Tea Party

Yesterday, July 2, Jacksonville held a Tea Party at "The Landing" in downtown Jacksonville. I attended and can report the following: There were about 1,000 people there whose age were mostly in the 50's and 60's. There were some young people there but they seemed to have been haulled there by an older person, consequently they appeared to be somewhat disinterested. The event began with four young girls singing the "Star Spangled Banner" followed by a recitation of the "Pledge of Allegiance." Some introductions were made about some dignitaries, my Representative, Cliff Starnes, sent somebody to represent him as did Mel Martinez, one of our State's Senators. Then a number of quotes from Thomas Jefferson were read by a black man. The crowd roared it's approval. A few doctors talked about what nationalized health care would mean - in essence, rationing and poorer care. The black fellow from time-to-time would shout out FREEDOM!, just as Mel Gibson did in the movie "Braveheart", and the crowd would shout back just as loudly, FREEDOM!. A different leader asked: "Does congress speak for you?" and the crowd shouted back "NO!." "Is your congress listening to you?" again "NO!" "Will you remember? and this time it shouted, YES! I saw about five, large, yellow flags that said "Don't Tread On Me" which included the large coiled rattle snake. There were many well made signs and even more poorly made signs. If a camera appeared people would hold up their sign. Some signs I remember: "Keep your hands off my health care", "Stop spending my grand children's money", "Listen to the people", "Freedom from tyranny", "Shrink the Government", "No more deficits", "Term limits for all Washington aristocrats", Big spenders, resign now", "No more bailouts", "I'll keep my money, you keep your change", "Taxed Enough Already" and my favorite, "Drink the tea before Obama pees in it." There were some signs attacking Mayor Payton of Jacksonville because he has proposed a 1.5 increase in property millage to cover the shortfall of a 56 million dollar deficit. It is clear that the people want him to work with the money he has and to cut spending if there is not enough money. The rally was held at 5:30 PM but it was still hot. Many people brought their own chairs but I, along with most, had to stand. The event lasted about 1.5 hours, a long time to stand. Just before it ended I walked into the air conditioned, concession area in order to sit and get cooled off. It surprised me that there were so few people that did the same thing I did. (Could not hear the speeches from inside.) I saw nothing about the War, nothing about race, nothing about specific congressmen, nothing about abortion, nothing about gays, nothing about Democrats, nothing about Republicans. These people were upset about government in general.