Friday, September 18, 2009

Not All Tea Parties Need To Be Huge


I recently read a Post by "Parcbench" indicating that it was time to stop marching and do something. While I agree it can be overdone, I do not think we should stop. Over and over again we see movements develop. Leaders emerge. They are taken over by more powerful and financially developed organizations and the people who were involved are left to feel disenfranchised.

I will grant you that the large groups get access to the media and are effective in lobbing for taxpayers through our contributions and support. We definitely need to continue to support them. But, we need to maintain our own protests and our own groups to not only remind ourselves how important we are, but also, to remind those lobbyist and politicians that we are the force that makes them possible.

It is easy for us (well maybe not these days) to write a check and let someone else do our work for us. That is how we got into this mess to begin with. We have to continue to keep ourselves informed, question what our elected officials tell us and think about the consequences of what is being done. All to often, we are sucked into party politics before we know it and who gets elected becomes more important than what they stand for.

I say, keep these tea party groups going for all levels of government. One of the things that makes them most effective is recognizing that there are others out there that feel just like you. It keeps your spirit and your enthusiasm charged. It keeps you from being lethargic and just plain lazy. It keeps you informed and allows you to know what questions to ask. Don't slip back to the way it was because we have only made a dent. We still do not have the respect of those who are elected by us and who have usurped power that is not theirs to take.

Be selective but not invisible. Keep them on their toes and in their place.

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