The Washington D.C. Tea Party - Eyewitness Report

Reader Ann posted this as a comment on another post, but I'm going to kick it up to the front page as she describes what she saw in Washington today:

Well, I just got back. I live a few miles from the Capitol, and I missed the early events that lined Pennsylvania Avenue, but I did see the remnants gathered on the Capitol grounds listening to speeches. For me, living in uber-liberal-ville it felt like being rescued by the cavalry! Boy, was I glad to see these people!

We're not media junkies in this household, but we had heard nearly nothing about the events from the local media. I looked through yesterday's Washington Post last night. There was NO mention in yesterday's paper about today's planned events.

No liberal bias there! I used to punch "Cindy Sheehan" into the Post search engine every so often and see the many hits come up and contrast that with the President of Families United, Merrilee Carlson. Even when Mrs. Carlson was giving a speech in Washington, the Post chose not to cover it. But Cindy could sneeze and several reporters were quickly dispatched to say Gesundheit.

There must have been media in the crowds. I did see some people carrying expensive photographic equipment, and Fox News had their truck parked nearby. Clearly the mainstreams were in light attendance as befits their propagandistic agenda.

WTOP the local news, traffic and weather station reported the event in bland terms, which surprised me. As I passed through the crowds I overheard some protesters on cell phones talking to friends, asking about media coverage. No matter; the media that people are paying attention to are, of course, reporting the event.

Protests in the nation's Capitol are usually a headache for local residents -- especially those lefty anti-globalism rallies that preceeded the current leftwing take-over. In contrast, I don't think this crowd will be breaking any plate glass windows or stealing Nikes from shoe stores. It felt like the 4th of July!

And I know the lefties will bill the event as racism; you had a comment of that sort here at Holycoast this week. The crowd was predominantly white, but then so is the country. I saw no racism in any of the signs I viewed, and I walked up and down the mall looking at signs, which as you note, Rick, were quite varied.

The persistant theme I saw is the founding, the Constitution, freedom, attacks on socialism, anti-abortion messages, and tax reform. One interesting theme was the "czars" -- and lots of signs asked why we're using a Russian term to describe American political appointees. Obama was present in name, but not as much in image. Certainly his race was not a factor at all. It really wasn't about him. And where personalities were the focus, Mrs. Pelosi and Harry Reid were as vilified as anyone, and last I checked they are both quite white.

There are those here in Washington who will persist in their false accusations. Yet, certainly the elites have got to be wondering if their gig is up. I don't know what's next, but I believe that if Conservatives keep this momentum going, ordinary people do the hard work, staying organized, we'll prevail. We'll get our freedom back.

I saw an exhillerating spirit of honesty and goodwill on display today, and I think for the first time in a long time I caught a glimpse of the real meaning of American freedom. Now that doesn't sound too much like Michelle Obama, I hope! I've ALWAYS been proud of my country. But we've had too much angst on display for far too long. We need to renew our sense of thanksgiving for the freedom we've had that is so rare in the history of mankind.