Yesterday's national call from Conservative groups and organizations to protest taxes, brought out an interesting crowd of about 200 people, according to today's Times-Standard. The photo shown here is from the Times-Standard's front page. As you can see, some people had fun dressing up in historical costumes, while others aired grievances ranging from taxes to gun-control.
On a day that was supposed to be a grass-roots effort to protest taxes, there were conservative talk-show hosts and radio personalities financially-backed by Conservative organizations, who used the event to attack the Obama administration's stance on gun control and other issues unrelated to taxes.
I talked with two people yesterday who attended the event in Eureka. They told me people were talking about gun control, capitalism, corporate greed, reclaiming their country from the liberals, and environmental issues such as global warming.
My impression is the event was an opportunity to air grievances of all kinds. Watching the news on television this morning, I noticed the signs people were carrying (in different cities) were not all about taxation. A whole litany of other complaints got air time yesterday.
I can't remember how many times I've seen protests on Tax Day in the past. This year however, there was an eclectic assortment of issues relating to the economy (no surprise there-we're in a recession). Despite that, comparatively speaking, the protests weren't that well attended. A few big cities had crowds in the thousands. It wasn't the massive mandate against Liberals that Conservatives were hoping would happen.
That doesn't mean the Conservatives are going to give up. They're probably already working on the next event to stir up dissent in this country. They will continue to attack the Obama Administration, and Democrats in general, until they get back in office. They don't care if they have polarized segments of America. The only thing they care about is regaining power, tearing down financial market regulations, and restoring a system that favors the wealthy.
I have no problem with any of the demonstrations that were really grass roots events. I think ours in Humboldt was a microcosm of many others in rural communities. People took the opportunity to protest whatever bothered them. No one likes taxation, so what better day than to hold a tea party than April 15th? I respect that. It's when the neo-cons try to slip their agendas into an event like this that bothers me. They're wolves in sheep's clothing, waiting to capitalize on any dissent to use as a springboard for their ideology.
As It Stands, it was "A tempest in a teapot" brewed by desperate Conservatives.
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