More than 500 attend Fort Smith ‘Tea Party’

Keep our acts clean, least we lose the goose and the eggs.

its a "Tea Party" (you know, like the Boston Tea Party), not "teabagging"

If you don't know what "teabagging" refers to, a quick google search will clue you in

From the pictures here and on my TV I can observe a number of things. 1. Fat people claiming to be starved to death by high taxes are ever so much more believable on radio. 2. Only white people like tea. 3. That weren't no tea...it was pure Republican Koolaid being served. 4. I must assume that Mayor Baker won't touch a penny of that dirty stimulus money offered to Fort Smith ala Sarah Palin.

If these be the true Americans, the real Americans, I'm quaking in my boots! For one thing no facts were invited to these parties, facts were more scarce than black people. And how disingenuous of Ms Johnson to leave out that the Tea Parties were wholly sponsored and advertised 24-7 by Fox News. Is it fair to leave out millions of dollars of free advertising and all day coverage? I think not.

Mr. McVay at least attempts to find the facts, his mistake is relying on Fox News, a well known cooker of facts and figures and of course the corporate sponsor of 760 poorly attended shockingly all white parties across the country.

Having watched all the Tea Party coverage I could find yesterday I conclude these people can be divided into just a few groups. Those who hate that we have a black President. Those who are mad as hell, but can't really find a good place to direct their anger. Those who hate Democrats. And those who never ever want to pay a penny in taxes unless it goes to blow up foreign people.

I've been to some bad parties, but yesterday takes the cake. The money Obama is being forced to spend is to cure the disasters left by George W. Bush. This is much like parents forced to spend their saving to bail out a miscreant child.

It will be painful, no one should like it, but 500 people in Fort Smith might appear more intelligent if they directed their blame and their anger at a man enjoying a new house in a fancy gated community in Texas.

WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY AND HE IS US.

Kings, there's no need to yell (i.e. type in ALL CAPS).

Mr. McVay, some paragraph breaks would make your post easier to read.

As for the Tea Parties, they were a disappointment on a national level. Even the most generous estimates have fewer than 750,000 people attending the protests. That's .002 of the general population and .005 of the voters in the last election.

More people attend college football games on Saturdays in the fall than attended these Astroturf protests.

It was great to see so many people together at one time and all interested in improving our government.
I have some suggestions for all concerned. Get involved and get informed - Watch C-Span to get the whole picture.

How do big government tax and spenders get elected? The answer is simple, you vote for them. You simply cannot tell by listening to their pompous words or by how they dress or by their party affiliation. They usually don’t tell you about their big spending addiction. On December 11th, 2007, FOXNEWS.COM published a story called the biggest big government conservative. Of course, big government conservative used to be an oxymoron. The story told how this governor increased state spending by 65%; How the number of government workers increased by 20 percent, and the state’s debt services increased by nearly $1 billion. He financed his spending binge with higher taxes. Under his leadership, the average state citizen’s tax burden increased by 47 percent, including increases in the state’s gas, sales, income, and cigarette taxes. In fact, he raised taxes on everything from groceries to nursing home beds. The article said he doesn’t just embrace big government in the form of big taxes. He truly appears to believe that if something is a good idea it should be a federal government program. He was the only Republican candidate for president who opposed school choice. The Cato Institute is a highly respected non-profit public policy research foundation headquartered in Washington, D.C. The institute is named after Cato’s Letters a series of essays that that helped lay the philosophical foundation for the American Revolution. The Cato Institute rates governors on things like fiscal policy. The FOX News article lists well known liberal governors like Rod Blagojevich of Illinois, and Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania who received D’s in Fiscal Policy. The biggest big government tax and spender that the article was about received an “F” in 2007. What does that kind of former governor do after office? Well, he runs for president and then goes to work for FOX News, and hosts his own show called Huckabee. What does Rod Blagojevich do, he too hosts the morning drive show on Chicago’s WLS Radio Station between 7 and 9am and rumor has it that he has a big TV deal pending with NBC. Now Mike Huckabee claims to be a conservative and many of you love him. He says the right things and he is lovable. I don’t want to burst your bubble, I don’t want to break up your love affair, but if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it may not really be a duck. In fact, It might merely be a quacking mugwamp. Today Mike Huckabee is protesting taxes at a Tea Party in SC. Huckabee protesting taxes is like Andrew Zimmern protesting food. So the answer to the question about how you tell a big government tax and spender is this. And for some, this will be really bad news….. because you have to go way beyond what politicians say… and find out what they are all about. This means you have to dig, research, probe and work to find the truth. You must look beyond pompous words and sound bites; blow dried hair and shiny teeth. Are you willing to do these things? There is a leadership void among conservatives. Be careful who you allow to fill this void. Please do not take your right to vote for granted. It is precious and hallowed. When the US Constitution was ratified 200 years ago, you could vote only if you were white, male and wealthy…………After the Civil War in 1868, the 14th amendment gave Blacks the right to vote. Sure, you know that every Southern state found a way to keep blacks away from the voting booths. Blacks might have to interpret obscure sections of the state constitution and pay half a week's salary before they could register, while whites in the same town would simply have to sign their name. In the Southern states in 1964, fewer than 40 percent of black adults were registered to vote. In Mississippi, the figure dropped to 6.4 percent. Turning to women, it wasn’t until 1920 with the 19th Amendment that women were given the right to vote. This is an opening for many men to make a snide remark, Barbara, let the record show that I make no such remark. When you exercise your right to vote, a right that you have only because many gave their very lives, please make the effort to know about the politician you vote for. Don’t vote for what the politician says. Vote for what he or she really stands for and equally as important, will fight for. If they don’t already have integrity they won’t find it in a Capitol Building. Be serous when it comes to casting your vote. Look for those who truly believe in smaller, less intrusive government and less taxes. We are suffering layoffs right here in Fort Smith. Citizens are tightening their belts. But when an Arkansas state employee retires, another is quickly hired. There is no talk about government belt tightening. Leaders never question the work load or work ethic of government employees. Look for candidates who will control government spending, really cut taxes, streamline operations and get a day’s work for a day’s pay from government workers. It would also be nice, as a bonus, to have legislators who are more concerned with the rights of legal aliens, citizens and veterans than they are about illegal aliens. May God Bless you all and God Bless America.

It is so good to see people finely saying Enough is Enough! Stand up againt the Government who has lost all contact to it's people. It is a whole different world between the average person and the people we elect in Washington DC. They can not fix our problem until they walk in our shoes. We invited DC offical to come and live 6 mos. on our budget. Leave their unlimited credit cards at home and live just like we have to live. BUT GUESS WHAT, WE COULD NOT GET THEM TO AGREE TO DO THIS! The people in Washington DC has no interest in helping it's people, nor will they stoop to what they feel is belittling themself. If anyone from Washington DC that is an elected offical reads this "THE OFFER STILL STANDS" YOU CAN CONTACT US AT THE EMAIL OF "changingssi@yahoo.com WE WILL BE HAPPY TO LET YOU LEARN HOW REAL PEOPLE LIVE AND STRUGGLE.
KEEP THE TEA PARTY GOING IT SHOULD BE AN EVERY WEEK OR MONTHLY THING, UNTIL ENOUGH PEOPLE GET INVOLVED THAT THE GOVERNMENT OFFICALS CAN NO LONG IGNORE WHAT THE PEOPLE ARE SAYING! GOD BLESS AMERICA AND BRING BACK WHAT OUR FORFATHERS STOOD FOR AND OUR VETS HAVE DIED FOR....THAT IS.....ON WORD........FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!