Tea Party Next Move? My Call For Civil Disobedience (Updated)

Note/Update, June 29, 2012: In light of yesterday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld the mandate in Obamacare, I feel that this post is more relevant than ever. I wrote it with Illinois in mind, but the idea applies to the whole nation.
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Where was the Tea Party in January, 2011? In Illinois, they seemed to be asleep at the wheel in the days leading up to voting in the State Legislature for one of the worst tax hikes ever. UPDATE, Feb. 2, 2011: Is This Any Way To Revolt? April 15 March on Springfield Will Last Only Two Hours

During his campaign last year, Governor Pat Quinn warned voters that he would raise taxes. Don’t worry, he assured us, it will be a very small increase. He repeated that publicly during his campaign, and enough voters either didn’t hear him, didn’t understand the implications of what he said, or are so ignorant of basic economics that they did not realize that any rise in taxes - especially at this crucial time in this economic crisis - might just actually be good for Illinois.

Those of us who did not vote for Quinn, of course, knew better. Now, of course, even the fools who voted for him know better. We all know, too late, that Pat Quinn lied. Pundits are now calling him “Quinnochio.”

Quinn promised that he would raise personal income taxes, but only by one percent. Instead, he backed a package that increased it by 66 percent (from 3 percent to 5 percent). The corporate income tax rose by 45 percent (from from 4.8 percent to 7 percent). The lawmakers in Springfield voted on these increases in the wee hours of the morning.

Judy Baar Topinka, the newly elected State Comptroller, pointed out that the combination of all taxes that businesses will now suffer makes Illinois the highest taxing state in the industrialized world. Combined with the rise in personal income tax, residents of Illinois will soon realize that employers will be even less reluctant to hire than they were last year. They will realize that some employers will have to go out of business, while others move operations out of Illinois, thus further increasing unemployment.

To add insult to injury, Quinn and his accomplices in the Legislature not only increased taxes massively, they even increased spending by two percent. All of this hurts not only taxpayers. Even the unemployed are badly affected by tax hikes, because it will mean high retail prices, higher rents, and so on.

We saw a lot of Tea Party speeches and rallies against Obamacare in the past two years, much of it here in Chicago where the Tea Party movement got its start. They argued, rightly, that Obamacare would be devastating to businesses, raise unemployment, and so on. The Quinn tax hikes will do the same thing, but with an important difference: The harmful effects will directly affect every employer and employee, every retailer and wholesaler, every retired and the unemployed person in Illinois.

Unlike Obamacare, some of the effects of which will not be felt for years, the Quinn tax hikes are a boot placed on our throats immediately. The people of Illinois are the victims of fiscal and economic gang rape. The Tea Party, coming off a two-year lather over national politics, has been virtually silent about Quinn’s taxes.

Surely, one would have thought, the Tea Party movement would have been in a fury in the days leading up to the vote to raise taxes. Certainly, one would have expected, Tea Party movement groups from around Illinois would have bused thousands of concerned sympathizers to Springfield to march and speak and peacefully protest. Undoubtedly, one may have hoped, the Tea Party movement would not sit idly by while Pat Quinn and Company were about to kick the living hell out of us. It didn’t happen.

Some Tea Party groups did call on their followers to make phone calls and send emails. That’s all well and good, and it’s a needed part of the overall strategy. It’s not enough, however.

The Tea Party movement’s magnificent efforts had an historic effect on the November 2010 elections, but in Illinois they seem to have missed the forest for the trees. Granted, the movement toppled many of those who violated their oath to uphold the Constitution and misrepresented their constituents. It successfully installed many who profess sympathy to conservative values and loyalty to the Constitution. Still, while all that was being done, elections within Illinois were given secondary attention.

Change came to Washington, D.C., but less change came to Springfield, Illinois. The “lame duck” Congress passed a few monstrosities before the 111th dissolved. The “lame duck” Illinois legislature did the same, including the obscene tax increase package championed by Governor Quinn. What’s next? Last November is history. Since then, we have heard loud vocal warnings from Tea Party groups nationwide to the new crop of freshman members of Congress. “You better not disappoint us,” was the cry, “because we’ll be watching and taking notes.” That carried the implied threat of unseating those who don’t perform to the Tea Party’s expectations come the next election. But that’s about all we saw. When a Tea Party rally was needed more than ever in Springfield, it didn’t happen.

In Illinois, the Tea Party movement missed a huge opportunity in January. Satisfied with their nationwide effect on Congressional races, the movement has reclined and fallen into a kind of self-satisfied nap.

The rallies in public parks, on farms and in rented halls that we’ve seen over the past two years have served us well. They served to fire up the movement and to help recruit new membership. They will remain important for those purposes, but they are no longer enough. Rallies far and away from the centers of power and authority are now seen by the governing elite as mildly annoying events. They’ve gotten used to them, and they understand that a bunch of people politely listening to speeches in a park pose no challenge to their physical space.

