heroes of the Tea Party...speak. There is one problem...it turns out ordinary people—even those doing great things— aren't necessarily good public speakers.

Nor, apparently, can they tell time.

It was a hard thing to learn in real time...as your hard-earned crowd gets restless, grumpy and then gets gone in a steady trickle until there is not much more than a handful left for the last speaker.

And did I mention that Tea Party people are not reticent with their criticism? (Sometimes everyone knowing who you are is not such a great thing.) My very favorite helpful critique was the blunt assessment of a woman who was actually mad at me:  "This is the worst Tea Party event I've ever been to, " she all but shouted.

Sigh.

I'm so glad we had that big banner made and hung it up over the stage so that EVERYONE knew exactly who was responsible for our man-made disaster.

So...

We learned a lot. And it was that painful sort of lesson that assures one will never forget.

Next one: a big random, protest event where people in my town do what they like to do best...stand along public roadways annoying drivers...with a "program" at the end...with one inspiring speaker with a short speech, a lot of music, food and socializing, other "after event party activities".

I get it.

Hell of a way to break your nose though...falling flat on your face...in public...with a big sign over your head telling everyone who you are.

Ouch.

The Gunslinger
(Zombie Killer, Vampire Hunter; Wolf Pack, and yet...second rate Party Planner)

Solutions

I just got a call from one of my Leadership Team members (of the local political group I formed) with the ironic: "Congratulations on your ascendancy to Pure Founder Status!"

We both laughed and a deep sense of relief washed over me once again.

24 Hours Earlier...

We had our regular bi-weekly leadership meeting and LS, the man who has been acting in the capacity of Director's Helper....or putting into effect my ideas...of the group, but who really does all the managing and directing for the group—announced that he was thinking of running for school board, and that if he won, he would necessarily have to scale back his involvement in our group....and he just wanted to let us know well in advance.

Everyone in the room made the correct sort of approval and support noises, except me, who, perhaps best understood what losing this individual would mean for the group!

And I'm thinking not just "no!", but "Hell No! This is a TERRIBLE idea!"

As we chatted further, it came to me in a blinding flash—the solution totally clear...and it had only been brought on by LS's announcement - thank God he made it just then, or we might have limped on in twilight limbo for several more months.

You see, the "management" of a political group is just not my forte. I'm a landscaper who hates gardening:  I loved creating my garden, but I have no desire to putter around in it on a regular basis, maintaining it. I'm not a gardener. Boring!

I  enjoy—and apparently am good at—inspiring people into an organized group for a political purpose. It is the creating, forming, and growing it into a living entity that I'm good at. (I've done it twice, actually...and when I stop and think about it, that's pretty impressive. Not something most people do.)

But the rest....not so much. (I also think of it as liking the business that creates the children, but not so high on actually raising them!)

So, faced with both realizations 1) LS, the good manager, might leave; and 2) I hate managing; I resigned as "Director" of the group and designated LS as my successor. He already effectively does most of the "managing" because he's good at it, and likes to do it - but does it in the capacity of "helping me out". I realized he should be officially recognized, and enjoy the rank and authority of his effective responsibility.

He worried that I felt cornered by his election announcement, and forced into the decision. But I could see he was happy with the offer. And was totally willing to take on the job. (Which would end the nonsense of running for school board and deserting the group!)

I could only do my best to assure him that what I felt was relief, not pressure.

The others were a little disconcerted, I think, by the apparent spontaneity of my decision, but it was actually the culmination of concerns and  issues that have been growing in my mind for quite a while now. As the organization required agendas, activities, intergalactic communications...once it required "management" as well as "leadership"....it became much less enjoyable for me. Joy and enthusiasm became pressure and stress.

But the problem has been solved.

My title was Founder/Director. LS's card will now say "Director".

And mine will say only:  Founder.    

"Ascendancy to Pure Founder Status"

The group has a smart, effective, dynamic Director/Manager who will take it through its next phase of growth and strengthen it into the future....and I still get the credit and status as Mom/Founder/Creator.

Pretty good deal.

And I still get to go to all those leadership meetings where they serve all the best food.

Sometimes life is good.

The Gunslinger

"Let's Roll"

Everybody see this?

Rand Paul won the Kentucky Republican Primary.

Reuters has the Headline:   "Tea Party" wins Republican Senate Race in Kentucky

We. Are. On. A. Roll. People.

Maybe the Constitution isn't dead after all.

Let's make it happen in every State...and help them all win in November.

This is VERY good news.

It doesn't matter how much you love or don't love Rand Paul. What matters is that the Tea Party kicked the shit out of the "establishment" Republicans.

And that is pure sunshine and lollipops.

