Let's party like its 1773!

A few weeks ago, I was asked to present a project to my sociology class on a topic that we covered in sociology. I chose tea parties. In my class, we had discussed the top 10 racial signs of tea parties, and how even a congressman was spit on because he was African American. The media paints such a negative picture of tea parties that admitting you went to some is like admitting you're about to commit a koo-de-ta. I thought to myself as we discussed this topic in class: are the tea parties really all that bad? Is the media painting them in a harsh light, full of events that were blown way out of proportion? In order to find the truth, I decided to go to a tea party for myself.

Last Saturday, I attended a small tea party (of about 200 people max.) To my surprise, there was not one comment making fun of Obama, his race, and there wasn't a single sign calling Obama slanderous terms. It was one of the most reverent feelings I've ever experienced. Everyone, of all ages, wanted to be there and therefore they were dead silent as they listened to the speakers. You could hear a pin drop. To read more about the tea party that my mom and I went to last week, come read her blog post here. 

I decided that I'd go back to another tea party just to see if there were any racist extremists there, parading there N word labled signs. And yet again, there was none of those people at the tea party. There are people out there who share the same ideals as the tea partiers, but they are more extreme. They claim to be part of the tea party, but they do not stand for the same things. Don't let the media trick you into thinking that all tea partiers are racist and mean--do I look like I fit into that category?
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Thursday, as everyone knows, was tax day. There were THOUSANDS of tea parties on this day, sending messages to President Obama that people in this nation are sick of the increase in taxes, rising dept, and the outrageous health care bill that was just recently passed. Thankfully, I was able to attend a tea party on this day...with about 2000 other people. It felt like a Conservative Carnival--shirts, buttons, American flags, banners, and campaigning for the November elections. It was rad. I even made a sign.

Later that night, after I had come home from my party, I read THIS alarming article. (es, I know it is on Fox News and considered "right winged" and "wrong" to most people in the media, but I read up on the tea parties on MSNBC and CNN--both basically said the same garbage.)

Fox News hit the nail on the head by saying "Although taxes are one complaint of the Tea Partiers, the protesters also have focused on big government spending, specifically the recently passed health care overhaul law and last year's stimulus package -- legislation that critics argue will mire future generations in debt."
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"I've been a little amused over the last couple of days where people have been having these rallies about taxes," the president said, noting the numerous tax cuts pushed by his administration. "You would think they'd be saying thank you."
-President Barack Obama

Don't you just love having a President who doesn't acknowledge when almost half of his people he represents are angry with the job he's doing? Don't you just love having a President who doesn't even know why they are angry with him in the first place? I know I don't.