This is where civil disobedience comes into play, and even becomes a necessary next step. Imagine a rally of a thousand Tea Party people covering the steps of the State Capitol, a couple of hundred who overflow into the building itself. Imagine those thousand people chanting loudly and in unison while the legislators are in session. Think about their reaction as they are forced to shoulder their way through the people to get in or out of the building.

Think of the 1960s, when “sit ins” were a non-violent way of “occupying” university administration buildings, city halls, state capitols, and so on. Suppose those protesters then had, instead, merely gathered in parks on the edge of town and uneventfully preached to themselves. How effective would they have been? What if Martin Luther King, Jr. had suddenly stopped organizing huge rallies, and had become content with merely sending out telegrams and making phone calls? That’s where the Tea Party movement is today. The politicians, Democrats and Republicans, have become used to the idea that Tea Party events are distant. That is why we need to “get in their faces.” To be blunt, we need to make them nervous. We need to make them sleep less comfortably. They must be apprehensive every morning that they get up to go vote on higher taxes, increased regulation and more violations of our Constitutional and God-given rights.

Let me be clear: This is not a call to violence. To the contrary, it is a call to civil disobedience. Peaceful resistance is a respectable way to demonstrate displeasure with the government. A thousand people on the steps of the Capitol must be willing to resist requests and orders to disperse. Tea Party people must be willing to remain seated when told to move on, and even willing to accept the risk of being arrested. Imagine the headlines and videos as hundreds of peaceful Tea Partiers are arrested on the steps of the State Capitol, carried off in handcuffs for exercising their First Amendment rights.

Some Republicans in Springfield have hinted that they might try to overturn or repeal the Quinn Tax Hikes. They may or may not succeed. Should they fail, we can only hope that their failure is not due to a lack of effort on their part - or on the part of the Tea Party movement.

The Tea Party’s role in this is destined to be one of two things, whether it acts or not. If the Quinn tax hikes are not overturned, and the Tea Party did not stage a massive rally on the capitol steps in Springfield, we will always wonder how the outcome might have been different had a rally taken place.

On the other hand, what if the Republicans do manage to overturn the tax hikes without any Tea Party occupation of the capitol steps? There would be many who would then regard the Tea Party movement in Illinois as nothing more than a bunch of talkers, even as quitters. The Democrats would merely laugh us off.

Worse, however, the Illinois Republican Party would do the same. The leadership of the Illinois GOP, after all, views the Tea Party as a threat to its own power, sapping its membership and working against some of the GOP’s own anointed candidates. If the Tea Party movement in Illinois does not act, in a big, loud, physically present way, and do it before mid-February, it risks being written off by both political parties as a flash in the pan.

The Tea Party has no choice but to act and to act in a big way. The two most important reasons for this should be obvious: (1) to undo the suicidal Quinn tax hikes, and (2) to save the credibility and recover the momentum of a sputtering Illinois Tea Party movement.

The Tea Party must not let the politicians feel at ease just because the last election is over. It cannot let them get away with that which it has worked so hard to defeat. Tea Partiers must decide if they are armchair warriors or the real deal.

Here's a direct message to Tea Party people: I love you, and have stood by your side at rallies from the beginning. I've supported your efforts through many, many hours of blogging and editing of photos and videos. I am one of you.

But I must tell you this: You love to quote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Some of you call yourselves freedom fighters. Some of you even dress up like Revolutionary War heroes. That’s cute, but ask yourself this: Are you content to merely parrot the Founders and Framers and to perform impromptu street theater and ultimately meaningless imitations of them with your fake powdered wigs while you listen to speeches in a park? Do you think your digital rants shared with “friends” on Facebook, made from the comfort of your desk or the convenience of your iPhone, are accomplishing even one percent of what any one of the Founders did?

Are you ready to get off overtaxed duff and act as the real freedom fighters did in 1776? They did more than talk. They did not fear arrest. They marched, often into battle. They bled. They sacrificed. Many died.

I’m only asking you to march to Springfield to sit on the Capitol steps.

Are you in?

