Attended Tea Party in DC today with my friend Ron G. We went to the event at Freedom Plaza that started at 11 AM and went until about 2:30.
Had some great discussions with a lot of good people.
Met a woman from Cuba that couldn't believe that in the U.S. she needed to stand up for her freedoms. She escaped this sort of thing.
Ron talked lengthy with a man from Slovakia. He said that they have 70% tax there and they need to stand up in that country.
I passed out around 300-400 GOOOH business cards and a few trifolds.
I was interviewd by reuters. I haven't been able to find the video at
http://www.reuters.com
Had a long talk with a good liberal; John. Claimed to be a fiscal conservative and a social libertarian. He was very knowledgeable about politics over the past few decades. He grew up in DC; born on Pennsylvania Avenue. He kept getting into the weeds about issues and I kept trying to stay on the fundamental principles. He asked me to watch Rachel Maddeau on MSNBC for a week.
Tonight I tried to watch her; it was painful. They were portraying the Tea Partiers in a bad light. Stating that people actually paid less taxes this year. A guy she had on was stating that the numbers the right was using for people that didn't pay taxes is incorrect; that more people pay income tax and that they get refunds. I was having a hard time following. Plus, I noticed that they were just comparing last year with this year. That is presuming that last years rate were ok with us. No, this is not true. Our tax policies have been screwed up for years. We need a fair or flat tax. See
http://www.fairtaxnation.com/
I think the left just doesn't get it. We are upset with the way things have been going for a long time; not just since Obama has taken office. We just recently have woken up and started paying attention.
I met a Dad and his daughter and son from New Jersey. It was their first time to DC.
I met a young man from Ohio who drove 8 hours by himself, with a sign signed by 198 others.
I met a couple from Boston who had attended the Tea Party last night where Sarah Palin spoke and then drove all night, taking turns driving and sleeping, and arrived around 12:00 PM to join the rally in process at Freedom Plaza in DC.
There were so many good people; the cream of the crop of our society.
We parked way over on the other side of the tidal basin around the Jefferson Memorial.
A boy, looked Indian, asked Ron why he was carrying that flag and Ron took time to explain while his father looked on.
We got some thumbs up and some honks from some guys operating a crane or back-hoe and many cars passing by and joggers. We also got some weird looks. A female cyclist simply said "A**holes" as she rode past us going the opposite direction. I was dumbfounded. Ron shouted back a few things like "oh thats really nice". I mean, why would a fellow citizen say that to two men that took the day off from work to voice our opinions and concerns as part of what we feel is our duty. How immature, rude, and callus.
On the way back, walking from Freedom Plaza to the Washington Monument, Ron wanted a photo in front of a statue, and a security officer told us that we were not allowed to. I started arguing with him and luckily Ron was there to back me off. As soon as we started moving on he got after another guy walking down the sidewalk with a sign. He told him to turn the sign down. What the heck is happening? Do we have free speech?
We made our way to the next block and across the street to the Washington Monument where people were gathering for the evening rally.
