The idea of the tea party movement morphing into a long term movement is a great idea, a great way to move forward.
BUT! We can't forget the protests. People need to see the faces of average americans on their TV screens. These protests can(not always, but often times) provide something unique that americans need to see.
You are not alone. We surround them. Seeing huge crowds get together *IN SPITE* of the media's claims that the tea party is over and dead is still an important aspect of all this.
And Kibbe even brushes into that point himself when he says "we're not just a protest movement anymore" Not just? Great! But we still need to protest. We need another massive wave to hit DC again and again, until they listen.
I agree with your thoughts... sometimes seeing numbers (like a million plus folks in D.C. ) speaks volumes. Not only that but being one among a HUGE group is “inspirational” for the TP crowd. It feels “inclusive” and powerful. Those emotions (IMHO) tend to motivate the person to stay involved and strong.
I was wondering if there was a meeting this year.
WE NEED TO BE THERE IN 2012 THOUGH!! I hope we have the biggest rally ever right before the election. That would send a huge message.
Isn’t Beck doing something in that time frame?
We do need to get beyond just a protest movement. But we also need to have marches and rallies every now and then to show continued strength — and what better time than 9/12?
I have gone to 3 April 15 tax protests here in NYC run by the Tea Party. The first two were great—about 7,000 people showed up. This last one we were lucky if they had 300-250 people. But with the economy getting crappier and crappier who knows what will happen.
We were there for the first (amazing!) 9/12/09 March on DC, but didn't go last year because Glenn Beck stupidly had his rally in DC only a few weeks before 9/12/10. We had to pick which rally we could attend - we couldn't do both. I kind of wish we were there for the 9/12/10 instead of Beck's rally, to be totally honest.
I've spoken to hundreds of people who would have been at the 9/12/10 March on DC if they also didn't decide to do Beck's rally instead.