• The time for passionate talk is past
• The time for your polite rallies in safe, distant parks has gone by
• The time for your frantic Facebook posts and titillating tweets is over
• The time to get real, the time to truly engage is here
• It is time to get out of your swivel chairs, off of your couches, away from your keyboards and onto your feet
• It is time to march and time to take to the steps of government offices - and into the halls of the ruling elite
• It is time to step over the line and into the comfort zones of those who were elected to be our representatives but act instead as our overlords
• It is time to make the politicians feel uncomfortable in their own space
• It is time to replace digital rants and quiet meetings with physical action
• It is time to employ civil disobedience

Joel Pollak's Historic Q&A Session (Video)

Tweet - CHICAGO - Joel Pollak, rising conservative superstar, was defeated on Nov. 2, 2010 in his bid for Congress by Jan Schakowsky (D-IL). The video below shows Pollak answering questions at a small gathering of Tea Party Patriots in downtown Chicago after an incredible 10-minute speech (see the full speech at "Pollak Tells Tea Party To Stay The Fight..."). The video doesn't look so great, but the sound is good and the words are clearly heard -- and they are words for the ages. Also see these two recent articles by Joel Pollak: "Schakowsky Invokes Anti-Orthodox Stereotypes" at American Thinker, and "Why The Tea Party Is Here To Stay" at BigGovernment.com.

(Video) Pollak Tells Tea Party To Stay The Fight; Accuses Schakowsky Of Ethics Violations

Chicago - November 5, 2010 - He lost his election bid against Rep. Jan Schakowsky, but Joel Pollak will not fade away. On the day after the election, Joel Pollak spoke to a small gathering of Tea Party activists in downtown Chicago. He packed a lot into a 10-minute speech, including multiple accusations of bad behavior by Schakowsky (a shorter version can be seen here). He also said that the Tea Party movement is indispensable and must remain vigilant in its battle for openness and fiscal responsibility by our elected officials. Although Pollak lost the election, still win for having him around and ready to carry on the fight. The full speech is in our own video, below, with excerpts following underneath. Tweet Excerpted Remarks: "Schakowsky told her email subscribers that her victory represents a victory over the Tea Party, and they're not going to let the Tea Party take root in Illinois. She obvioiusly doesn't know the Tea Party started right here in Chicago, a few blocks away. "She is a public official that is going to be followed, people are going to watch everything she does. And by the way, that process is not over. You heard some of the stories about things that happened in the precincts, we have evidence that she was electioneering at some of the polling places. More than that, we think we have grounds for ethics complaints going forward about some of the things she did to try to win the election, like helping contributors and all their friends get relief from foreclosures from their banks, like getting last minute funding for a school in Norrigde that had been asking for the funding for soundproofing for ten years and finally, seven days before the election, they got it. "We have evidence we have gathered that we are going to pursue, and the next two years are not going to be easy for Jan Schakowsky because we just can't stand for that anymore. And, this is not ending here. It's not ending in our district and it's not ending in the rest of the country." "There's a new book out by Stanley Kurtz ["Radical In Chief"] that documents President Obama's early years in the Chicago far Left. That has some very interesting things to say not just about President Obama but Jan Schakowsky and some of her connections as well. "I want to congratulate everyone in this room because the Tea Party volunteers in this city did what nobody across the nation had been able to do when it came to Shorebank. We stopped Jan Schakowsky from bailing out Shorebank with a single penny of federal taxpayer dollars. The bailout stopped here. [applause] "And now that the bailout has stopped the investigation has begun. The Inspector General of the FDIC is now looking into Schakowsky and Sheila Bair, the head of the FDIC, and the Obama Administration to find out how it was that this particular bank got all this attention, how it was that Jan Schakowsky and others were able to twist Wall Street arms and make them deposit - I believe it was 150 million dollars - so that this old team of managers who drove the bank into the ground could buy up the good assets and leave the taxpayers with the bad assets. It's never happened before and the Inspector General is looking into it. Partly because of an lllinois member of Congress, Judy Biggert. She was the one who really took up our cause, and that's because of the pressure that you applied. The bailouts stopped here. It started with Rick Santelli but it also started with you."

New Book, "Piss 'Em All Off," Promises Just That

Former aldermanic candidate Don Gordon is now an author. He lost to Joe Moore in a vicious run-off election in April, 2007 up in Chicago's 49th Ward. Gordon learned a lot during that nightmarish experience, and now shares some of his knowlegde in a new book. I love the title, "Piss 'Em All Off... and other practices of the effective citizen." Gordon was something of a community activist himself before running for alderman (his main issue has always been preservation of the lakefront, especially along his beloved Rogers Park neighborhood on Chicago's north side). Author Gordon will be signing copies of his new book and answering questions this coming weekend on both Saturday, October 9 from 10:00 am to Noon and also on Sunday, October 10 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. WHERE: Charmers Cafe, 1500 W. Jarvis (at Greenview) in Rogers Park, Chicago. (Very little street parking, but a short 1/2 block from the Jarvis CTA Red Line station.) The book is described by Gordon as an effort to closely examine "the five practices of being an effective citizen, showing that they are simple, require little of our time, and make a dramatic difference in how government responds." Is he talking about the Tea Party? No, not intentionally, anyway. Gordon is not a Tea Partier, but like many self-described "Democrats" he shares many of their values. Like many of those Democrats, he probably wouldn't admit this. Even so, Don Gordon is a bright man with a likable personality (I've gotten drunk with him on more than one occasion) and it would be well worth your while to meet him and check out his book. Gordon sounds Tea Party-ish in his recent media release, in which he poses these questions: "Tired of getting screwed over by a government that's out of touch? Weary of corrupt and incompetent politicians who make things worse? Frustrated by a political system that works only for the well-connected? Well don't give up! Our democracy is indeed failing, but it's you and I who are responsible. Only we can make a difference, and only if we take the time to do what is necessary. What we need is a guide that explores the practices of effective citizenship. This book is that guide." We need all the informed advice we can get these days in our troubled republic, and Don Gordon is more informed than most. But I can't help urging you to remind my friend Mr. Gordon that he should attend one or two Tea Party rallies. He would, I think, find a lot of common ground there. More about the book and the book signing here...