The Gunslinger
Vampire Hunter

Of Evil Spirit & Dangerous People

This is great, at American Thinker. In response to:  Tea Parties & Racism

Posted by: Xenos
May 10, 09:58 AM

The definition of superstition: a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation.

Given that definition, may we not say that concerns about racism have become a superstition for the Left? They see racism as a malevolent spirit that prowls the United States, looking for victims, and viciously attacking them without warning. All evils that prevail in minority communities and all misfortunes that befall minority communities are attributed to the actions of this spirit. Factual evidence is not required. The Left simply assumes that when bad things happen to minorities (who are, by their nature, innocent) that the fault cannot be their own.

In the 19th century, parents used the fear of such spirits to encourage children to be obedient. (For an entertaining read, please find Jame Whitcomb Riley's poem, 'Little Orphan Annie', which contains the famous reprise 'The goblins will get you, if you don't watch out!') The Left uses a similar superstitious fear to manipulate and control minorities, and to bind them ever closer to their protectors in the Democrat Party.

And of course there is the wisdom of sedonaman:

Last week I went to my first Tea Party meeting, and one speaker warned that we would all be vilified. The thought occurred to me that the reason the Left is spending so much energy on this vilification is that the Tea Party is being EFFECTIVE. By contrast, how much does the Left spend on the American Nazi Party or the KKK? Zero.

Boy gotta point.

The Gunslinger
(Dangerous enough to attack!)

The Simple Answer

Stupid Media Cow.

The Gunslinger

Well, we did it!

Well, I'm exhausted and gratified. Our Tax Day Tea Party was a resounding success.

According to friends and perfect strangers, it was much bigger than last year's. And I can testify there were a lot more young people...and young families with small children.

I spent a the entire time running up and down the street collecting names and emails and chatting with people...because I want to capture all that enthusiasm in our liberty community organizing group. It looks as though in one day, we will almost double our permanent group's mailing list...and be sneaking up on: 1,000 subscribers!

For many I suppose that number may seem small. But for a group started by my little lonesome less than a year ago with the first meeting around a single restaurant table...and a mailing list of 30...

...that is a damned fine thing and in my opinion, amazing growth. We're still a startup, but we've got dreams of Fortune 500 status!

My intention is to build a self-sustaining Conservative/Libertarian organization in our liberal county that is the "go-to" group for support, for advancing our candidates, for education, for information, for Community. One that everyone knows, that the media calls for comment on issues, that candidates ask to speak to, that the local Republican Party is afraid of, and that the Democrats and Liberals consider worth smearing.

The success of our first Tea Party was a small step toward the credibility and recognition we need to begin to make that happen.

At our Tea Party this year, there were over 500 people. We line up along a busy thoroughfare in town. There are no speakers, no stage, no music, no entertainment. We just stand together showing our signs , waving our flags and demonstrating our commitment to Limited Government, Fiscal Responsibility and a Free Market Economy.

The support and shouting and waves and cheers and flag-waving and fist pumping and ear-splitting horn honking from the passersby was....AWESOME.

I actually got tired of the racket. It was so loud and so steady....we really should have been wearing hearing protectors. It was painful...but, you know, a good kind of pain.

I've been to six or seven tea parties now...and I have never seen (HEARD) anything like it!


Things, they are a changin'...

Oh...and my favorite quote:  "Woodstock is OVER!"

And my favorite sign—on a tiny dog— "I love politicians, they taste like chicken."


The Gunslinger
(Tea Party Patriot)

Red Flower on Blue Background

We're having a Tea Party today. I don't mean we're going to one, I mean we're HAVING one. My group is the official organizing entity of the Tea Party in our county.

Until it's over I'm all anxiety about whether it will be a success.

Whether there will be 6 people standing on a street corner waving their poor little flags...or whether an enormous crowd will emerge out of our seeming overwhelmingly Blue Haven and shock the hell out of the Øbama sycophants who noisily populate this place.

I'll be grateful for something respectable in-between.

My group is attempting, in our Progressive region,  to become the go-to organization for Conservatives and Libertarians to find each other and work together to have, for the first time in years, an actual effect on the politics of this one-party Nightmare on Main Street.

Conservatives are finally getting pissed. Thank God for small favors.

I only hope a lot of them are pissed enough to get off their couches and join us.

As a new organization, this is our first big public event. It won't break us if it's not a major success. But, man, it will give us some serious credibility if it is—and that's GOLD.

So, there's a lot at stake.

As I write this it's just before 10:00 AM and the Tea Party officially begins at 2:00 PM.

I've got four hours before I even have the slightest inkling which way this thing is going to shake out. And the closer it gets, the more nervy I get.

We've done everything we can to make it happen. I just hope it's enough.

I can't even be there when it starts because I'm working. But my crew will be there...and I'll get reports.

I'll let you know what happens.

The Gunslinger
(Tea Party Patriot)