US: The Houston Tea Party. (Pictures, Podcast, and Information!) [Update: 9000+ Attended]

Looks like I was not the only one offended and "slightly angered"!!
This site has its hands full and I am glad to see that the Mods are a good Squad!!
Thanks!!!

reply to post by Gyrochiral


Thank you Gyrochiral for your support! It is great to see people are enjoying my thread and appreciating its value! Many stars for you.

we the people, are still here!

it's nice to see that Americans still have a little bravado.

thanks for sharing this tentickles,

I would like to see these meetings/rallies perhaps renamed. There is an historical connotation that does not resonate well with Tea Parties!!
We truly do not want to repeat any of our history and do have the power, if in numbers alone, to ensure this.

JPhish's comment of "We the People" is a loud candidate!!!!

I am also a little confused about the number of attendees at the Houston rally.
Only 3500 or so??? Hmmmm....I lived in Houston for years and find this to be a low
turnout figure. Of course, this city is the center of our worst foes..no?????

Peace.

reply to post by Gyrochiral


I just checked the Houston Tea Party Society page, and guess what...

Of the 8532 included in the sign-in sheets, 389 attendees checked the “volunteer” column indicating they want to work for the cause! So many of them were really “pumped”.

8532


[edit on 4/16/2009 by Tentickles]

Thanks for the new figures.
And let's assume and hope that another 5000 or so just biked or walked in without signing up, and that everyone who was there has told at least 1 or 2 more people.
This is the kind of chain reaction needed right now. Peaceful, hopeful, goal oriented and humane !!!!!!

Thanks for the report, Tentickles. I'm hoping this is only the beginning of a greater movement to purge Washington and a lot of the state governments of the useless politicians currently populating them.

Originally posted by Tentickles
reply to post by JohnnyCanuck

 

Despite these attempts to make the “movement” appear organic, the principle organizers of the local events are actually the lobbyist-run think tanks Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Works.

I highly doubt a Mother of two with a part time job is a secret lobbyist.

Well, lets look at that statement, going as far back as 2004...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 - Introduced as a "single mom" from Iowa, Sandra Jaques was cool and confident as she praised President Bush's plan to partly replace Social Security with private savings accounts.

The exchange was an example of how Mr. Bush promotes his agenda with testimonials from "regular folks," in the words of Joshua B. Bolten, the White House budget director, who introduced Ms. Jaques.

But Ms. Jaques is not any random single mother. She is the Iowa state director of a conservative advocacy group, FreedomWorks, whose founders are Jack F. Kemp, the former vice-presidential nominee, and Dick Armey, the former House Republican leader.www.nytimes.com...

Hmmm...so what do Freedom Works have to do with tea?

Despite these attempts to make the “movement” appear organic, the principle organizers of the local events are actually the lobbyist-run think tanks Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Works. The two groups are heavily staffed and well funded, and are providing all the logistical and public relations work necessary for planning coast-to-coast protests:

– Freedom Works staffers coordinate conference calls among protesters, contacting conservative activists to give them “sign ideas, sample press releases, and a map of events around the country.”

– Freedom Works staffers apparently moved to “take over” the planning of local events in Florida.

– Freedom Works provides how-to guides for delivering a “clear message” to the public and media.

– Freedom Works has several domain addresses — some of them made to look like they were set up by amateurs — to promote the protests.

– Americans for Prosperity is writing press releases and planning the events in New Jersey, Arizona, New Hampshire, Missouri, Kansas, and several other states.thinkprogress.org...

...and never mind the plainly incestuous role of Fox News in all of this. What was your comment about about not minding if you're being manipulated?

I may be one of those 'happy socialists' from the Great White North, (and as such, obviously lacking in the nuances of real democracy) but something smells on this thread, and it ain't tea.

Excelent Job Tentickles!

Cnn really hushed up these Tea parties on thier broadcast, kinda makes you see what side of independant they stand on eh?

The government should wake up and pay very close attention to what it's citizenry is saying.

In 1773 there was the famous Boston Tea party, just a scant 3 years latter the Declaration of Indipendance was signed.

when in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

I think America is saying "We won't foot the bill for your buddies failures!"

Again Excelent EXCELENT job Tentickles! Bravo!

reply to post by JohnnyCanuck


Other than trying to derail this thread, I am not sure what point you are trying to make?

There is no evidence that the Houston Tea Party was set up by these people and they cant have set up every single Tea Party.

Originally posted by Tentickles
reply to post by JohnnyCanuck

 

Other than trying to derail this thread, I am not sure what point you are trying to make?

There is no evidence that the Houston Tea Party was set up by these people and they cant have set up every single Tea Party.