Black Tea Party Attendee Blames Democrats For Destruction Of Black Communities And Much More

(Video below) His name is "Paul" and he was the hit of the Bloomington-Normal Tea Party Patriots event on Sunday, September 26. Watch Paul, a plain-spoken Chicagoan, stun the group with his powerful words. Here is a Black American speaking to a group that happens to be mostly White, and he is warmly welcomed. His message is right in synch with their patriotic values. Paul is the kind of Black voter, newly awakened, that has the Democrats scares witless, not only because he refuses to follow them blindly but because he represents the growing number of non-White Americans who are joining the Tea Party movement. CNN, MSNBC and others don't talk about guys like Paul because it would destroy the false racist myth of the Tea Party that they love to perpetuate. Diane Sroka Benjamin is an organizer of the BNTPP and shared this video with me on Facebook with this note: "Tom - do you know this guy? He spoke Sunday at my TEA Party and blew the crowd away!" I wrote back that I don't know "Paul" but I think he's awesome. We need more Americans like Paul regardless of ethnicity or background. Paul is a free thinking, freedom loving citizen who sees through the B.S. and tells it like it is. If this man runs for Mayor of Chicago, let me know. He's got my vote.

(Video) The Last Best Hope (Rendezvous With Destiny)

Why should you vote this November? Here's the answer, in a 3:10 video. How should you vote this November. Again, here's the answer, in a 3:10 video. Ronald Reagan has a voiceover in this: "This is the issue of this election. Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far distant capitol can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves." (Turn up the volume.) ALSO SEE:

(Updated) Photos of Chicago's 9/12 Rally With Joel Pollak

The turnout was small, but the message was big: Smaller government, less interference in our lives by politicians, lower taxes, and... well, you get the idea. Updated: See "Post Script" below. Also: Chicago Tea Party 9/12 rally photo essay at Marathon Pundit There were about 300 people at today's 9/12 Rally, sponsored by Chicago Tea Party. Slideshow below! It's hard to compete with the first day of the official NFL season, and I'm sure a lot of people were enjoying one more good weather weekend of the season. Adam Andrzejewski of For The Good Of Illinois gave a great speech, as always. Rogers Keats, as always, gave a lackluster speech. The real star of the show was Joel Pollak, candidate for U.S. Congress, IL-9. He's running against incumbent Jan Schakowsky, and that's the reason why the Chicago Tea Party had their event up in Morton Grove: That's Schakowsky Country. Pollak's speech was strong. He's a dynamic speaker, and he did not disappoint. "We must win in districts like this one," he told the crowd with wife Julia behind him on stage, "because this is Ground Zero in the struggle for American freedom today. Jan Schakowsky is the most extreme left-wing member of Congress. She is also the number one biggest spender in the House of Representatives, costing each family in America an extra $10,000 per year. She is the worst in the House on economic growth and national security. She represents the worst of Washington." The crowd clapped and cheered, and Pollak pushed on. "Like many ideologues, Jan Schakowsky is a hypocrite. She attacks big banks and oil companies, but she owns shares in them through her extensive mutual fund portfolio. She wants to raise taxes on the rich, but she just took a private plane on her summer vacation. She even breaks her promises to her liberal constituents. She promised to vote against a health care bill without a public option, but voted for it in the end anyway." Read the entire speech here... Julia Pollak also gave a good speech. With husband Joel standing behind her on stage, she talked about growing up in South Africa and seeing discrimination at its worst. Julia is a U.S. Navy reservist and spoke about why she loves the United States. "I am proud to be here with you today–as a black woman, as a Jewish woman, as an immigrant, and as a future sailor in the U.S. Navy Reserve. I signed up for the Navy for the simple reason that I want to defend freedom, and because I know that the U.S. armed forces are the greatest force for freedom in the world today. I value that freedom, and I do not want to see it destroyed by enemies abroad or bad government at home. "I grew up in South Africa. When I was born, black people could not vote. I was born in a segregated hospital for “coloured” people. I was turned away from public schools that were set aside for “whites only.” My mother was part of the struggle against apartheid. I remember the day when she voted for the first time. Nelson Mandela appointed her to be on South Africa’s human rights commission. We fought for, and believed in, freedom. "I am not yet a citizen. I am a legal immigrant. Soon, hopefully, I will take my citizenship test. One of the questions on that test is as follows–number 41: “Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. What is one power of the federal government?” There are only four correct answers: 'A: to print money; B: to declare war; C: to create an army; D to make treaties.' That’s it! Anything else is the wrong answer! "Today, in Chicago and across the nation, people are gathering to support the Tea Party because we know we have to stop what is happening in Washington. We have to stop spending money we don’t have. We have to stop apologizing to regimes that oppress their own people. We have to stand up for the U.S. Constitution and for the American people and our future. That is why I am here with you today, together with my husband." Read all of Julia Pollak's speech here... POST SCRIPT: A reader left this simple-minded comment: "Suppose they gave a tea party and nobody came." Well now, that would be strange. I'd hardly call 300 people "nobody." The commenter is obviously a Lefty. Perhaps they're envious of the strength of the Tea Party movement. Perhaps they're fearful of it. Probably, it's both. The commenter probably knows too well that the Tea Party continues to grow even as the much weaker "Coffee Party" displays a flacid impotence on the political stage. To wit, an article from the California Independent Voter Network (CIVN). Excerpts: The Tea Party’s ability to make a noticeable presence in Sacramento says something about the movement’s ability to resonate with voters. It will be intriguing to see how much the Tea Party can chip away from the Democratic vote in California come the 2010 midterm elections.... Meanwhile, while the Tea Party movement seems to continue gaining strength, alternatives to the Tea Party movement seem to be quite weak. For instance, while the Coffee Party may have skyrocketed to nearly 300,000 members on their Facebook group, they have yet to hold a rally as big as the recent 9/12 events or even as large as the Glenn Beck “Restoring Honor” rally held in D.C. just a few weeks ago. Full article....

