Tea Partiers Get Partisan

I liked the Tea Parties better when they were about issues, not partisan politics.

Yesterday I received the following e-mail:

Defend the Republic Rally

Saturday, December 12th from 1:00 to 2:00pm

Colorado State Capital Building - West Steps
Colfax & Lincoln
Denver, CO 80203

Northern Colorado Tea Party is encouraging all supporters to attend this rally. We are asking for a voice in the debate taking place regarding the 2010 elections. If we want the GOP to listen to us, we need to show them we are a political force to be reckoned with here in Colorado.

As the war between the United State of America and the Progressives in both political parties continues to wage, the Tea Party and 912 supporters have stepped up and answered the call of duty.

Let us stand together at the State Capital on Saturday, united to make one single statement:

Principle Over Party in 2010

Speakers will include:

Mike Holler - Author of The Constitution Made Easy
Lu Busse - Leadership Chair for Co 912 Project
Dan Maes - Candidate for Colorado Governor
Tea Party & 912 Activists

See the Denver Post article by Jessica Fender or the People's Press Collective review by Michael Sandoval for more background.

So the complaint is that Republican leaders have endorsed a candidate who might actually be able to win. I'm confused as to why this is some sort of grand sin. Anybody who thinks Dan Maes has any chance of winning the Republican primary and beating Bill Ritter is simply delusional.

(For the record, I'm registered unaffiliated, so I'll have no vote in the GOP primary. I have yet to decide whether any candidate in the governor's race will get my vote as the lesser of evils. I voted for Ritter last time around.)

As somebody who has attended, written about, and spoken at various Tea Party and related events, I have to wonder about this overtly partisan turn of the Northern Tea Party. I thought this was about issues, not parties. I thought it was about liberty, not personality.

I challenge those organizing the December 12 rally to articulate their ideological differences with Scott McInnis, and their ideological affinity with Dan Maes. I must frankly question the motives of those unable or unwilling to do so. Please leave a comment or respond via e-mail.

Denver 9/12 Rally: Freedom Forever

In my speech at the Denver 9/12 rally, I discussed the fundamental moral and political choices our nation faces. To illustrate these themes I described how the problem of pre-existing health conditions, and the resulting difficulties of buying insurance, is primarily a product of political controls, starting with tax-driven, non-portable, employer-paid insurance.



See People's Press Collective for the report.

Lu Busse, chair of The 9.12 Project Colorado Leadership Team, said the proper response to the cry, "health reform now," is "freedom forever." Of course, real health reform means reestablishing freedom in medicine, so the two goals are wholly consistent.

Chuck Moe:



Amy Oliver:



Jon Caldara:

Bill Ritter's Campaign Director Smears Opponents

Governor Bill Ritter's Campaign Director David Kenney today smeared participants of local tea parties as "rabidly anti-government." The statement was part of a fund-raising letter sent by e-mail.

Kenney's dishonest and vicious smear campaign, which likens practitioners of First Amendment rights to diseased dogs, ignores the obvious fact that the overwhelming majority of tea party participants advocate government that protects people's rights and is limited in scope by Constitutional law.

See, for example, my coverage of the April 15 Tea Party in Denver, the July 4 Tea Party in Arvada, and the August 7 health rally in Longmont.

If Kenney wishes to find real examples of people who flout the rules of just government, he need look no further than the former Democratic campaigner arrested for vandalizing Democratic headquarters. If Kenney wishes to condemn some as "anti-government," he should look to criminals and anarchists, not peaceful protesters who advocate just government.

Apparently Kenney chooses to lie about tea party participants because he does not wish to engage their arguments.

Kenney also wishes to suggest that the only possible alternative to Ritter's leftist tax-and-spend policies of economic controls and corporate welfare is to be "anti-government." In fact, the proper alternative is to advocate a government that protects individual rights, including rights to property and voluntary exchange.

Following is the letter I sent in reply:

Dear Mr. Kenney,

Today you smeared me, a participant in various tea parties, as "rabidly anti-government."

In fact, I advocate government that protects individual rights, and I do not appreciate the governor's campaign staff smearing me for practicing my First Amendment rights.

