The following is an email written by Kyle Constable, the local leader of HUCKPAC and newly-elected Treasurer of the GA Teen Republicans, to our fellow organizers of the Plains Independence Day Tea Party.
My Message to the Plains, GA Tea Party Organizers
Everyone,
I really must express my concern with the agenda. There really isn’t enough open mic time and I am deeply concerned that we are losing the true purpose of the Tea Parties. You scheduled 40 minutes of open mic, which sounds great at first, but when you really break it down, it’s not so great. First, you said we’re expecting 1,200 people. That would be a GREAT turnout. But the average open mic speech at the Leesburg Tea Party was 2-5 minutes long. If we use that as a basis, that means only 8-20 people get to speak. Even if we limited it to two minutes per open mic speech, that’s still only 20 people out of 1,200 with the opportunity to speak. I don’t think that’s right. Why should only 20 people get to raise their voice and tell the government how they feel while 1,180 stand silent. I really think that we need to remember the purpose of the Tea Parties. We wanted to tell the government that we were sick and tired of the wasteful spending and the excessive taxing. We the people, wanted to stand up and take back our basic freedoms. We wanted to show the government that we were a REAL grassroots movement, not something that was organized and carefully constructed, but united in a common passion against our government ruling our lives from the top down. Why is it that we now have lots of speakers coming to tell us how we should feel (not that I have a problem with the speakers)? It should be us telling the government what the problem is. I know that I am just one kid voicing my opinion here, but I know that I represent many. My point here is, is I believe we need more then just 40 minutes of open mic time. And I hope that you take the time to reconsider your decision on the length of open mic time.
Sincerely and with great passion,
Kyle Constable