Get Text Alerts From Chicago Tea Party!

Now you can get up-to-the-minute updates from the Chicago Tea Party delivered to your mobile phone. Simply text CHICAGOTEA to 41411 to receive text alerts from the Chicago Tea Party. Only standard text messaging rates apply - there's no additional cost to you! With November 2 coming up, it's more important than ever for you to have the latest information on Tea Party news and events.

Monster Tea Party in St. Louis on 9/12 (March to the Arch)

Chicago Tea Party's huge 9/12 Rally on Sunday in Morton Grove, IL promises to attract people from all around northern Illinois and even parts of Southern Wisconsin. But what if you're in the southern part of Illinois or over in Missouri? You should consider getting over to the "best Tea Party evah!" in St. Louis. It will begin at Noon at the Gateway Arch and end there at 4:00 p.m. They have absolutely incredible lineup of speakers and entertainers. For full information including directions, schedule and more visit www.recyclegovernment.org/stlouis. Note: There will be a "March to the Arch" at 11:00 a.m. Check stlouisteaparty.com/9-12-tea-party for last-minute updates.

Tea Party Starfish, Republican Spider

The video below offers a brilliantly simple insight into the organizational structure (or lack of one, really) of the Tea Party movement. Like the starfish, the Tea Party movement has tremendous powers of regeneration. The video is a little lesson in current events, politics and biology all wrapped up in a 2:35 video. Hat tip to The Atlantic Wire. Those who speak of the Tea Party movement as though it is a single political party are completely wrong. Chicago News Bench and many, many other bloggers have been saying this for over two years. It is that lack of understanding by many people, I think, mostly on the Left, that is at the root of the misinterpretation of the Tea Party movement. Many in the Republican Party have trouble understanding this simple fact, too. We, the Tea Party movement, have no central authority. There is nobody calling the shots or giving orders. There are no required membership cards. Everyone in the movement understands this. Indeed, we like it that way. Tea Party groups on the local level send out invitations to join a rally or some other event. But, unlike the Democrats and Republicans, they have no precinct captains to issue marching orders. It's why a Tea Party rally is truly grassroots. Compare that, say, to an event by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) or many other Democrats. There union patrons, such as the SEIU, order members to show up. Some are actually paid to attend rallies. The next time you hear a Democrat or a liberal talk about "the Tea Party," ask them which of the hundreds of groups they are referring to. No two are exactly alike. All share a core of national and international issues about which they are concerned, but there is occassional disagreeement. Each group also gets involved with issues of interest only to their city, county and/or state, as well. There are leaders, but they are local or regional. You don't like the local Tea Party group? Start your own. Democrats and liberals who speak of "the Tea Party leaders" simply don't know what they are talking about. But then, you already knew that. RELATED: The Tea Party movement's Chicago roots and beyond Marathon Pundit

Lunch And Guns In Chicago's Loop

July 9, 2010 - Wondering what to do for lunch in downtown Chicago today? Here's a suggestion: Take your bag lunch over to the Thompson Center and join the Second Amendment Freedom Rally, where representatives from the ISRA, IllinoisCarry, the Second Amendment Sisters and others are holding the third annual Second Amendment Freedom Rally (SAFR). It started at 11:00 a.m. goes until 1:00 p.m. at the James R. Thompson Center (map). More info at Examiner.com...

