This is the small group (in the shade!) who we stood by for the first half hour we were there. I loved that lady's sign which reads, "90% Tax Increase for Congress!" YES!! Great idea!
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We asked a young girl who was sitting under a tree near us to take a photo of Donna and I. The girl took a great picture of us! Donna is such a beauty!
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This is a photo of some of the protesters across the street. It might be hard to read what is written on the signs. One of them says, "No Government Hell Care."
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Eventually, we decided to brave the heat and stand out in the sun on the corner across the street. A photographer brought this group together for a photo. The signs are great!
1. God Bless the U.S.A. and Israel
2. The Lord Giveth and the government taketh away
3. I'm 17 and I know the truth
4. A village in Kenya is missing its idiot. Deport Obama
5. Crap and Trade - It Stinks
6. Mary Bono - Shame on you for voting for Cap and Trade
7. Equal Opportunity Not Equal Distribution
8. Freedom From Government
9. Foreclose the White House
10. Taxed Enough Already
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After the photographer was done taking pictures, the crowd spread out again and Donna snapped this one. There is the familiar "OBAMA" acronym - One Big A** Mistake America sign. The young man in black held up a sign that reads, "Oh...now I see. Change means Socialism."
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Then, Donna took a photo of me with the "Don't Tread on Me" banner guy.
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One of the most sobering signs was held up by a young Christian man. "Freedom Dies When Americans Do Nothing." Notice the back of his t-shirt quotes a portion of John 14:6 - where Jesus is quoted as saying, "I am the Way, the truth and the life." The rest of that Bible verse tells us, "no one comes to the Father except by me."
If you look in the lower right hand corner you will see that we even had our own "Joe the Plumber" look alike at the protest!
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This is a photo of the truck that drove by the protest several times. One of the signs says, "Obama stop spending. No new taxes!"
AMEN!!
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Update: I should not be surprised by this, but the San Diego Union Tribune has NOTHING about the TEA Party Protest at Mission Bay yesterday!! Typical liberal leftist rag!!
At least the North County Times/The Californian included an article about the Temecula event.
The photos reminded me of additional signs that were being held by the protesters:
1. FIRE CONGRESS! OUR GANGSTER GOV'T -> DESTROYER OF OUR CONSTITUTION
2. D.C. = DISTRICT OF CORRUPTION
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Second Update:
Ha!! Stop Socialism: Photo of a hearse with a sign on the window reading “born free but taxed to death” [as it] drives past protesters lined up in front of the Federal Courthouse on Broward Blvd [in Fort Lauderdale].
This was one of many Republican-led protests against taxes, modeled after the Boston Tea Party (in spirit, anyway; there are no ships of tea to unload) demonstration against taxes keyed to the holiday. (Mike Stocker, Sun Sentinel / July 4, 2009)
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7/8/09 Update:
NewsBusters reports: CBS Highlights Tea Party Protests on July 4
Had a link to WorldNetDaily: Top TEA Party Speech Chosen
John Manning Speech: The Defenders of Liberty
Copy of speech:
The Defenders of Liberty
Posted: July 04, 2009
1:00 am Eastern
By John Manning
© 2009
Editor's note: Following is the winning entry submitted in WorldNetDaily's Independence Day tea party speech contest.
Fastened upon our ancestors by the despots of faraway lands, the Chains of Tyranny were linked by hereditary bondage, undeserved tribute and indentured servitude. By exhibiting gallant resolve and courage – in some cases against the face of certain death – our Minutemen forefathers gloriously threw off these chains just 233 short years ago.
Much has changed since that time. Yet today, we hear again the rattling and clanking of the Chains of Tyranny. The chains we hear are held not by foreign powers. Dreadfully, it is those among us, many of whom are our elected leaders, who possess the chains and toil endlessly to cast them across our backs. Now heavier and longer, the Chains of Tyranny have been wrought with new links – apathy masked by complacency, socialism fueled by internationalism, cults of undeserved celebrity and a reckless belief in the equality of results.
Moreover, they are now deceptively plated in gold. We have been assured, time and time again, by those who hold the chains that they "know better" and that to embrace their shackles would be "for our own good."
The threatened return of the Chains of Tyranny triggers that transcendent call for us to assemble here today.
Who are we?
We are the Defenders of Liberty!
