Posted on 04/16/2009 12:31:48 PM PDT by AmericanArchConservative
My wife and I took our eight months old baby daughter, and went to the tea party here in Clarkston, Washington; wife's eldest brother Xxx and his wife K. showed up, my mother-in law Lxxxxxx, as well as (brother-in-law) Kxx's wife Dxxxxx, their second oldest son L., and their twin daughters. I also saw my friends from my local Catholic parish, Dr. Pxxx and Lxx Sxxxxxx and their four kids.
Overall, the "party" was very well attended (probably 700 to 850 people), "We the People" were very civil and well-behaved, and our signs were for the most part hand-made, and quite creative, but there was a clear undertone of frustration with the years of excess spending stemming out of Washington D.C.
The Clarkston rally drew more than three times as many people as the combined totals from Pullman, Washington (home of WSU), and Moscow, Idaho (home of the U of I).
These numbers should be taken as especially encouraging, in light of the fact that the total population of Clarkston is 10,000 or less, while Lewiston, ID (just across the Snake river) has a population of about 32,000.
To place this in proper perspective, this would be like a crowd of 20,000 (or more) showing up in a city of 1 million. Folks, those are numbers that, in scale, seem comparable to Atlanta and we had no "luminaries".
If ever there was an example of hardworking, play-by the rules, taxpaying producers going "grassroots", this was it!
There were grizzled, older, Harley-riding men, young housewives with one to three children in tow, Grandmothers with grandkids, whole families, aging bachelors, young college men and women...
Attendees were strongly encouraged to sign a local petition, shake hands, meet their neighbors and fellow townspeople, continue to organize, and develop telephone trees, e mail lists and make new friends.
Plan are already in place for another such "Tea Party" meeting in early or mid May, and all present were encouraged to bring as many new friends and neighbors as they could.
As one of the businessmen was giving his speech, he admitted he was nervous and not used to speaking in front of so many people, a wheelchair-bound gentleman in the audience called out, "Not too bad, considering you're doing it without a Teleprompter!"
The crowd exploded into laughter at the obvious spontaneous joke at zer0bama's expense...
In reply, the speaker answered, "I wonder how I would sound with a Teleprompter!?"
Whereupon another person in the crowd called out loudly, "Uh-uhh-uhh, uhh-uhh!"
(okay - I confess, it was this FReeper reporter who did that!) and everyone roared with laughter again.
After the initial get together, handshaking, and speeches at the Clarkston Quality Inn, many attendees walked as a group across the nearby "Blue Bridge", crossing the Snake River from Clarkston into Lewiston, and posed for some video footage for the local CBS affiliate, KLEW-TV.
Then it was on home to relax for the evening with my wife and child.
I leave you all, my fellow FReepers and Americans with these thoughts:
Together, we must succeed in preserving the future of this precious Constitutional Republic that the Founding Fathers created for us, which countless hundreds of thousands of valorous military veterans have fought to protect and defend against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and which we now see in imminent peril.
Our American way of life - indeed our very freedoms depend upon it - upon us, and if we do not stand up for ourselves and take back those which we have already lost - we may lose more, never to regain them.
Thanks a bunch for letting me know.
When I wrote that line, I thought about that song. I hadn’t heard it in a long time.
That’s the funniest report I’ve read about so far. Nice job, Clarkston.
I’m a little curious: what exactly is the point of “naming” a bunch of your friends and family who attended with you, but actually X-ing out their naxxx?
Is that some sort of new-fangled literary device, did you forget their names, or are they such important public figures that we should know for example who “Dr. Pxxx” is?
IF the 'data' here is accurate; there is PLENTY of evidence to identify these people!
indeed. it’s apparently been very fruitful.
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