Those words were spoken by my lovely and intelligent mother, who, I might add, has a gift when it comes to speaking her mind.
On April 15th of this year, she, my husband, and I loaded up my carbon-producing-environmentally-unfriendly SUV for a trip down to San Antonio for the Tax Day Tea Party. As we headed south on I-35 we tuned into Glenn Beck's morning talk show for a bit of educated entertainment, and learned of the domestic intelligence report which was originally intended only for the eyes of state and local law enforcement. That was when we first learned that a) we were extremists, b) we were a threat to national security, and c) that we would now be on a top secret government "watch list".
My mother shook her head and admitted rather casually, "I'm not an extremist...I'm just extremely pissed off." She's priceless, don't you think?
In those few words, she pretty much wrapped up how a lot of us felt on Tax Day: frustrated, ignored, and misunderstood. Most of the mainstream media that day downplayed the hundreds of thousands of Americans gathering together to peacefully speak up and defend our liberties. I suppose they thought if they didn't cover the story, we'd all just fade away like the runway fashions in last years Cosmo. It appeared Washington was employing the same strategy, after our current President admitted he was "unaware of the tea parties" going on in almost every major city across the nation. The only people listening, it seemed, were conservative and independent media outlets that provided live coverage of the events throughout the day.
However, it would seem that we caught someone else's attention.
We arrived in San Antonio after a nearly five-hour drive (including the 20 minutes we spent scouring downtown for available parking), parked the SUV, and paid the lot attendant. Then, after loading up our gear (cameras, matching T-shirts, and a 3 pound bag of M&M's that we were hoping to give to Mr. Beck), we embarked on the one mile hike to Alamo Plaza where all the events were scheduled to take place. From the distance we could hear Ted Nugent's electric guitar singing out our National Anthem, as well as a large crowd of patriots cheering him on. Our pace quickened in the hope that we might get a glimpse of Ted before his set was over... And that's when we saw it. A simple, unobtrusive white van parked around the corner from the Alamo with "Department of Homeland Security" written on the side.
They were listening.
We didn't wave as we passed by it, though all three of us were greatly tempted to do so. We joked about saving the DHS the trouble of trying to identify us via face recognition software over the coming weeks by simply walking up to the van, knocking on the windows, and introducing ourselves. But, considering the fact that government agents aren't widely known for their sense of humor, we decided against it. We simply acknowledged their presence, smiled at each other, and kept moving.
But they were there.
I wonder just what they were expecting to encounter that day (especially given the details of Nopalitano's highly inflammatory report released just prior to the tea party protests). Maybe they thought they would catch a few gun-toting, antigovernment, right-wing extremists. It is Texas, after all. Don't think you'd have to look too far and wide to find at least one of those wandering around. Perhaps they feared we would take advantage of the lack of mainstream media coverage and have open meetings to decide how and when to take down our government and create anarchy. Or perhaps they just liked Ted Nugent and sno-cones. Who knows?
While I'm not sure what they were looking for, I can tell you what they probably found. 1) Texas is warm, even in April, and especially in a van parked along a public street. 2) 20,000 people can gather together to voice their opionions to Washington without getting violent, causing destruction, or creating problems. 3) Ted Nugent still rocks. 4) Glenn Beck has quite the following. 5) People can disagree with their government and still be patriots.
In the two weeks that have passed since the April protests, tea party stories have all but waned in the media. It seems we have far more pressing matters to concern ourselves with now -- Air Force One fly-overs, the potential flu pandemic, Hugo Chavez's book of the month club selections... American patriots could quite possibly forget just what it was that drove us all into mass gatherings that day to speak our minds and be heard. While all these recent news stories are important in one way or another, let us not be distracted from our original purpose. Liberty. And justice. For all.
Our government is still spending our money without our consent. Constitutional rights are still slowly being eaten away at on a daily basis. New laws, acts, and legislative decisions are popping up all over the place that are not supported by the U.S. Constitution (does Washington really believe it can take over private businesses because they are a PERCIEVED risk to the economy?). New taxes are being presented in a new, deceitful manner under the guise of "environmental legislation" to promote a healthier planent. Cap and Trade, anyone? Who do you think will be footing the bill on that one?
Perhaps we should all continue to remind ourselves and each other just what had us all "extremely pissed off" two weeks ago.
