Alabama Tea Party: Call to Arms
By S. J. Miller
MichNews.com
Mar 8, 2005
Russ Fine's "Call to Arms" at Saturday's
Alabama Tea Party left no doubt why his group had such
difficulty in finding a meeting place. There's no doubt that
Alabama's politicians would exert any influence possible
against meetings with such an agenda as the Alabama Tea Party.
Yet the Tea Party did find meeting space at the Alabama
Theater, with an estimated 1800 Alabamans in attendance.
Speakers included Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore on
"Judicial Tyranny & the Demoralization of America," Matt
Murphy on Alabama's governmental and tax issues, and Erin
Anderson giving a preview of what Alabamans can anticipate
with the mass invasion of illegal aliens to the US.
By Saturday evening, Alabamans learned that politicians don't
have an exclusive on "deaf ears." The Tea Party coverage on
local TV gave only a passing mention to the Tea Party, with no
mention at all of the three primary agenda topics. That was
true of the three TV networks, FOX News and all but one of the
local Birmingham newspapers.
In its column on the Tea Party, the Birmingham News
listed only Judge Roy Moore; the News writer totally
ignored Erin Anderson and Matt Murphy. Apparently illegal
immigration and responsible government are two topics that the
News wants to suppress.
Had the 1800 people held an anti-war protest rally, the
coverage would have been massive. Had only 10 left-wing
radicals met on a downtown street corner to call for an
overthrow of the government, the so-called "story" would have
appeared on the Evening News for the next week. Had illegal
aliens held mass rallies to demand their "rights," every
radio, TV network and newspaper in Alabama would have sent
people and reported in detail, including "man on the street"
interviews with citizens in attendance.
The First Amendment is really taking a beating.
When citizens contact their elected representatives to
"petition the government for a redress of grievances," they
hear silence. When they want to meet together to form voting
blocs that might affect incumbents' re-elections, the
politicians exercise "prior restraint" to make it impossible
for them to locate a meeting place.
To add insult to injury, the same media who scream "freedom of
the press" by that same First Amendment show clearly that they
don't REALLY mean a free press, just that the press is free to
censor the news according to their own personal agenda.
What on earth was the Tea Party's agenda that both the
politicians and the news media were so determined to quash?
The opening speech of Dr. Russ Fine, Tea Party organizer, may
shed some light. The entire speech is listed on the show's
website at
www.russanddeeonline.com; I've included the four summary
statements:
"Reason #1 we’re here is to remind everyone that the
state belongs to the people of Alabama …
This state belongs to you and today,
we, The people of Alabama declare eminent domain
over this state and this state government and we will
start the proceedings with the Alabama Legislature and the
Governor’s mansion.
This is the day we put them on record that we are going to
fire them. And we’re going to hire new people who
understand what the job is and who their bosses are and
what their bosses expect.
We are going to fire and hire and fire and hire until
every would-be office holder in this state ... comes to
understand, the day they sign up: They work for us. We’re
the managers. They are the players and every player is
expendable."
"The 2nd but the most
critical reason we’re here today is equally simple and
straight-forward:
We have a horrible problem with
illegal aliens in this country . And we have a
horrible problem with illegal aliens all over this
state. Illegal aliens and illegal immigration
are the greatest threats to our national security
we face. Illegal aliens and illegal immigration are the
greatest threats to our national sovereignty we
face.
Today, the Alabama Tea Party sends a message to all those
Alabamians who scoff at and ignore immigration laws for
their personal gain.
Today, the Alabama Tea Party sends a message to all those
federal, state, county and municipal office holders, as
well as to all those who think they might wish to hold
office in the future: Ending illegal immigration and
ending the hiring of illegal aliens in the State of
Alabama will become one of your top priorities
or we will end your political careers…wherever they
are at the moment."
The 3rd reason we are here
today is taxes and the out of control taxaholics and tax
addicts in the Legislature, the Governor’s Office and in the
Alabama Education Association leadership.
Our fellow talk-show host and friend,
Matt Murphy is leading the charge on that front and he
will be out here momentarily to explain the problem and
lay out some simple solutions.
Finally, the 4th reason we
are here is to explain how we will do what we have set out to
do this day.
We will organize, we will strategize,
we will recruit and we will see to it that the only men
and women who sit in the ALABAMA LEGISLATURE are those who
have signed a public oath to make INITIATIVE,
REFERENDUM AND RECALL … the law in Alabama.
Initiative, Referendum and Recall...3 little words that
make the professional politicians’ breath quicken, heart
race and blood run cold.
Ladies and Gentleman … Please understand that as excited
and enthusiastic and optimistic as we are we accept that
achieving all of our goals will not and cannot happen
overnight …
The American Revolution experienced many setbacks … but
all of that which we set out to do today can be
accomplished in a comparatively short period of time and
we can do it honestly and ethically and we will do it
without corruption … because, as much as we loath and
detest the politically correct term, we pledge zero
tolerance for deceit, dishonesty, unethical behavior and
corruption …
So, if there is anyone in this room who is willing to
tolerate even a scintilla of those things … we suggest you
take up with some other people and leave right now,
because you are in the wrong room.
Thanks so much for being here today, May God Bless You and
Keep You. May God cause His countenance to shine upon you
all of your days, and my God Bless and Keep The Great
People of the Great State of Alabama."
Wow! The state of Alabama belongs to the
people of Alabama? Alabamans won't tolerate illegal
immigration and will vote out of office any elected
officeholder who opposes them? Alabamans won't tolerate
further "tax-and-spend" legislators and governors? Alabamans
want the democratic processes of Initiative, Referendum and
Recall added to their state constitutions?
That's pretty revolutionary stuff. Next, Alabamans will be
expecting elected officials to serve the interests of the
people and not their own!
Incumbent politicians will hope that voters still embrace a
tired old voter mantra. That Dr. Fine didn't include it in his
speech tells me that the citizens of Alabama should trash it:
"The Lesser of two
evils."
--------------------------------
About the Author: An Arizonan who participated in gathering
signatures for Prop 200, S. J. Miller knows the meaning of
"I'm mad as hell and I won't take it any more." After the
passage of Prop 200 in Arizona's 2004 election, she chides
politicians who dismiss as "frustration" citizens' outrage
over illegal immigration.
"Frustrated citizens sit on their duff and bitch, and do
nothing more. Citizens who leave the couch, carry petitions in
the Arizona sun, post "Yes on 200" signs on street corners,
distribute leaflets and write "pro-200" letters to the editor
have left 'frustrated' behind long ago. Those citizens are
just plain angry, and politicians who don't recognize the
difference will soon receive a "voters' pink slip."
She's a former veteran of the IT industry who sought another
career rather than "follow the jobs" abroad, and a lifelong
resident of border states, California, Texas, Arizona, and
Nevada.
Source:
http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_7141.shtml
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