Thank you to Illinois Review for the following article which includes a succinct definition of the people who are becoming "The Tea Party."
The vast majority of Tea Partiers and conservatives never intended to be political activists. Our focus was solely on making a living, raising a family, taking care of our own business and being good neighbors. It was when lawmakers and social extremists began thrusting their agenda on us, taking away our freedoms, making us pay for their radical ideas and filling our kids' heads full of liberal extremism that we were forced to the streets with protest signs in hand.
Forced into Tea Party activism
The Southtown Star's Kristen McQueary rode on the bus with Tea Partiers on their way from Oak Lawn and Evergreen Park to Chicago's Palmer House to protest Barack Obama's fundraiser for Alexi Giannoulias. In her column "On the Bus with the Tea Party," McQueary expresses a mild surprise at the stellar quality of the protestors -- educated, informed -- although in her mind powerless and extreme.
Kudos to Ms. McQueary for investing a few hours to get to know Tea Partiers rather than ridiculing and criticizing from afar, as the rest of the mainstream media does. And while she carefully points out that she's more of a socially acceptable political moderate -- not like the Democrat or Republican extremists -- she misses a crucial point to the Tea Party movement.
The vast majority of Tea Partiers and conservatives never intended to be political activists. Our focus was solely on making a living, raising a family, taking care of our own business and being good neighbors. It was when lawmakers and social extremists began thrusting their agenda on us, taking away our freedoms, making us pay for their radical ideas and filling our kids' heads full of liberal extremism that we were forced to the streets with protest signs in hand.
Few of us have the outlet of an influential local newspaper at our disposal to express our frustrations as Ms. McQueary does. We hoist handmade signs, pile the kids in the car and take off work or lose sleep just to let our voices be heard. Perhaps she, as a journalist, takes for granted her influential bully pulpit.
Indeed, we average taxpayers are frustrated and use tools available to accept the responsibility of standing up for our country. Forced into activism, we are gathering in a chorus growing by the tens, hundreds and thousands.
And with that, we have to disagree with Ms. McQueary on another of her points: we're no longer powerless, we're on our way to becoming very powerful.
Kudos to Ms. McQueary for investing a few hours to get to know Tea Partiers rather than ridiculing and criticizing from afar, as the rest of the mainstream media does. And while she carefully points out that she's more of a socially acceptable political moderate -- not like the Democrat or Republican extremists -- she misses a crucial point to the Tea Party movement.
The vast majority of Tea Partiers and conservatives never intended to be political activists. Our focus was solely on making a living, raising a family, taking care of our own business and being good neighbors. It was when lawmakers and social extremists began thrusting their agenda on us, taking away our freedoms, making us pay for their radical ideas and filling our kids' heads full of liberal extremism that we were forced to the streets with protest signs in hand.
Few of us have the outlet of an influential local newspaper at our disposal to express our frustrations as Ms. McQueary does. We hoist handmade signs, pile the kids in the car and take off work or lose sleep just to let our voices be heard. Perhaps she, as a journalist, takes for granted her influential bully pulpit.
Indeed, we average taxpayers are frustrated and use tools available to accept the responsibility of standing up for our country. Forced into activism, we are gathering in a chorus growing by the tens, hundreds and thousands.
And with that, we have to disagree with Ms. McQueary on another of her points: we're no longer powerless, we're on our way to becoming very powerful.
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