Let's stay on track, America. Our future is depending on us.
On April 15th of this year, she, my husband, and I loaded up my carbon-producing-environmentally-unfriendly SUV for a trip down to San Antonio for the Tax Day Tea Party. As we headed south on I-35 we tuned into Glenn Beck's morning talk show for a bit of educated entertainment, and learned of the domestic intelligence report which was originally intended only for the eyes of state and local law enforcement. That was when we first learned that a) we were extremists, b) we were a threat to national security, and c) that we would now be on a top secret government "watch list".
My mother shook her head and admitted rather casually, "I'm not an extremist...I'm just extremely pissed off." She's priceless, don't you think?
In those few words, she pretty much wrapped up how a lot of us felt on Tax Day: frustrated, ignored, and misunderstood. Most of the mainstream media that day downplayed the hundreds of thousands of Americans gathering together to peacefully speak up and defend our liberties. I suppose they thought if they didn't cover the story, we'd all just fade away like the runway fashions in last years Cosmo. It appeared Washington was employing the same strategy, after our current President admitted he was "unaware of the tea parties" going on in almost every major city across the nation. The only people listening, it seemed, were conservative and independent media outlets that provided live coverage of the events throughout the day.
However, it would seem that we caught someone else's attention.
We arrived in San Antonio after a nearly five-hour drive (including the 20 minutes we spent scouring downtown for available parking), parked the SUV, and paid the lot attendant. Then, after loading up our gear (cameras, matching T-shirts, and a 3 pound bag of M&M's that we were hoping to give to Mr. Beck), we embarked on the one mile hike to Alamo Plaza where all the events were scheduled to take place. From the distance we could hear Ted Nugent's electric guitar singing out our National Anthem, as well as a large crowd of patriots cheering him on. Our pace quickened in the hope that we might get a glimpse of Ted before his set was over... And that's when we saw it. A simple, unobtrusive white van parked around the corner from the Alamo with "Department of Homeland Security" written on the side.
They were listening.
We didn't wave as we passed by it, though all three of us were greatly tempted to do so. We joked about saving the DHS the trouble of trying to identify us via face recognition software over the coming weeks by simply walking up to the van, knocking on the windows, and introducing ourselves. But, considering the fact that government agents aren't widely known for their sense of humor, we decided against it. We simply acknowledged their presence, smiled at each other, and kept moving.
But they were there.
I wonder just what they were expecting to encounter that day (especially given the details of Nopalitano's highly inflammatory report released just prior to the tea party protests). Maybe they thought they would catch a few gun-toting, antigovernment, right-wing extremists. It is Texas, after all. Don't think you'd have to look too far and wide to find at least one of those wandering around. Perhaps they feared we would take advantage of the lack of mainstream media coverage and have open meetings to decide how and when to take down our government and create anarchy. Or perhaps they just liked Ted Nugent and sno-cones. Who knows?
While I'm not sure what they were looking for, I can tell you what they probably found. 1) Texas is warm, even in April, and especially in a van parked along a public street. 2) 20,000 people can gather together to voice their opionions to Washington without getting violent, causing destruction, or creating problems. 3) Ted Nugent still rocks. 4) Glenn Beck has quite the following. 5) People can disagree with their government and still be patriots.
In the two weeks that have passed since the April protests, tea party stories have all but waned in the media. It seems we have far more pressing matters to concern ourselves with now -- Air Force One fly-overs, the potential flu pandemic, Hugo Chavez's book of the month club selections... American patriots could quite possibly forget just what it was that drove us all into mass gatherings that day to speak our minds and be heard. While all these recent news stories are important in one way or another, let us not be distracted from our original purpose. Liberty. And justice. For all.
Our government is still spending our money without our consent. Constitutional rights are still slowly being eaten away at on a daily basis. New laws, acts, and legislative decisions are popping up all over the place that are not supported by the U.S. Constitution (does Washington really believe it can take over private businesses because they are a PERCIEVED risk to the economy?). New taxes are being presented in a new, deceitful manner under the guise of "environmental legislation" to promote a healthier planent. Cap and Trade, anyone? Who do you think will be footing the bill on that one?
Perhaps we should all continue to remind ourselves and each other just what had us all "extremely pissed off" two weeks ago.
Let's stay on track, America. Our future is depending on us.
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