Chicago Young Republicans Volunteer Open House (and Pub Crawl)

June 12, 2010 - The nation's largest chapter of Young Republicans will host a Volunteer Open House today from 3:00 until 5:00 p.m. The event will take place at the new headquarters of the Chicago Young Republicans (CYR), 2768 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago. The open house will include press interview and photo opportunities. At 5:00 p.m.(CYRs) will have a pub crawl. (Bring an umbrella!)

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On Monday, June 14, 2010 at 10:00 a.m., the CYRs will launch their second annual marketing and membership campaign, with a press conference, at their new headquarters. For more information, contact Daniel Anthony at 773-750-1031 or danthony@chicagoyrs.com. xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Anti-BP Un-Flash Flash Mob, Chicago, June 11

A so-called "flash mob" will take place in Chicago on Friday, June 11 to protest the BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Generally referred to as "BP Black Friday Flash Mob," but also being called "Oil Over The Bridge." (Instructions for participants below.) The event has been carefully orchestrated and announced well in advance for days. That's pretty much the opposite of what a "flash mob" is. "As is typical of a flash mob, no one in particular is organizing the event," reported Lorraine Swanson at Lake Effect News on June 8. That's about all that qualifies the June 11 protest as a "flash mob." SearchMobileComputing defines a flash mob this way (my emphasis added): "...a group of strangers who organize themselves, using electronic media such as cell phones or the Internet, to gather together in a public place, behave in a predetermined manner for a predetermined amount of time, and then quickly disperse. A successful flash mob event depends on the element of surprise. Participants, called mobsters, share news about the time and place for an upcoming event through postings on blogs, chain e-mail messages, SMS text messages and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter." And there's the problem: The "BP Black Friday Flash Mob" will have little if any surprise for many observers. It's that surprise! element that gives the mob its flash. Announce a blitzkrieg and it's suddenly just a krieg mit kein blitz. The event is already all over the Blogosphere and Facebook, although it must be said that, as usual, the Mainstream Media seems unaware of it. BP, of course, is monitoring its dreadful public relations closely on the Internet. So much so, in fact, that BP purchased ads on Google's top "Oil Spill" search results. While the event might not fully meet the definition of "flash mob," it can fairly be said that it will be very flash mob-like. I admit that I may be splitting hairs with all of this. Nevertheless, it certainly promises some good street theater and a great photo opportunity. All other things aside, after all, that's what a good flash mob should be. There are a number of references to the event on the Internet, including a Facebook page optimistically named "1,000,000 Strong to Boycott BP." As of 4:30 PM CDT on June 9, they had 9,257 members, a few short of one million. Another Facebook group, "Oil Over The Bridge," has a description that starts with, "I'm just spreading the good word, I did not come up with the idea." That group had 20 people "maybe attending" as of 4:40 PM CDT on June 9. My favorite anti-BP group on Facebook has got to be "Hey BP Oil, Thanks For The Oil Spill Aholes." "The Yes Men were forwarding an email around about the event, and perhaps MoveOn.org folks are involved," wrote Swanson. Perhaps MoveOn is involved, but are they the organizers? Did they originate the idea? We don't know; there's little or no trail to be found on the Internet, we discovered. That's good flash mobbing, but as I said, they've dampened their element of surprise. A group calling itself "Seize BP" has been staging demonstrations across the U.S. since Thursday, June 3. The final day is Thursday, June 10. Find a demonstration near you at their website. Seize BP staged a Chicago protest last week, on Thursday, June 3 at 5:00 p.m. at the BP Offices at the intersection of Randolph & Michigan, by Millennium Park. (Try finding coverage of that in the Mainstream Media.) Instructions for the June 11 BP Black Friday Flash Mob event are below the Related items: RELATED: BP Gas Station Owners Beg Vandals to Stop Gothamist (NYC) Hundreds Protest BP on Houston Street ‎Gothamist (NYC) Why seizing BP is not necessarily a good idea CNN BP Boycotts Could Hurt Small Businesses ‎ 10TV BP Boycotts Hurt the Little Guy‎ Newser Calgarians protest BP oil spill‎ Toronto Sun Protest at Jersey City BP Scheduled for Thursday Jersey City Independent Nude Protest Over Oil: PR Spin Worse Than BP, Dammit Houston Press Nevada City residents protest... The Union of Grass Valley Shrimper Douses Herself With Oil in Spill Protest‎ CBS News Links on "Seize BP Campaign" (at Facebook) Instructions to participants in the June 11 "BP Black Friday Flash Mob" are: Friday 06/11/10 @ 12:11 pm (Rain or Shine!) Millennium Park Chicago Bring a black umbrella. If you don’t have a black umbrella, wear all black. 12:11 pm: Casually converge on the BP Pedestrian Bridge 12:20 pm: When the whistle blows, we will generate a visual representation of the oil slick seen from above by filling the entire walkway of the BP bridge. Starting from the middle of the bridge over Columbus Drive, open your umbrella and squat or sit down, covering as much space with your umbrella or body as possible. Sit close enough to the people around you to create a canopy of umbrellas and bodies. Please do not shout, carry signs, confront patrons of Millennium Park, damage property, or otherwise break any laws. This flash mob is a silent protest intended to bring together a community of concerned citizens in creating a living illustration of the damage that threatens the collective health of our planet. The intent is not to block the bridge, nor to damage it, but to join together in a lively way to make a statement: swift action must be taken before more of our world is destroyed by oil. 12:35 pm: When the whistle blows a second time, quickly and calmly collect yourself and disperse. Please do not linger any longer than necessary. Don’t forget to greet your neighbors: introduce yourself, make new friends. A key objective for this action is to have fun! If anyone asks what is going on or what you are doing, we suggest simply stating, “The oil flow must be stopped.”

