Fascism and Communism are examples. Liberals and Conservatives are another. Democrats and Republicans. Greens and Constitutionals. You get the idea.

Is it therefore any surprise that the Tea Party has a similar opponent forming as we speak, with chapters across the US – including here in Georgia?

This opponent is the Coffee Party.

From its “About Me” page (emphasis theirs):

We demand a government that responds to the needs of the majority of its citizens as expressed by our votes and by our voices; NOT corporate interests as expressed by misleading advertisements and campaign contributions.

Looking at a couple of their writings, two things are noted. The first I disagree with, and the second I agree with just as much as I disagree with the first:

1) They believe massive amounts of government, ie, the Nanny State, is a GOOD thing. This is one of the largest differences between them and the smaller* government Tea Party. (*The Tea Party does not actually believe in smaller government, as they actively endorse foreign interventionism that is costing us BILLIONS of dollars, as expressed at their recent convention. The Tea Party also supports continued Christian theocracy, again as expressed at their recent convention, which also costs us BILLIONS of dollars every year both via the Drug War and other programs and via blocking potential revenue sources, such as legalized -and taxed- drugs, prostitution, and gambling.)

2) They believe Democracy belongs to individuals, not corporations. This one I wholeheartedly agree with them on – much to the chagrin of some of my Libertarian (and libertarian) brethren.

Obviously, I’m not exactly a fan of the nanny state by any stretch of the imagination. Unlike the Tea Party though, at least they’re honest about it. I do absolutely believe that democracy belongs to individuals. While I hate the corporatism that is occurring in America, I honestly don’t know what can be done to stop corporation influence over elections. After all, if you ban it, are you not restricting the free speech and association of the directors of the company?

So there you have it – one group springs up that “draws votes away from” one half of the Big Government Party, and a corresponding group springs up to “draw votes away from” the other half.

This is Democracy at its finest – each group working to spread its message and urge voters to choose them in the ballot booth.

Why does the Big Government Party (both Democrats and Republicans) fear Democracy so much?

H/T Independent Political Report

However, I read time and time again about how the tea parties were astroturfing.  In a recent post on The Democratic Strategist, attacks were leveled against some core libertarian groups.

In the piece, the author attacks FreedomWorks by saying:

• The organization was started by top Bush administration and Republican Party insiders including former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer and Carl Forti, long-time communications director at the RNCC and earlier this year Political Director for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.

• FreedomWorks major funder has been Billionaire Sheldon G. Adelson, who is the biggest gambling casino operator on the planet.

• FreedomWorks is currently headed by Dick Armey, now a corporate lobbyist whose firm represents, among others, Sheikh Mohammmed Bin Rishid Ad Maltoum, Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates on oil related issues and (in 2006) the Senate of Mexico on immigration issues.

 

So what? I’ve said before that I don’t care who comes to the dance, just so long as they’re there to dance.

However, things get ugly a short ways down. An attack against Rep. Ron Paul is point one:

In the 1990’s , Ron Paul has had a variety of connections with militia groups and racial organizations (Paul’s connection with militia and racist groups in the 1990’s is detailed here.

I chose to link to the Daily Kos piece because frankly, there’s ridiculously little there. A piece with racial overtones was in Dr. Paul’s newsletter. However, he didn’t write them. Could he have edited them? Yes, but as a proponent of free speech, I suspect Dr. Paul chose to let the words stand as they were.

And as for his ties to “militia groups and racial organizations”? Yes, he laid down a lot of what those groups wanted to hear in regards to things like the Fed. However, there are no “ties” that anyone demonstrates in that piece.

Of course, even Ayn Rand couldn’t escape the crosshairs, and she’s been dead for almost 30 years. The author writes:

• Ayn Rand’s objectivist philosophy is bitterly anti-Christian (dismissing Christianity as ”superstition” and religious faith as “extremely detrimental to human life” ) and deeply contemptuous of average working people (“The man at the bottom who, left to himself, would starve in his hopeless ineptitude, contributes nothing to those above him, but receives the bonus of all of their brains.”)

First, the author is right about Objectivism’s attitudes toward Christianity. Truthfully, it’s a militant athiest-type philosophy and so be it. However, that’s where the truth comes to an abrupt halt. The “average working man” is not an object of contempt in Objectivism. Instead, the “man at the bottom” is actually referring to those who refuse to work and instead expect to be served by those who actually do through government programs.