I request that you retract your vicious and libelous statement and apologize for it.

Sincerely,
Ari Armstrong

July 4 Tea Party Arvada Colorado

I interviewed a number of participants of the July 4 Tea Party in Arvada, Colorado. Hear what they have to say:



Jon Caldara gave the keynote speech:



Matt Arnold of Clear the Bench Colorado outlined his case for voting against retention of four Colorado Supreme Court Justices:



Here are a few additional photos:









See also reports for Castle Rock and Colorado Springs. Please send in information about other July 4 Tea Parties across Colorado!

Commentary

I've heard estimates of a thousand participants. I imagine attendance was lower than at the Tax Day Tea Party because more people were at local events and many were busy with family gatherings.

It was a fun time. I helped hand out a couple hundred Ayn Rand Samplers and a few hundred "Clear the Bench" flyers.

The most troubling aspect of the event is that various speakers really laid on the religion. It was almost as much of a church service as a political rally. I heard quite a lot of the same crazy talk that cost Republicans control of government in the first place. While we heard from Jefferson's Declaration, we heard nothing about Jefferson's wall of separation between church and state. But religious tyranny is hardly an improvement upon leftist tyranny. For example, those who endorse the "personhood" measure next year are as much the enemy of liberty as are those who advocate socialized medicine, for reasons stated.

Yet some of the speeches were great; see Jon Caldara's speech above. And the people who attended went for their own reasons. One lady told me she was "pro-life" (i.e., an advocate of abortion bans), and at least two people carried signs proclaiming that America is a Christian nation. Yet most people I talked with were there for the obvious reasons: federal politicians are spending our money like drunken sailors and seizing control of broad swaths of the economy.

The right obviously still suffers from the schism that resulted in its downfall; it is torn between those who would impose their sectarian dogmas by force of law and those who advocate individual rights and a government devoted to protecting those rights. That intellectual battle continues to rage.

Yet I see many signs that more and more citizens are taking up the banner of individual rights.

Denver Tea Party on YouTube

Stop Spending Our Future is collecting videos of tea parties across the nation. Following is my submission:

After Tea, Try Liberty

The following article originally was published on April 27, 2009, by Grand Junction's Free Press.

After tea, try long, cool drink of liberty

by Linn and Ari Armstrong

On April 15 thousands of Coloradans gathered in cities across the state to protest big-spending politicians and advocate liberty. They joined hundreds of thousands across the nation. But a tea party is not in itself a liberty movement. We must dig beneath the political crises of the day and nourish the roots of freedom.

We are encouraged by much of what we heard April 15. Here in Grand Junction, Ryan Frazier said, "We, and more importantly our children, are being saddled with endless debt upon which we will all have to pay... We choose capitalism over socialism... We believe you cannot make one man more free by making another man less free." He advocated people's "liberty to live [their lives] as they see best, and a government that protects their right to do so."

Your junior author Ari attended the rally in Denver and recorded a number of interviews. Peter Perry advocated "lower taxes, less government, and more freedom... Let's get back to the original Constitution."

Thomas James: "I hope the elected officials who this is aimed at develop an awareness that the people are not happy... with the taxing, spending, government growth, irresponsibility, and that people are waking up and they want their liberty back."

Anthony Gillis: "We need to take a stand for liberty, and for our livelihoods... The spending is simply out of control."

Ed Carter: "I'm here with my son to try to take this government back for the people... We need to get back to what our forefathers intended this country to be all about."

Carol: "I have eight grandchildren... [They're] going to have to [bear] the brunt of paying this off... and I'm mad as hell about it, too. Our kids shouldn't have to pay for somebody else's misappropriation of funds."

Terry: "I'm tired of seeing the Constitution stepped on... Government is out of control."

Bob Tender: "The government is spending too much money. Congress doesn't even read its own bills, comes up with 'stimulus' that has hidden pork in it, taking away our future, taking away our kids' future, taking away our grandchildrens' future."

Mel, an Air Force veteran of Vietnam: "I feel this taxation, and also the overspending of the budget is definitely wrong. It's a free enterprise country. If you can't run your company, you should resign or default, and not have the government pulling you out."