Our hands reach across generations. We do not perceive the value of each other in abstract terms of race, gender, ethnicity or creed. We do not see ourselves as rich or poor. We spurn "identity politics" as a lazy and inadequate substitute for a guarded vigilance balanced by independent thoughts. For we are all individual citizens of America – black and white, man and woman, Mayflower descendent and newly naturalized – and we must all stand united to protect freedom's priceless but delicate charge!
We detest efforts by the holders of the Chains of Tyranny to corrupt the everyday meaning of things and turn us against one another.
Hope is not faith! Change is not reform! Taxation is not charity! Equality is not opportunity! Servitude is not freedom!
To this end, we reject the following confused ideas tinkered in minds that reason abandoned and faith no longer moderates: Inconvenient truths, audacities of hope, carbon footprints, unearned incomes and government-sponsored "recoveries."
We believe there is but one market – the free market – that, if allowed to run unfettered in a free society, can provide all men and women the opportunity to use the results of their work to better themselves, their families and their communities.
We know that public bailouts, no matter the intention, foster dependence, which in turn fornicates with servitude and begets slavery. For this reason alone, we would rather walk than drive a car made by any government! We would rather be paupers than be made rich by "public" money! We would rather drop dead than be cared for by Nurse Fed!
We further reject the guise of "universal health care" and recognize this abhorrent creature for what it is: a brazen attempt to seize illegally our wealth, control how we care for our mortal bodies, limit our access to the best medicines, stifle scientific progress and medical innovation, and transform our doctor's offices and hospitals into DMV-style waiting rooms.
The Defenders of Liberty will never stand by and ignore the attempts of others to cast off their own chains of servitude. We will not strike accords or offer bribes to dictators! We would rather cut off our hands before extending them to the harbingers of evil!
Speaking of evil, we know only those true rights: those that are unalienable and endowed by our Creator. We reject penumbral "rights" as false and dangerous ideas contrived in judicial cauldrons established only to massacre those who permeate the bookends of life.
And finally, we know that our sovereignty shall forever reside in We the People. For this we reassert that any government that limits the God-given right of her citizens to defend themselves automatically ceases to be a government – for such action shall void the social contract from which it was forged.
We are the True Patriots, left to guard perpetually that shining city upon a hill. We know of her, we dream of her, and yes, throughout history she has had a name: AMERICA! Let us rally around her, for we are the Defenders of Liberty! Let us hoist our flags, wave our banners and bear our arms! Let us be vigilant and fight any attempt to ravage her! For, as the envious eyes of the world are still cast upon us, we vow not to be the last to feel the sweet effervescence of her freedom!
God bless America!
Honorable Mention speech:
Don't tread on me!
Posted: July 04, 2009
1:00 am Eastern
By Paul Stepan
© 2009
Editor's note: The following received honorable mention in WorldNetDaily's Independence Day tea party speech contest.
Don't tread on me.
Those words, written on a drum at the battle of Bunker Hill are as significant today as they were in 1775. Today, the politicians in Washington are the redcoats. Today, our future liberties are as much at stake as the colonists who formed ranks atop the hill overlooking Boston Harbor.
Don't tread on me.
These words signify the independent spirit of our forefathers. Today, they are the rallying cry for a new generation of champions of independence and liberty who want nothing less than independence from the tyranny that is grasping the neck of the American people, choking liberty so that big government can prevail.
Don't tread on me.
The flag contains the coiled rattlesnake, which "… is found in no other quarter of the world besides America." No other country can compare to the American way, to the American spirit, to the American people. We must stop the tyrants in Washington and elsewhere from changing our way of life to satisfy some misguided diversity or politically correct guideline. We must be the rattlesnake, uniquely American.
Don't tread on me.
The snake has sharp eyes, and "may therefore be esteemed an emblem of vigilance." "She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders." We must be ever vigilant to shine the light on actions that violate our Constitution. We must engage the opponents of the America that our Founding Fathers envisioned. We must fight for our rights as Americans to live in a country free from the oppression of big government and the waste that is a natural result.
Don't tread on me.
There are 13 rattles on the snake, the same number as the original colonies. The rattles are united in a single purpose, the colonies were united in their efforts to become that shining beacon on a hill, and we must be united to bring back the vision and purpose of our Founding Fathers – liberty and justice for all.
DON"T TREAD ON ME.
Hat Tip:
WorldNetDaily