Tomorrow is TEA Party day

On Wednesday I had some fun being creative in another way, as a bunch of concerned local citizens associated with the Americans for Prosperity local chapter got together to make signs for Saturday morning's big event.

It wasn't a large group (perhaps eight people, I wasn't sitting there counting) but we cranked out quite a few neat little signs. This was the first one I created.

This is the group photo I took as we were somewhat hard at work.

I've seen a number of commentors on my left (and some on my side) openly disdaining the TEA Party movement. Well, let's see what we have accomplished locally. In just three short months, we had a rally that drew hundreds of people on a chilly, raw day, rolled back a proposed tax increase in Somerset County, and found a potential political candidate who may have never gotten involved in the system if not for the TEA Party serving as an impetus. I didn't know most of the people at the original TEA Party so one couldn't say it was the same old political activists.

Personally I think we're just the tip of the iceberg; a silent majority who's choosing not to be silent anymore because the federal and state governments have finally overstepped their bounds to a point that people are mad and won't take it anymore. Bailouts, stimulus, putting our grandchildren into debt: all this offended the common sense of millions of Americans.

Nor do I believe that these protests happened to spring up simply because President Obama came into office. Only a racist would see these TEA Party protests as racially-based.

I also happen to think that the higher echelon of the Republican Party better start paying attention to what we're saying.

(I know there's a tiny number of conservative Democrats out there, but in truth you may as well switch parties - don't hold your breath waiting on that party to return to its Humphrey/Kennedy roots. You have the same problem conservative Republicans faced with a moderate President Bush in office; it's difficult to go against a President from your party no matter how odious the policy.)

Perhaps the GOP is undergoing a schism that could divide the party much as Democrats divided over civil rights 60 years ago. But the Democrats resumed power shortly afterward and the GOP has the same prospect for 2010 and 2012 if they can take advantage of the motivated electorate coming out to the TEA Parties and adopt the program the TEA partiers seek - smaller, less intrusive government that doesn't reach into our wallet as much instead of "politics as usual".

Given the direction our President is taking us, that's not too difficult of a sell job.