The tea parties were deeply inspiring for those of us who cherish economic liberty and see that robbing Peter to pay Paul cannot restore prosperity. But we need more than anger at the current (or the last) administration. We need more than criticism of Congress. We need more than signs, rallies, and speeches.

We need ideas. We need the ideas that informed the signers of the Declaration of Independence, that each person has the moral right to his or her own life.

Our favorite Tea Party speech was given by John Lewis, a history professor, at Charlotte, North Carolina. You can view the speech on YouTube or read the transcript online.

Lewis said, "The Founders of this nation brought forth a radical idea... This idea was the Rights of Man...

"These inalienable rights are The Right to Life -- the right to live your own life, to choose your own goals, and to preserve your own independent existence.

"The Right to Liberty, which is the right to act to achieve your goals, without coercion by other men.

"The Right to the Pursuit of Happiness, to act to achieve your own success, your own prosperity, and your own happiness, for your own sake.

"And the Right to Property -— the right to gain, keep, and enjoy, the material products of your efforts."

Lewis summarized, "Each of us is an individual, autonomous, moral being, with the right to choose his own values and capable of directing his own life."

Over the last century, Lewis explained, government has turned away from protecting our rights to seizing the wealth of some to hand to others. To the degree that government follows that path, it must control the lives of the citizens.

The trend of government controlling our wealth has led to a "vision of man as a whining dependent, who begs for the needs of life from an all-powerful governing aristocracy. This ruling elite claims the moral right to distribute the wealth of those who earn it to those who wish for it," Lewis said.

Lewis asked the audience, and he asks you: "Look at yourselves again. Do you see in your face, and in the face of the person next to you, the slave of a group, with no moral status, no rights and no liberties, who is bound from birth to serve? Or do you see an autonomous being with the right to live for his own sake?"

On April 15 we stood among a vast crowd. But we stood with individuals.

Photos from Grand Junction's Tea Party

Gene Kinsey has posted a few photos of Grand Junction's Tea Party here and here.

The Daily Sentinel has also posted a nice set of photos of the event as well as a video of Ryan Frazier's talk, currently linked from the front page.

If anybody else has good links to photos for Tea Parties around Colorado outside of Denver, feel free to leave a comment.

John Lewis At Tea Party

John Lewis gave a great speech at the Tea Party in Charlotte:

Denver Tea Party Ralliers In Their Own Words

The Denver Tax Day Tea Party drew several thousand people to the capitol. Why did they come? What do they think? I interviewed several dozen ralliers and compiled their comments in a 25 minute audio file. (If the previous link fails, try the backup.)

In my first article I make some general notes about the event. Here my goal is to compile photographs and audio interviews of typical ralliers whose messages were basically in the spirit of the event as advertised. I had originally planned to do a third article covering off-point messages, two agitators (self-styled comedians), and a Democratic "liberal" couple, but this article took me longer to create than I anticipated, and the other material is of lesser interest.

I have a very short video of the crowd. Also check out El Presidente's outstanding collection of photos and videos of the event, as well as reports by Mr. Bob, Ben DeGrow, Rossputin, and Thomas James.


Peter Perry of Centennial, a volunteer with FreedomWorks, advocates "lower taxes, less government, and more freedom." "Get back to the original Constitution," he urges. "We cannot become a nation of debt, nothing but debt, debt all the time." He added, "This is the first time I've been involved, and I think that's a significant change for me... I'm hoping that more concerned citizens are becoming involved."





Thomas James of the People's Press Collective (not shown) explained the goals of that organization. About the rally, he said, "I hope that the elected officials who this is aimed at... develop an awareness that the people are not happy with what they are doing, are not happy with the taxing, spending, government growth, irresponsibility, and that people are waking up and they want their liberty back."




Anthony Gillis of "Colorado Tea Party" -- a distinct group from the rally's organizers -- said, "We need to take a stand for liberty and for our livelihoods... The spending is simply out of control, and with it goes a grab for power, because he who pays the piper calls the tune. Peacefully, through the democratic process, we need to stand up for our rights now, and it's going to be a sustained effort."




