Tea Party Events

Well if we lived in a world where people were not so nuts about everything you could probably get away with it. However, in most cases it would just be looked at as you trying be radical so I would not advise it.
 
This cause has certainly spiderwebbed

it started out as a protest to bring attentino to the governments overspending... if you try to turn it into an open carry protest it's just going to distract from the real goal and might attract some unwanted attention.
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+1

Just like you wouldn't carry a "YA, AND WE'RE OVERTAXED TOO" sign at the open carry rally.:D
 
I OCed for part of the Tea Party today and I saw two other elder gentleman OC as well.

Pretty good turn out for a crappy day!:)
 
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We had a Tea Party also from 5 to 8pm at the main courthouse here in West Palm Beach. Had about 2 to 3,000 people over the three hours. It was raining. Saw no guns, no trouble but people protested more than taxes. IMO I believe we are in for some violent protest starting this summer. People are very upset over the direction he is taking America. Most believe it is down the tubes.

I would not carry to any event of this type.
 
I don't think it would be a good idea. And I wonder where these groups have been for the previous eight years.
 
I showed for a bit toward the end of it today.
I am not sure it's a good idea to OC for this particular event, considering the liberal medias always make us tax-paying / 2A-supporting citizen into "evil" centrals.

I did CC today tho:)
 
I went to the TEA party here in my town today. I saw a number of folks carrying not necessarily open, but not so concealed either. I had my CC side-arm just as I always do. Everyone was quite at home with it, but then that's the type of community I live in. After the main speakers were through, we had an "open mike" time they affectionately called "Speak your Peace" after the local morning talk show, and one of the first gents to get up and talk was open carrying and the first words he spoke were "I'll let my piece speak for me." The crowd ate it up...laughter and applause. I did think long and hard before I carried my PPK to the event, but in the end I did take it. For me it came down to the basic reasons I carry all the time. I just made sure I was extra attentive to the tenor of the crowd and paid close attention to my surroundings. Again, it all comes down to the local, state, and federal laws and your personal judgment.
 
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In Stuart, FL,

There was a great turnout. There was a lot of knowledgeable discussion of the Bill of Rights (Second and Tenth Amendments seemed to be common points of discussion).

Not so much laziness, but more that I don't agree with much of the sentiment driving them and they smell vaguely of astroturf (at least the lead-up did).
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JuanCarlos, please forgive my ignorance, but what sentiment don't you agree with? You are for limitless deficit spending? Also, I don't understand the astroturf reference.
 
Open carry a can of pepper spray on your belt in a holster.

There will be so much emotion going on at a rally like this,the last thing YOU want to be seen open carrying is a handgun on your side.

Yes,in a perfect world,you should be able to open carry.

But in a rally like this the police will be looking for any potential troublemakers and open carrying will get you on their list and stopped for sure.

While they probably can't get your firearms,to keep order and preclude you from potentially being the starting point of a problem,they can force you to leave by first asking you too and then arresting you if you do not leave.
 
Tea Party

I attended in Dayton OH. Awesome. My 12 y/o son went with me under his own protests; afterward he said,"Dad thanks for bringing me, this was awesome, Im glad I didnt stay home to play video games."The point of the whole thing was definitely not lost on him. He now has a strong sense of attachment to the future of our nation.I left there with a renewed sense of pride and motivation. Many people asked about the Mo^on ^abe slogan on my sign. They were very taken by my response. I didnt just talk about it pertaining to weapons. I believe that it pertains to anything the government wants to take away. They arent getting any of my rights without a fight. I have always been a Patriot but I will admit that I have been too silent for too long...no more. I served 8 yrs in the Corps and was reminded today that I still serve. When you see a veteran thank them for serving. Do your part and speak out against the wrongs we are seeing. It is not too late. God Bless America...Mo^on ^abe CW
 
Also, I don't understand the astroturf reference.
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The astroturf reference is a metaphor for saying that the tea parties were not true grassroots movements, that they were planned from the top down instead of the bottom up. Astroturf is fake grass, and calling a tea party astroturf is saying that it is not a true grassroots movement and is fake like astroturf.

