The Gratitude Campaign

www.gratitudecampaign.org

Tax Day Tea Party, Fort Myers, FL

Well, the nationwide Tax Day Tea Party protest was, I think, a big success. There were more than 800 across the country. While the MSM tries to downplay the significance of the events and underestimate the numbers of the attendees, the Tea Parties certainly could not be ignored.

As planned, we attended the Tea Party in Fort Myers, Fl. I took a few pictures at the event which I have posted below. The event was scheduled to begin at 5 pm at Centennial Park in downtown Fort Myers. We arrived at 5:10 and there were easily about a thousand people already gathered. That number swelled to at least 2000 by 6 pm. The people gathered were not a potential terror threat as Janet Napolitano would have everyone believe. Nor were they a bunch of 'confused racists'. These were just folks. Cashiers from Walmart, construction contractors, real estate agents, executives, and grand parents. Just concerned citizens, patriots, who understand that the fast track to socialism which our leaders have set us upon will lead to a reduced quality of life for all Americans.

I observed no racially motivated signage or posters. There were no cars overturned, trash cans set ablaze, or calls for violence which are typically associated with leftwing political activism. There was nothing which could justify these obscene characterizations from Garofalo and Napolitano. While it is clear that these characterizations are nothing more than an effort to cast aspersions on the protesters, it will not have the intended effect. These protests will continue and spread. The next events and activities are already being planned. See here, here, here, and here.

Now, with respect to the MSM estimates of the total numbers of protester on tax day, those estimates place the attendance between 250,000 and 500,000. Michelle Malkin uses 'liberal math' to proclaim the Tax Day Tea Party event as the Million Taxpayer March.

Deliberate Under Thinking at ThinkProgress.org

Earlier this evening I was watching Neil Cavuto on Fox News and witnessed the interview he had with Leslie Marshall. Later on in the evening, I found this post by Matt Corley on the Marxist website thinkprogress.org :


Ignoring Fox News polling, Fox New's Neil Cavuto claims 'tea party' protests are 'a popular wave'.


On his Fox News show today, Neil Cavuto joined the rest of Fox News in promoting the radical anti-Obama “tea party” protests, one of which he will be attending and broadcasting from next week. Arguing with radio show host Leslie Marshall, Cavuto claimed that the protests were “a popular wave” sweeping across the country. Watch it:





But Cavuto’s claim ignores a Fox News poll released last week, which found that only 36 percent of Americans said they would “be willing to join” a “tea party” protest.

In addition to the hundreds of tea parties which have already taken place since Rick Santelli went on a rant about the bankrupt liberal agenda of the Administration and Congress, there are more than 500 tax day tea parties which have been scheduled across the country. This is a huge movement.

So, the number of people who would be willing to join a tea party protest is 'only' 36 percent. In the context of political activism, actually getting out on the street with a protest sign and publicly displaying your dissension, 36 percent is a very significant number. And, the Leftards know it!

Common Sense 2009

Amen To That!!!!!

Oath Keepers

This is a repost from The Patriot Page.

Americans Will Not Be Standing Alone

Oath Keepers-Guardians of the Republic is a webblog devoted to reminding current militatry members, vets, and members of law enforcement that their oath is to the Constitution of the United States, not to the politicians.



Oath Keepers mission statement reads;

Oath Keepers is an association of currently serving military, veterans, and peace officers who will fulfill the oath we swore to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, so help us God.

Our oath is to the Constitution, not to the politicians, and we will not obey unconstitutional (and thus illegal) and immoral orders, such as orders to disarm the American people or to place them under martial law and deprive them of their ancient right to jury trial.

We Oath Keepers have drawn a line in the sand. We will not “just follow orders."
Our motto is “Not on our watch!”

If you, the American people, are forced to once again fight for your liberty in another American Revolution, you will not be alone. We will stand with you.

There is at this time a debate within the ranks of the military regarding their oath. Some mistakenly believe they must follow any order the President issues. But you can rest assured that many others in the military do understand that their loyalty is to the Constitution, and understand what that means.

