Second Great American Tea Party

A very unusual and historic event took place yesterday.  I believe February 27, 2009 will be noted in the history books as the start of another American Revolution.  Thousands of Americans spontaneously took to the streets in over 50 cities all across the nation to protest the economic policies of the Obama administration and the Democrats pork-laden “Stimulus” plan.

The spark that ignited this fire was an emotional rant from the floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange by CNBC reporter Rick Santelli just eight days earlier.  In a brief outburst for the cameras, he called for another Tea Party in Chicago.  His words echoed across the new social media channels, striking a nerve among the masses who believe our current economic policies are not only unfair, but taking America down the road to socialism.

I was alerted to the Tea Party phenomenon by a friend through Facebook only the day before, and went looking for the closest event to me.  Sure enough, high noon at the Federal Court House in Tampa was on the schedule.  (Kudos to John Hendrix for jumping in and organizing the Tampa event).  I shot out a quick SMS to a few of my peeps, who jumped in with me and off we went.

We arrived about 10 minutes early, and already a crowd of about 60 people were gathered.  These were just ordinary Americans, young and old, who are obviously frustrated, angry and fed up with what is happening to our nation.  Most of those I talked with had only discovered the event the day before, which explained the hastily made signage they were waving from the sidewalks on both sides of the street.  WATCH THE VIDEO

Chants of “No More Bailouts”, “No More Nelson” (referring to Florida Democrat Senator Bill Nelson, who voted for the Stimulus package) elicited mixed reactions from passing motorists.  Most looked on with curiosity, some yelled back obscenities, but many honked their horns and waved in agreement, rewarding the protesters efforts.  At several points the street grew noisy as a chorus of horns erupted from the lanes of traffic stopped at a red light across the intersection.

There was strong agreement that these protests were only the beginning.  Everyone there represented many others who wanted to attend but could not.  Most are calling for bigger, more widespread protests that will grow exponentially as the frustration with the insanity going on in Washington provokes the silent masses to make their voices known.

Is this truly the start of another Revolution?  Only time will tell.  I believe we are reaching a tipping point in America, and if the liberals in Washington don’t stop the march to socialism, its only a matter of time before things get ugly.

Get involved.  Join the protest.  Get informed and stop letting others do the talking for you.  Make your voice heard.  Here are some helpful links to get you started.

New American Tea Party Website
Downsize DC

Twitter #teaparty

See you in the streets,
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