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Friday, April 17, 9:30 Addendum
The photos have finally arrived in my email. For the saga of how I managed to get them, see the Friday blog. I'm very pleased now to include them here:
This would be me with Cleve Tidwell. My sign says "Don't Steal My Rights. I'm Still Using Them."
If you get a chance to talk with him, don't be afraid to ask difficult questions. He won't have a problem answering them—straight answers, too.
I met an impressive gentleman during the tea party. He's an ex-Marine businessman, Cleve Tidwell, who plans to run for the US Senate from Colorado. He's an enthusiastic Constitutional conservative, who happens to be be a Republican. Like me, he's not very proud of the voting record of most current incumbent legislators in Washington. James, his head of public relations, took some photos of us, and said he'd forward a selection of photos of today's event to me for my blog. If you're an early reader and didn't see any photos, check back later. When they arrive, I'll edit the post to include James' photos.
I want to mention a group of musicians who really made a difference. Arriving in period costume with fifes and drums, carrying a beautiful colonial flag, the Northern Colorado Drum and Fife Corp added a sense of spirit and joy to the rally. They marched through the crowds on the sidewalks, covering all four approaches to the intersection before the afternoon ended. It's amazing how much a small marching band like that can raise the hopes of people.
After a couple of hours, I had started to lag. My back was starting to hurt. The wind was tearing at my sign, and my arms were getting tired. The weather was turning cold. Still, people were driving by, honking and cheering, and I knew it was important to stay. The traffic light changed, and the band started across toward us. The fifes trilled. The drums ruffled and carried the rhythm as they followed the flag across the street to our side. Suddenly, I was standing straight again, my sign held higher. My heart swelled, and I looked at that beautiful flag with hope. This is my country, I thought. Suddenly I just wasn't that tired anymore.
Now for the fun. I stood with a couple of really nice ladies who were great about holding my sign periodically while I jotted down what other signs said so I could list my favorites on my blog. So thank you, Dawn and (I hope I got her name right) Esse. I wasn't sure I heard her name right, but she was really nice. Both of them were. Thanks to them, I was able to write down these other fun signs without clobbering anyone over the head with my own poster board.
I Can't Afford Any More Change
Stimulus is the Audacity of Dopes
Congress: I Am Not Your ATM!
Stimulus Package: Trickle Up Poverty
Elephants And Asses Screwing Up the Masses
I Spent My Middle Class Tax Refund on This Sign
Commander And Thief
King George Didn't Listen To Us Either
Government Is The Biggest Pirate Of All
I'm Only 9, And Already $36,000 In Debt
Free Markets, Not Free Loaders
Cut Taxes, Not Deals
Change? That's All We Have Left
Audit The Federal Reserve
Vote Out All Incumbents
Silence Is Consent
Liberty Is All The Stimulus We Need
Bigger Government Is Not The Solution. It Is The Problem.
Don't Steal My Rights. I'm Still Using Them.
Those Who Give Up Liberty For Safety Deserve Neither.
4 comments:
I'm glad you had a good time. I think most of the tea parties had larger turnouts than expected. There were a lot of good quips out there, thanks for sharing. Can't wait to see the pics.
Great blog! And great write up about the tea party.
I followed Cleve Tidwell to the Ft. Collins and Loveland tea parties. He gave a tremendous speech in Ft. Collins and had the whole crowd going.
And my goodness the crowd in Loveland was incredible! I could not believe the amount of people who are just fed up with our runaway government spending!
Keep blogging!
Here's a couple signs from over in WI
"No pirates died while Bush was president"
"The real messiah only asks for 10%"
guess who was carrying those?
There were about 8000 at Madison, and while walking around afterward, we kept commenting on how clean the grounds were and how civilized everyone behaved.
Great blog. I have visited with Cleve a few times and have been very impressed with him. Just what we need someone that knows how to generate revenue instead of wasteful spending. Why not let him take his secrets of success to the Senate. We don't need bailouts: WE NEED JOBS!
Bryan
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