In her magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged, Rand shows a great many working men actually at Galt’s Gulch, John Galt’s paradise away from the looters and moochers of the world. Rand believed that people were either looters, moochers, or producers. Producers could easily be the engineer who creates an amazing invention, or the schmuck who works on the assembly line building it. It was about an attitude, which was earning what you get, rather than having it given to you.

These assertions show me that, if the author speaks for other democratic strategists, that the tea parties are being easily dismissed despite the first few paragraphs that indicated an understanding of people actually at tea parties. Alas, that seems to have gone away.

Instead, it’s easier to characterize us as kooks and extremists for expecting our voices to be heard. Truthfully though, could we expect anything else? One or two days of April 15 are far from enough. We must maintain this pressure, and we need to do it for years. When Obama is gone from 1600 Pennsylvannia Ave, we need to keep going.

It’s time that the government listens to the people, whether they want to or not.

Mr. Galloway gives one a ton of reasons why there weren’t that many people, mostly geography based.  In all honesty, as someone who’s knowledge of the layout of Atlanta is rudimentary at best, it sounds plausible and Mr. Galloway’s estimate of 6,500 to 7,500 sounds very possible.  However, there’s one inescapable tid bit of information that Mr. Galloway fails to mention, even while chastizing other news outlets for repeating the 15,000 “myth” as he puts it.  That number didn’t come from Tea Party organizers, nor Fox News as he alludes to.  No, it came from the Altanta Police Department.

You see, the Atlanta Police don’t have a stake in what the protests were about, especially since the vast majority present were in favor of police presence.  Instead, they made estimates based on their need to be able to respond to potential trouble.  While it might be high, and I willingly conceed that point, it’s still likely to be much closer in my opinion.

What’s also amusing is that I don’t recall Mr. Galloway blasting numbers for any of the other protests in recent memory.  The counts for pro-immigration marches all over the nation a few years ago, and it counts for the anti-war protests.  Even Mr. Galloway mentions that news organizations rarely sweat the count. “Since the ‘60s, when demonstrations erupted in full flower, news organizations have been loathe to get bogged down in crowd counts,” writes Mr. Galloway.  Then why now?

Tens of thousands of Americans take to the streets to protest our government overstepping the bounds set upon them by the founding fathers, and now Mr. Galloway wants to question the numbers?  It smacks to me of the counter protests at Tea Parties, asking where we were for the last 8 years.  As if somehow right and wrong are tied into right and left.

I won’t deny that the estimates might be high.  I argue about the necessity of arguing about it in the first place.  The only logical reason is to decrease the impact of April 15 protests.  Well, I won’t allow that to happen if I can help it.  The fact remains that tens of thousands in the US made a stand against oppression.  We will have to make more, but the die is cast and the future is ours.

Can we take our nation back, even with people like Mr. Galloway trying to trivialize our efforts?  YES WE CAN!

That’s right, we are all victims. Victims to a government who takes our wages before we even have an opportunity to even see them. They take our money by force, making us work for months with essentially no wage.

We’ve all done this for years I suspect. We’ve been silent in our victim hood, because we believed Washington when they told us it was for our own good. We were told that taxes were the price we paid to live in a civilized society. We were told that our taxes were going to make the world a better place. And we foolishly believed them.

Guess what folks? Apparently, to make the world a better place, we have to pay for incompetence. We have to pay for ineptitude. We have to pay for arrogance. And we have to pay for fraudulence.

All over the country, we have been told how we have to bail out Wall Street. We have to Bail out Detroit. We have to bail out those who bought houses they couldn’t afford. My question to Washington is “why?” Why do I have to bail out those who lied? Why do I have to bail out those who didn’t think? Why do I have to bail out anyone?

Keep this in mind folks, this isn’t new. We bailed Chrysler out in 1979, and look what happened. They need us again. And most of these currently being bailed out will need us again. It’s like a parent who keeps handing money to an irresponsible child. That child will keep coming back for money until the money stops coming. Then, they’ll learn to manage. Just as these companies need to learn themselves.