That said, I went to my local tea party. Some good speakers, a few not so good ones. There were a few gun control related signs, but mostly tax law related stuff.

The one I went to was in my state's capital building, and I kind of felt bad for the 2 or 3 school tours that were there that day. They got caught in the middle and their tour guide had quite a job keeping their attention.

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Astroturf

It is a way to discount the "tea parties" and the people at them.
The sentiment on the left is that these demonstrations were organized by FOX news and other conservative organizations, not a part of some widespread grassroots movement (thus the astroturf reference).
It's saying they are phoney; staged by the vast right-wing conspiracy and attended by brain-washed right-wing extremist dittoheads.
After all, that many people couldn't possibly be unhappy with the direction our federal government it taking our country, right?

Chemgirlie - you beat me to the punch
 
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It is a way to discount the "tea parties" and the people at them.
The sentiment on the left is that these demonstrations were organized by FOX news and other conservative organizations, not a part of some widespread grassroots movement (thus the astroturf reference).
It's saying they are phoney; staged by the vast right-wing conspiracy and attended by brain-washed right-wing extremist dittoheads.
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I wouldn't go quite that far. Nor am I attempting to discount them...regardless of whether there was a bit of top-down organization (and there was plenty of grassroots sentiment as well..I said it smelled vaguely of astroturf, not strongly ;)), obviously a pretty fair amount of people decided to make their voices heard today. FOX can't fake that. Like I said, it's kind of heartening to see these kinds of rallies/protests.

After all, that many people couldn't possibly be unhappy with the direction our federal government it taking our country, right?
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How many people? I have no problem believing a hundred thousand (or maybe a few hundred thousand) people can be that unhappy with this direction. And for every one that turned out today, I have no problem believing there are ten (or more) who are just as unhappy but simply couldn't make it.

I'd be careful with the presumptions about what I'm thinking.

Yeah and that one about bullets first surely reflects well on gun owners
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I've seen dozens of signs that reflect very poorly on those holding them (and by extension those around them). That's the first gun-related one I've seen, though.

JuanCarlos, please forgive my ignorance, but what sentiment don't you agree with? You are for limitless deficit spending? Also, I don't understand the astroturf reference.
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I'm wondering why there weren't TEA parties (gotta love the backronyms...wait, no you don't) on 15 April 2008, personally. I guess nearly limitless deficit spending was cool.



So, for fun:

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Would this be irony? I, like most people, tend to screw that up. It's funny, that's for sure. If you don't see why, think about it for a minute. What's today's date, and what is this nice gentleman doing? Note I'm not bothering to make fun of the misspelling of "speech," because hey that can happen to anybody.

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But Bush/Stevens/Hastert was cool? A one-party dictatorship is fine if it's your party? I know I didn't see her out with any signs a few years back. I saw a lot that seemed to suggest that (going back to that "nearly limitless deficit spending is okay" thing) this wasn't just about some people angry about taxes. I mean yeah, obviously they were but I think losing a couple elections had a lot to do with it as well. Limits on freedom of speech (have any even come about since November?) and ginormous deficit spending are only bad when guys you didn't vote for do it...or at least, only bad enough to break out the signs and protest when it's the wrong guys doing it.

And those are just a couple that were amusing (and there were plenty more). I'll leave the outright offensive ones alone. Especially since for the offensive ones, I expect to have at least a few idiots in every bunch.



Note that none of the above changes my mind about these demonstrations being a good thing. The freedom to peaceably assemble too often seems to be the domain of shiftless hippies and hate groups.



Also, I will almost certainly not reply to any posts in response to this in this thread (though I welcome you to respond), just to keep the politics from getting any thicker than they already are. If you want any back-and-forth on it, feel free to PM me.
 
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Indeed, I certainly don't agree with every sign there, and there were some that reflected poorly on those holding them/their causes. I'm usually not the rally/protest type (unless you count the sort-of-annual zombie lurch which is totally politics-free).
 
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