Pitch Obama? T.E.A. party attendees declare angry opposition
More than 900 Basin residents gathered on the Uintah County courthouse lawn, in concert with hundreds of like-minded groups nationwide, April 15, fueled by conservative talk show host Glenn Beck, former speaker of the house Newt Gingrich, and others, to protest various grievances against the U.S. government. The rally, dubbed the Tax Day T.E.A.(Taxed Enough Already) Party rally, was intended to pay homage to the Boston Tea Party, a 1773 protest against the taxation policies of Great Britian.
While the Vernal rally was intended to protest current federal spending levels, the event quickly devolved into an anger-filled litany of perceived wrongs, including pejoratives aimed at members of the Obama administration, calls for impeachment and implications of violent revolution.
“America gave up it’s freedom about six weeks ago,” proclaimed an obviously angered Scott Bingham, owner of a local storage company who appeared on stage dressed like a youngish Benjamin Franklin.
“Communism is here!” he declared.
A woman speaking at the open mike portion of the event screamed into the microphone, “We cling to our guns! We cling to our religion! We cling to our money! You can’t have it!”
While taxation, the second amendment, and other issues were discussed, the majority of the vitriol present was aimed squarely at President Obama.
“God is my king, not Barack Obama,” a woman declared.
“Whatever his laws are that are not constitutional are not my laws,” she said. “My law is the Constitution.”
“Don’t bow down! I won’t!” another man crowed.
“I’m afraid of Mr. Obama,” declared Bingham. “I’m not scared of Iran. I’m not scared of Iraq. I’m scared of the United States Government.”
“Obama needs to go, and he needs to go now!” said another speaker, followed by another who proudly called for the impeachment of the president.
“He’s not even an American born citizen,” said Bingham, echoing the sentiment of a sign carried above the boisterous crowd that read: Go back to your birthplace, Kenya, Obama.
“Go back to Kenya,” yelled someone in the crowd.
Declaring the president an agent of evil, another rally speaker cried, “Why do these people want to destroy everything that we are?”
“They’re evil!” shouted someone. “Power,” yelled another, followed by “Greed!”
Finally someone said “Sin!” and the speaker yelled, “Say it again!”
The crowd crowed in unison, “Sin!”
“Will we give it to them?”
“No!” yelled the crowd.
Others seemed to call for revolution, paraphrasing Thomas Jefferson, saying “The mantle of freedom has to be refreshed from time to time by the blood of patriots.”
Referring to Benjamin Franklin’s proclamation that “Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote,” another rally attendee declared “We are a well armed lamb. Let’s contest the vote.”
One young boy took the stage, saying “He’s gonna try and take away our guns. He’s gonna try and take away our constitution. We need to stand up and fight!”
Another declared, “[Obama] I promise you there will be a day when you will be held accountable.”
“I’m a pistol packin’ mama, and I dare him to come take away my colt .45” yelled another woman from the microphone.
Another young man, whose grandfather fought the German army at Normandy during World War II, proclaimed, “The government can have my freedom, and my guns, and my bullets, but they’re gonna have to pull them from my cold, dead fingers.”
Attendees seemed proud of their threatening perception nationwide and the attention they are drawing from government at all levels. “We’re one of the new ‘most watched’ on Obama’s list,” said Eric Powell, one of the event organizers, referring to the government’s concerns about potential violence from America’s far right.
Some stuck to the tax day message, however. “I see beautiful little babies and children here and they are in debt,” said one woman, angered by current government spending levels. “Get rid of the I.R.S. And take your money back. It’s not their money, it’s yours!”
One attendee crowed through the microphone, “How many of you wrote a check today to the government?” Half the crowd raised their hands. “How many of you are rich?” he then asked. The hands all dropped.
While attendees had difficulty staying on point, and while the crowd seemed to lack focus, organizers are already planning future events.
“We need to organize,” said rally organizer Norm Powell. “Our Constitution is hanging by a thread. This isn’t the end, this is the beginning. America is waking up!”
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