Chicago Rally Against ShoreBank Bailout on June 9

There will be a rally against the ShoreBank bailout on Wednesday, June 9 at 12:00 Noon at the downtown location of ShoreBank. That's 134 N. LaSalle Street, across the street from City Hall. Scheduled speakers include Joel Pollak, candidate for U.S. Congress (IL-9) and Isaac Hayes, candidate for U.S. Congress (IL-2). The event is organized by Tea Party Patriots Chicago (TPPC). They will be handing out fliers to educate the public on the corrupt, politically connected bailout of ShoreBank. "ShoreBank has received $35 million in stimulus funds, $75 million from companies that have received bailout money (Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, GE)," writes TPPC's Coordinator Steve Stevlic, "and now they're hoping to receive another $75 million in taxpayer money. ShoreBank provided Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Trinity United Church with a $10 million line of credit - now they need a bailout. We hope this rally can bring attention to this issue and help prevent this looting of our treasury." Stevlic says that ShoreBank hopes to cash-in on their high-level political connections with Barack Obama, Jan Schakowsky and her convicted felon husban Robert Creamer, Senator Dick Durbin, Van Jones and others. "At the very least," he says, "no taxpayer money should go to ShoreBank until there is a forensic audit of their finances." TPPC has more information at their website. Glenn Beck recently gave ShoreBank the blackboard treatment here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4. RELATED: ShoreBank Gets Help But Is Still Begging Failing ShoreBank, Cap-And-Trade and Jan Schakowsky

Chicago Tea Party June Meeting, Important Dates

An important message from Steve Stevlic, Coordinator of Tea Party Patriots Chicago: Thank you to all of you who attended the Chicago Tea Party June Monthly Meeting. Thank you as well to our two great speakers, Joel Pollak, Candidate for U.S. Congress (IL-9) and Julio Ortiz. Joel Pollak gave us an update on his campaign and mindblowing details on the Shore Bank bailout, while Julio Ortiz educated us on the Puerto Rican Statehood bill in Congress. We intend to incorporate more speakers and discussions of the issues in our future meetings. All the feedback we've received thus far has been very positive. As we discussed, here are a few important upcoming dates: • Saturday, June 5: Tea Party Activitist Training - 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The objectives of the training include: 1) Learn a Proven Process for Precinct Organizing. 2) How to Grow Your Organization 3) Multiplying Your Political Impact 4) Get Out the Vote (GOTV). Click here for more details. You can RSVP for the training by sending an email to me at stevlic@gmail.com. • Wednesday, June 9: Shore Bank Rally/Education - 12:00 noon. Outside the Shore Bank Location at 134 N. LaSalle Street, across from City Hall. More details to come. • Tuesday, June 15: Community Organizing 101 - Lessons from Saul Alinsky. 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m., Original Blackie's Restaurant, 755 S. Clark Street. Featured Speaker: Joe Morris. Click here for more details. • Saturday, July 31: Freedom Fest. 2:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Save the date. Please contact me with any questions or if you're able to assist with/at any of these events. Steve Stevlic Coordinator Tea Party Patriots Chicago Chicago Tax Day Tea Party stevlic@gmail.com Twitter: @landofdafree http://teapartychicago.org 708-289-5443

Putting the Lie to Tea Party Racism

Is the Tea Party movement made up of a bunch of white supremicists? Is racism the driving force behind it? This video, below, was made on April 15, 2010 in Freedom Plaza and at the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. by Nathanial Alexander Stuart.  He wrote a short piece for BigJournalism.com, titled "Tea Party Racism??"