But it seems Uncle Sam thinks he knows better. You see, while we were paying our bills, others weren’t. Banks made loans to people who never should have been approved. People bought homes they knew they couldn’t afford. They created a real estate bubble. Like all bubbles, it was bound to burst. It’s not the first bubble to burst, and it won’t be the last.

But now Washington wants to step in and save the day, as if they’re Superman. Unfortunately, they’re trying to do it with OUR money!

What they’re trying to do is remove the ability to fail. However, they’re also trying to remove our ability to succeed. It’s called a free market people! It means that you’re “free” to fail! However, it’s through failure that success comes. Thomas Edison didn’t find the best filament with his first try! He had to fail, time and time again. The result was the electric light bulb that we all know and love. We need that failure to ultimately keep our economy strong.

Here’s the thing, it’s the difficulties in life that makes it possible to achieve greatness. People are a lot like a lump of coal. We’re useful and all that as is, but when you exert enough pressure, we can turn into something amazing. For coal it’s a diamond, for us it’s something equally hard but equally amazing. But Congress doesn’t want us to have this ability. They don’t want us to achieve greatness. They want us to stay useful but nothing more. Heaven forbid that we, as a people, achieve greatness anymore.

Of course, what can we expect? They want to reward incompetence and fraud, and punish achievement. They want to reward failure and punish success. Instead of helping people rise from the ashes like the phoenix of legend by just getting out of their way, they want to continue with failed ideas that have been shown not to work!

Einstein once defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. I could sum it up easier. Insanity: See Congress!

I say that because every time they try a program, it seems that it fails. But, instead of looking to see if the premise for that program is what’s wrong, the leaders of that program convince Congress that the problem was a lack of funds. So Congress votes to give them more money. Sure enough, they cite the lack of success as grounds for even more money. And Congress, in its insanity, gives it to them. They keep doing the same thing over and over. And to make matters worse, this is our money they’re doing it with.

The Washington insiders, and they’re all insiders so don’t let them fool ya. The insiders will tell you that this is necessary. We have to do this because AIG, or Citibank, or Ford, or Chrysler or whoever is to big to fail. BULL! None of them are too big to let fail. Out of that failure, something new will arise and do great things. The ONLY thing, and I mean the ONLY thing, that’s too big to fail is the United States of America. WE THE PEOPLE are too big to fail! The Red, white, and blue is too big to fail. Baseball, Apple Pie, and Mom are too big to fail! Oddly enough, it’s the only things Washington seems OK with letting fail. They take on debt that my son will never see paid off pretending that it’ll make things better, when we know otherwise.

The irony is that this country traces it’s revolutionary lineage to tax protests! It was our founding fathers who dumped a load of tea into Boston Harbor to protest a new tax the crown had just saddled on us. They snuck on board and tossed it all into the harbor. That first tea party is the ancestor of THIS tea party.

That first tea party, in 1773, was only the beginning. Three years later, the Declaration of Independence was written and signed. Shortly after that, we fought the British for our freedom. We all know this chain of events well, but now it’s time for a second revolution. It’s time to stand and be counted among the patriots of our great nation. It’s time to stop the taxation for politician’s vanity. It is time to take back our nation!

Here in Albany, Georgia, we stand up and tell the folks in Washington, “NO MORE!” We’re tired of your meddling. We’re tired of your squabbling. We’re tired of your arrogance. WE THE PEOPLE have had enough!

People will blame all sorts of folks for this mess. They’ll blame Presidents like they’re some sort of Economy King. They’ll blame the corporations. They’ll blame everyone except those responsible. But what difference does it make? None. WE THE PEOPLE are in this mess already, so how about every one of you politicians and bureaucrats get out of our way and let us fix this mess! Let us fix this mess with hard work and innovation, the old fashioned American way!

Make no mistake my fiends. That is what it’ll take to get out of this mess. It’s going to take Americans being Americans. It’s going to take WE THE PEOPLE stepping up and fixing things, because our elected officials sure can’t seem to fix anything without just throwing money at it. WE THE PEOPLE know already how to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Does Congress?

