TEA PARTY

On April 15, 2009, Andy and I attended the Tea Party held in front of the Old Logan Courthouse. It was organized by a USU student who first heard about planned Tea Parties from a friend in the east. He and some friends had agreed to carpool to Salt Lake on April 15...but he decided to post a note on his web to see if there was interest in organizing a Tea Party in Logan. He was overwhelmed with responses.

So...200-300 brave souls met at 4:00 PM...in the snow. It was wet and cold but the spirit of the event kept us warm. There were lots of speakers, including Scott Bradley the Constitution scholar, but the highlight was a bunch of school girls, and one boy, reciting the Declaration of Independence. It was not possible to get an accurate count because people were arriving even as we were leaving at 5:30 PM.

The Tea Party was orderly and interesting...but it was an eerie experience. One could not help but wonder if we were feeling the same feelings as the first groups of protestors felt in Boston. We conservatives are not protestors...it makes us uncomfortable. Were we being foolish? Might we be forced to take a stand at some point? Would it do any good? But it actually felt good...like it was time...time to join with like-minded people who are angered that the Constitution is being trampled upon, that the federal government is usurping powers granted only to the states, and that our country and our future is being stolen from us. And for me it was an opportunity to begin the process of letting the Republican Party know that they have lost me...or rather, they left me behind...and if they want me back they will have to earn the privilege by returning to the positions and principals which good men before me have defended with their lives.

So...from a purely historical perspective...we were there! Let's see where we go from here.

Oh yes! Marshall Thompson, the liberal "veteran" (journalist) was there too...with a flag tucked under his arm. Of course he was the focus of the Herald Journal coverage...such as it was.