How is drawing attention to an apparent partisan interest in these protests an attempt to derail the thread? It looks to me like there's a lot more to these 'spontaneous' outbursts than meets the eye. Is it wrong to interupt this rah-rah session with a suggestion to check out the man behind the curtain?

The points speak to themselves...I'm just rather surprised you consider them irrelevant.

reply to post by Tentickles


Wow, Awesome!! Good for you! Also, good for you pointing out it is not a "right wing radical group" only, it is Americans as a whole, who have had enough of the situation happening in Washington.

The spin of MSM is amazing, the divide and conquer is alive and well!

S and F for you, my friend!

reply to post by Tentickles


Dear my husband and I found the hard time the truth about the so call "Obamas tax brakes to stimulate the economy".

Anybody here that are still consider "middle class" and makes over 56,000 a year knows that now the "states are gouging anyway they can the tax payer".

The more the federal government cut on the states funding the more states taxes you will have to pay to make up for the cuts.

So actually is not such thing as a tax brake, just more income liberated for states to get you better.

reply to post by JohnnyCanuck


I think you're making too much of it. I do find it irrelevant, just because I prefer one political party over another does not make the whole thing about that party. If a republican or a democrat gives a ton of money to help out the Tea Party, who isnt to say that they just agree with protesting?

You're making it guilty by association.

[edit on 4/16/2009 by Tentickles]

reply to post by JohnnyCanuck


Johnny, I am with you on this. Every post starred.

Odd that dissenting views are not welcomed. You are only allowed to say nice things in a "pile-on" thread. It makes everyone feel better and confirms their ethnocentrism.

Anyone else find it ironic that most of the protests occurred in "public parks."

Paid for by "tax dollars."

Oh the irony.

KK

reply to post by kinda kurious


How exactly were they paid for by tax payer money? Are you suggesting that these "tea parties" were funded by taxpayer money or are you stating the maintenance cost of the public parks in question which are funded through the local governments budgets? Money already allocated to those parks through the local government.

I absolutely agree that dissenting viewpoints should be considered. They should be recognized and treated with respect. Without dissenting views it would make for a boring thread.

However if one is to make an accusation one should fortify it with facts.

GREAT thread and info,Tent always knows how to post with style!

I wish these "gatherings" would begin to happen more often,not to lose their impact but to re-affirm that people DO care and CAN begin on a small scale to have a voice.

It's so hard to "organize" without the parties and politcal-views getting in their own way but I'm seeing a lot more "voices" speaking out in the months ahead.

Originally posted by JohnnyCanuck

Originally posted by Tentickles
reply to post by JohnnyCanuck

 

Other than trying to derail this thread, I am not sure what point you are trying to make?

There is no evidence that the Houston Tea Party was set up by these people and they cant have set up every single Tea Party.

How is drawing attention to an apparent partisan interest in these protests an attempt to derail the thread? It looks to me like there's a lot more to these 'spontaneous' outbursts than meets the eye. Is it wrong to interupt this rah-rah session with a suggestion to check out the man behind the curtain?

The points speak to themselves...I'm just rather surprised you consider them irrelevant.

Its good to have an outside perspective and also great to have someone checking into the "behind the scenes" of just about any movement. Nothing wrong with keeping honest people honest and informed.

I must ask, however, just because someone with an agenda happens to engage in the same movement as other people with only liberty in mind, does that mean the liberty-minded people should drop out of such a movement? I think it is terrific to be aware of who may be throwing their support in with The People, and knowing why they support it, but I don't think The People should be derailed by outside influences. They just should not let themselves be influenced by those outsiders with agendas.

If people drop out of movements because they don't wish to be seen with partisan organizations then we would have never seen many Anti-War, Anti-Torture, Anti-Invasion rallies throughout the Bush Campaign. Many of those were Partisan and sponsored by the likes of "MoveOn.org" etc etc. Though some with an agenda were involved it did not deter those who felt the need to make their voice heard despite their political affiliation.

Originally posted by HunkaHunka


Now don't get me wrong. The Republicans definitely need something to rally around. And that's fine... but for goodness sakes come up with a symbol which is a decent model!

It would probably be frowned upon to mail them bags of human feces with their pictures pasted on the front.

The whole tea bag thing is just romanticism.

We all know where to hit them where it hurts, and that's in corporate profits. The modern equivalent would be to cut personal spending to the bone. Get rid of unnecessary spending such as cable tv, either land line or cell phone, etc... spend less, corporations lose profits that they expect, and the government loses tax revenue. It's the only way.

[edit on 16-4-2009 by SpacePunk]

seems like the primary complaint of these rallies was ppl are being unjustly taxed. obama just passed the biggest middle class tax cut in history...so i guess all these ppl were the 5% who make more than 250k a year? or just a bunch of ppl protesting against their own self interests?