Seriously. They didn’t even bother to read the stimulus bill. They just voted on the thing, without even reading the bill. They put us into trillions of dollars of debt, and they couldn’t even be bothered to read the freaking bill? You and I, our children, and our grand children will be paying off this debt for our entire lives, and they couldn’t be bothered to read the bill? What are they doing up there if they’re to busy to read the bills they vote on? I mean, their job is to vote on bills…I’d think they should have to read them first, don’t you?

But apparently not. They sit atop their ivory tower of authority and look down on the peons beneath them. Sure, you can go and talk to them. You can call up their offices in Washington and get an appointment to see them. But does that make them any less out of touch? It doesn’t seem like it, does it? I mean, Charles Schumer said that the American People didn’t care what they did about the economy, so long as they did something. Tell you what Mr. Schumer. Take a look around the nation right now. Over 3,000 protests are occurring right now. And you don’t think WE THE PEOPLE cared what you did?

That’s the thing though. They don’t understand WE THE PEOPLE anymore. But it’s time WE THE PEOPLE reminded them. They need to remember that they work for WE THE PEOPLE. WE THE PEOPLE are the ones who decide who gets to go up the Ivory Tower, and who gets to come back down. WE THE PEOPLE are supposed to be the power in this nation, a government OF the people, BY the people, and FOR the people.

Every single one of the people who voted to thrust this debt upon us, and to steal our money and give it to those who screwed up has to deal with an upcoming election. Take to the streets if you have to, but now is the time for a revolution. Vote them all out! Don’t let any of them go back to Washington except as a tourist! Vote third party if you have to, just fight to take back your rights and don’t let them return to steal from us more.

Let’s take our nation back, so that WE THE PEOPLE decide. Let’s keep our nation strong, so that the land of the free and the home of the brave shall never perish from this Earth.

If you have ever seen the movie “National Treasure” you know that the characters in the movie examine the Constitution for clues to a treasure. While I do not know if such a treasure exists, I do know that there is a clue hidden in the Constitution. The founding fathers put it there for occasions such as this. They didn’t really make a big effort to hide it either. Instead, they made the letters far bigger than the rest of the text of the document. WE THE PEOPLE…

You see, the government gets its power from us, not the other way around, and when we have allowed the government to get so big that our representatives do not represent us, it is time that we take it back.

It has long been said that the majority of people in America live conservative values. We go about our lives in an independent fashion and we are slow to complain or speak out. But the silent majority will be silent no more!

It is time that WE The People stand together to take back this country. I am calling for a revolution starting right now, right here! A non violent revolution that begins with you and me. We must return to our Christian roots and a sense of morality. Newsweek, the same publication that announced that we are all socialists now, recently reported that we are no longer a Christian nation. Our nation was built on a Christian foundation by our moral founders. Once we as a people drift from that, we start to believe that we get our rights from the government rather than God. That is exactly what big government would have you believe. That explains why religion is under attack in this country. If you are not a member of a congregation, I urge you to find a place to worship and different denominations must stand together against this assault.

Our founders organized this country based on Nature’s law. This rule of law is only effective for a moral people; and for the people to remain moral, they need to elect virtuous leaders. That is why it is important to know so much about our leaders before we go to the ballot box. Power can corrupt even the most virtuous among us, which is exactly why we need to limit the terms of Congress. The nation, and especially our government, needs to return to personal values and principles.

The next part of this revolution begins at the ballot box. That is how issues are settled in this country. We can change the face of government without the threat of violence with the power of the vote and an informed electorate. The lack of objectivity from today’s press makes it hard for citizens to stay informed without referencing the so called new media of the Internet and talk radio. In the news article about the local tea parties, Donna Driskell quoted Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson said, “Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government. The government is best which governs least, because its people discipline themselves.”
Stay informed, know your sources, and spread only the truth among your friends.

Many of you brought tea bags with you to the rally today. We are collecting them and will personally deliver them to Sanford Bishop tomorrow. Representative Bishop was one of those that voted for the spending bill. In fact, I read that he brought more pork projects to the state of Georgia than any other representative. That sounds great until you realize that the country is broke, our creditors in China are shying away from financing our debt, and we are printing money to cover the spending and monetize our debt. Representative Bishop is now in town to sell his support of the stimulus package to his constituents. He says infrastructure improvement projects ear marked in the bill will cut down on future flooding. Bishop has represented the 2nd District since 1993. He was our representative during the flood of 1994. Why hasn’t he made these improvements already? Our Congressional District is the ninth poorest in the nation. We deserve better. Furthermore, any Senator or Representative that did not read the largest spending bill in history needs to be fired, period!