To quote from Stuart's piece, "On March 27, 2010 writer Frank Rich was quoted in the New York Times Op-Ed section The Tea Party movement is virtually all white....Many media outlets, including MSNBC, the Washington Post, CNN, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Huffington Post among others are insinuating that there is racism in the Tea Party movement."

Not a "Minstrel Show"

Meanwhile, we'll continue to have Black Racists like the overly smug Charles Blow, who willingly enslave themselves to Sugar Daddy Democrats, willing to make racists comments about fellow African-Americans. Blow, a "visual Op-Ed columnist" at the New York Times, accused Black Tea Partiers of being nothing more that "a minstrel show." Apparently, Blow is shocked by the sight of fellow Blacks thinking independently and daring to leave the Democrat-Liberal Plantation. Radio talk show host Laura Ingraham interviewed Blow and had him spinning in his own pretzel logic.

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Find a Tax Day Tea Party Near You, America

Nationwide, there will be hundreds of Tax Day Tea Party rallies on Thursday, April 15, 2010. If you won't be in Washington DC for the biggest of the rallies, these two lists will help you find one in or near your city: 

Tea Party Patriots lists 659 events for April 15. Also try their cool Tea Party Finder.
Americans for Prosperity put together a simple spreadsheet of Tax Day Tea Party events.

RELATED:
Tax day tea parties set to explode across the nation CAIVN
Your illustrated guide to the Tea Party saboteurs Michelle Malkin
Liberals Caught Posing as Tea Partiers Robert Moon
Crash the Tea Party founder faces two investigations; NH Dem denies crash plan Michelle Malkin





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Singer Lloyd Marcus on Tea Party Racism

This is an excellent video report by Carol Parisi, who was at the Rockford Tea Party Express even on April 6, 2010. The video's poster wrote, "In this piece, you'll see interviews with Lloyd Marcus, front man for the Tea Party Express Darla Dawald, National Director for Resistnet and Adam Andrzejewski, former candidate for Illinois Governor and founder of For The Good of Illinois." Marcus, a black conservative famous for his patriotic songs, talks about the "heinous" allegations of racism in the Tea Party movement. Check out Lloyd Marcus' channel on YouTube.



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Rally at Melissa Bean's Office, Sat., March 20

UPDATE, March 20, 2010: Bean, Halvorson Will Vote Yes On Health Care This is the weekend the fate of our healthcare will be decided. Many people could not attend Tuesday's rallies in front of the offices of Rep. Melissa Bean and Rep. Bill Foster, but they wanted their voices heard on having government run healthcare shoved down our throats in the least transparent, most underhanded and highly arrogant way possible. (Note: There will also be a big rally in Washington DC on Saturday at Noon.) Bean is one of a handful of Illinois Democrats still undedicided. We need to keep the pressure on for her to vote "NO". Here are the details: When: Saturday, March 20 at Noon Where: Rep. Melissa Bean's Office 1701 E. Woodfield Road, Schaumburg, IL What to bring: Signs, flags, yourselves, your voices Here is a map of the location Contact Steve at steve@teapartychicago.org of Tea Party Patriots Chicago, or Carol at mills24@sbcglobal.net of the Schaumburg Tea Party with any questions. Find more Tea Party groups in Illinois at: http://www.teapartypatriots.org/state/Illinois#Chicago Leave a Comment * Conservative T-Shirts * Follow CNB on Twitter * RSS Feed

National Honk Against Health Care Takeover Day, March 16

On March 16 at 12 noon your time, drive to your nearest congressional district office and drive around honking your horn. The goal is to have Americans across the nation telling the politicians to keep their hands off our health care through this “Honk Against the Health Care Takeover” effort. To show people why you’re honking, when you register we’ll send you FREE a “Honk Against the Health Care Takeover” bumper sticker. To receive the bumper sticker in time for the March 16th event, you need to register by 8 a.m., March 11th. GO HERE NOW TO REGISTER. Orders registered after that time will be mailed, but might not get to you in time for the event. Click here to find your representative’s local office that is nearest to you, and use the form to register below so we can send you a bumper sticker. Last week, Barack Obama actually said the nation is “waiting for [Washington] to act” on the health care issue. This is arrogance and political posturing at its worst. Like most Americans, the president knows the truth. Every reputable public opinion poll for months has clear majorities of the American people saying “NO” to the health care “reform” coming out of Washington, D.C. Now is the time to finish the job of protecting this most personal freedom by stopping the Democrats’ Washington takeover of our health care in the U.S. House of Representatives (Congress). Leave a Comment * Conservative T-Shirts * Follow CNB on Twitter * RSS Feed