Valentina Montague attended the rally with her daughter Christine and granddaughter Lindsey. Valentina said, "I am a grandmother... and I am concerned for their future and the future of our country."


Lance Olsen voiced concern about "taxes across the board at the local and state level." He also advocate transparency in government spending, achieved by putting all spending records online.




Cindy Johnson said Congress and the President are "out of control, spending too much money." Alexandra Harden pointed out, "Most of the people who share our views are working right now, to pay the taxes that they live off of."




Ed Carter came to the rally with his son Branden. Ed said he attended "to try and take this government back for the people, basicaly what the Constitution is all about, that we have the power, and I think we've let it slip away to people who don't have the best interests of this country at hand... I think we're being taxed, not to prosperity, but to the opposite end, and we need to get back to what our forefathers intended this country to be all about."


Skip said, "We're sick and tired of it, no earmarks!" Carol added, "I have eight grandchildren, one of them is 22, she's in college, she's going to have to pay the brunt of paying this off, and so are my other grandchildren. And I'm mad as hell about it, too. Our kids shouldn't have to pay for somebody else's misappropriation of funds."


Bob said, "I think a lot of this is due to our government spending. People are just fed up with it." Bob also expressed concerns about businesses "going over seas," which I don't regard as a problem in itself. However, various federal policies encourage many businesses to move overseas by artificially increasing the costs of doing business at home, and that should be stopped.






Terry said, "I'm sorry of seeing the Constitution stepped on. I'm sick and tired of it. It hasn't started just now. Government is out of control, they're spending money left and right, and I'm just mad about it."




Bob Tender said, "The government is spending too much money. Congress doesn't even read its own bills, comes up with stimulus that has hidden pork in it, taking away our future, taking away our kids' future, taking away our grandchildrens' future. That's why I'm here." Barbara Benito, who supported Obama during the election, added, "I want to see my money spent responsibly, and I want to make sure there's accountability."

Dave Wiliams (not shown) of the Gadsden Society said, "It's got to go beyond today. People have got to stay involved, get involved, show up, and continue to make a difference."




Sandy said, "The government is out of control with all their spending. My grandchildren are already $187,000 in debt. It's too much, and it needs to stop." Kay added, "Congress is out of control... to pass a bill that they didn't even read is absolute irresponsibility."


Marilyn was "concerned about the taxing and the spending." Pam said, "We're concerned with our kids' future, our grandchildrens' future, and what's going to be left for them? And they're asking the same thing."


Mel, who served in Vietnam in the Air Force, said, "I didn't serve 22 years for socialism... I feel this taxation and also overspending of the budget is definitely wrong. It's a free-enterprise country. If you can't run your company, you should resign or default, and not have the government pulling you out." Sharon, who served 20 years in the Air Force, fears Obama is "pro-socialism. We're a capitalist country, and thank god of it."


El Presidente himself (with the video camera).




Alex Hornaday complained about the "complete irresponsibility in an administration from a party that spend so much time complaining about" the previous administration.


Ryan Call, chair of the Denver County Republican Party, said, "I'm excited, to look at how many people came out for this event, talking about less government regulation, lower taxes, and all these kinds of things that make America great." Steve Schultz, chair of the Clear Creak GOP, wants to "return the country to the roots it was founded on, because we're going farther and farther away all the time." Both men granted that the Bush administration and some other Republican leaders "didn't live up to many of the principles that we think the party has long stood for," meaning "fiscal responsibility, personal responsibility, and freedom."




Melissa Peters said, "I came to support the Tea Party because I disagree with all the spending going on in Congress today."


"We're here because we really feel our government is going in the wrong direction, and we feel we need to speak out."


George Palmentaro said, "A lot of us served our country. I don't think it should be sold by the administration."


Ron Lewis said, "I'm here to join with my fellow Americans, to stand against unconstitutional policies in our government, and to let the government know that we're tired." Ron also argued that the Federal Reserve should be abolished.








Linda, who attended the rally with Marie, complained about "the taxes, the bailouts, the pork, Fannie May, Freddie Mac."