Our sister Tea Party, in Leesburg, is collecting Tea Bags to give to Johnny Isakson this week. Isakson voted for the TARP funds against the wishes of his constituents. You remember the TARP funds, don’t you? We were told last fall that we needed $700 billion to buy up toxic assets so that banks would lend money again. When asked where the treasury came up with that number, the secretary let it slip that they were just looking for a really big number. Remember just a few short months ago when $700 billion seemed like a really big number?

The deficit is now reported to be $12.8 trillion. How can this ever be repaid without making slaves out of our children and grandchildren? What is being done in Washington is nothing shy of child abuse at the hands of our elected officials. The country needs to operate just like you and me. When times are tough, tighten the belt and live within your budget. We cannot spend ourselves into financial prosperity. The concept is simply absurd.

The government needs to return to the gold standard. Printing money and monetizing our debt is financial suicide. These actions will result in hyper inflation a year from now. If you and I printed money to cover our debts, we would be thrown into jail.

It is time that we send a message, not to just Sanford Bishop and Johnny Isakson, but to all of our politicians. This is not a Republican or a Democrat issue. Both parties have taken us from the original intention of our founders. WE The People, it is time to stand up and let our voices be heard.

The third part of my proposed revolution is a call for a grassroots movement. That too starts tonight. People have gathered here, in Leesburg, and in over 2000 cities scattered across the nation. The organizers of this event have used several different ways to promote the Tea Party. I don’t know how you learned about this event, but you did just as countless others did. Unlike so many people that knew about the event this evening, you made a commitment to appear and let your voice be heard. That does not stop at the conclusion of tonight’s tea party. There is a sign-in sheet so that we can keep in contact. So often we are hit with the news of the day and we feel like we are alone. You are not! I urge you to sign up with FreedomWorks, a nonprofit organization that fights for lower taxes, less government and more economic freedom for all Americans. FreedomWorks drives policy change by training and mobilizing grassroots Americans to engage their fellow citizens and encourage their political representatives to act in defense of individual freedom and economic opportunity. The effort is not just on a national basis either. FreedomWorks keeps tabs on our state and local lawmakers. I urge you to sign in with a FreedomWorks representative so that you can stay informed with the actions of our representatives and return their accoutablility to WE The People!

Get involved with my book club. Come out tomorrow to the Sunset Grill at 6pm. Again, you are welcome to attend whether you have read the book or not. Come out. Let’s talk and make connections. That is what it is all about.

I also urge you to join Glenn Beck’s www.the912project.com By joining these various groups, we combine our voice to create our own special interest group representing the values, principles, and morals that are lacking in so many of our law makers today and once again hold them accountable to WE The People.

While preparing this speech yesterday, I learned that FreedomWorks is planning a march on Washington on September 12 of this year. This march is still in the planning stages so all of the details have not been released yet, but stay tuned!

To review, the call for a new American Revolution involves three steps. Reconnect with your own religious and moral compass and value principles and virtue in our elected leaders. Two: Become an informed citizen. Don’t rely on just one source for your news and verify what you see through other sources. And finally get involved in a grassroots movement like Freedomworks, my book club, or the 912project.com Taken individually, our voices are weak, but together, WE The People will be heard!

Thank you!

Bill Waller is the co-organizer of the local chapter of FreedomWorks.

The Libertarian Party Prosperity Plan

1. Repeal the income tax: Adopt legislation repealing the income tax and abolishing the Internal Revenue Service. Until the income tax is repealed, adopt legislation preserving the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts and enacting across-the-board income tax cuts.
2. Adopt the Balanced Budget Amendment: Adopt a constitutional amendment requiring the federal budget be balanced, and balanced exclusively by cutting expenditures, not by raising taxes.
3. Abolish corporate welfare and bailouts: Adopt federal legislation prohibiting any federal spending program that provides payments or unique benefits and advantages to specific companies or industries, terminating programs that provide direct grants to businesses, eliminating programs that provide research and other services for industries and ending programs that provide subsidized loans or insurance to businesses.