The mission of Oath Keepers is to vastly increase their numbers. We are in a battle for the hearts and minds of our own troops. To win that battle, Oath Keepers will use written and video testimony of active duty military, veterans (especially combat vets), and peace officers to reach, teach, and inspire our brothers in arms in the military and police to fulfill their oaths and stand as guardians of the Republic.

If you are currently in the military, are a veteran, or are a peace officer, please submit your written and/or video testimony on your oath, so you can help us win that battle for hearts and minds. Your submission may be anonymous.

Guardians of the Republic, fulfill your oath. Join us.

This is what real patriotism is all about, standing up for what is right. Thank God that, thanks to these patriots, Americans will not be standing alone.

"...Of Patriots and Tyrants"

The Constitutional limitations on the powers of the Federal Government have been so disrespected, for so long, that one would be hard pressed to find even one individual who could recall a time in which it was otherwise. Not surprisingly, the very representatives that the people have sent to serve in the Federal Government, have become the most diligent representatives of that disrespect. This disrespect for the Constitutional limitations on government is not limited to the main body of the Constitution, but extends also to the Bill of Rights. Of those contained therein, the first eight have been trampled upon ad nauseum. The latter two, the ninth and tenth amendments, have been wholly ignored. No longer.

There are now sixteen states which are challenging the assertion by Comrade Obama and the Marxist planners in the Congress that the states have no choice but to accept the redistribution of wealth apportioned to them by the 'porkulus bill'. These states --Washington, New Hampshire, Arizona, Montana, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Kansas, Indiana, and West Virginia -- are currently in the process of introducing bills or resolutions invoking the 10th amendment in response to the Obama administration’s faux-“stimulus” legislation which is viewed as an unconstitutional usurpation of power and an assault on states rights. See the full story here.

This, coupled with the 'tea parties' which are occurring all across the country, is a very encouraging turn of events. Americans have been 'freedom freeloaders' for far too long. The time has finally come when Americans are ready to stand up for our country and our God given rights. I have long maintained that 'America has been engaged in a civil war since the early 1970's, we just have not started shooting at each other yet'. Hopefully, it will never have to come to that. But, we would all do well to remember the words of Thomas Jefferson, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants".

The fight for freedom never ends. Regardless of the safeguards which 'we the people' have put in place, there will always be someone who will try to circumvent them. 'We the people' are ultimate guards of our liberties. Our Founders pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to provide us with these liberties. Many brave men over the years have fought and died to defend them. Will we do less? A time is coming, and now is, for Americans to take a stand in defiance of tyranny.

Obama's Patriotism

On Monday, June 30th, Barrack Obama gave a speech in Independence, Missouri. In this speech Obama said, "I will never question the patriotism of others in this campaign, and I will not stand idly by when I hear others question mine." This line has gotten a lot of media coverage. However there are other statments by Obama in this speech which should have gotten more.

There is this,

"I remember, when living for four years in Indonesia as a child, I listened to my mother reading me the first lines of the Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they're endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

What Obama had quoted is actually the first few lines of paragraph two of the Declaration of Independence. The first few lines of the Declaration begins, "When in the course of human events it become necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another,..."

Again, from Obama's speech,

"As we begin our fourth century as a nation, it is easy to take the extraordinary nature of America for granted."

Excuse me! Our forth century as a nation? The Constitution of the United States was ratified in 1789, which means that we have barely begun our third century, not our forth. Add this to the fact that Mr. Obama believes that we have 57 states in our union by virtue of the fact that he has visited them all, and one wonders how well he might do on the popular game show, "Are you smarter than a 5th grader".

These gaffs do not add up to a question of his patriotism as much as his ignorance. Patriotism is a difficult concept to define comprehensively. Many people define it very differently. The best definition which I have heard comes from Samuel Clemens, "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it." I believe this definition is one to which our nations founders whould have subscribed.

Mr. Obama's political history as a socialist leads me to believe that his administration would be one which I could not support. It is on this basis that I question Mr. Obama's patriotism.