Greensboro, NC Tea Party (after action report, vanity)

freerepublic.com ^ | 4-15-10 | Wbill

[wbill]

OK, so this is a total vanity, but I didn't see anything on FR about the Greensboro Tea Party today. Zot away, if I'm out of line, here.

So, I was there. I'd guesstimate 2500-3000 people - the entire plaza in front of the courthouse was full, along with all of the staircases and balconies on the buildings surrounding the area. It was a really good turnout in my opinion. Parking was hard, Traffic was terrible - the worst I've ever seen in the city.

I was hoping to hear from / talk to some of the local conservative candidates. I wound up being a few minutes late (stuck in the lousy traffic) so I might have missed their speeches. All of them had booths of some sort, but frankly, I wanted to talk to (or listen to) the candidates themselves, and not just a supporter with a sign.

Other than that, it was a great time. The emcees had a number of just Average Joes (and Janes) come up and say a few words apiece. The show stopper was a gentleman from Cuba who compared a lot of what we're seeing now, to what he left his home country over.

News coverage tonight was mediocre. They estimated 2000 people, I think that they were under by a little, but then again I'm not the best at estimating crowds. The newsbabe spent more time talking about a handful of hippy-dippy counter protesters, a couple of blocks over, and one person who tried to make a scene. I saw neither of these counter-protests, and I would have driven (very, very slowly) right by where the hippy-dippy one was happening. They couldn't have been much to talk about.

The 6 o'clock coverage can be found at this link: http://wghp.com/wghp-triad-tea-party-100415,0,4779236.story. I just got done watching the 10 o'clock coverage a few minutes ago.

So, all in all, good turnout, news coverage was about what you'd expect, and not a whole lot in the way of disruptors (as many were fearing).

[wbill]

That's all folks.....

[gidget7]

Great Job NC!!

[Libloather]

...and one person who tried to make a scene.

Freakin' idiot was dressed like the Unibomber. “Prosperity = White Supremacy.” (Wasn't prosperity a good thing when the impeached *Crinton was in office?)

Police put kibosh on disguised tea party protester

The Tax Day Tea Party in downtown Greensboro ran smoothly Thursday. Everyone sang the patriotic staple “God Bless the U.S.A.,” kids got their faces painted and the parched drank their Liber-Tea.

Well, there was one tiny glitch.

A man dressed in all black and a hood or mask came to the side of the stage by the old county courthouse while a person spoke and held up a sign reading, “Prosperity = White Supremacy.”

The crowd didn’t fancy the man’s sign and cast a round of boos in his direction. Pretty soon, three Greensboro police officers escorted the man away from the protest.

According to arrest reports, Daniel Emerson Stainkemp, 22, of 1602 West End Place in Greensboro was charged with wearing a mask or hood on public property, resisting a public officer, carrying a sign larger than allowed by a local ordinance, and interfering with the protest.

He was released from custody on a written promise to appear in court in May.

Posted by Dioni L. Wise on Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 10:50 pm

http://www.news-record.com/blog/2010/04/15/entry/police_put_kibosh_on_disguised_tea_party_protester

Greensboro police estimated 2,000 people attended Tax Day Tea Party at Phill G. McDonald Plaza in downtown Greensboro on Thursday."

[Libloather]

2,000 tea party supporters raise voices in downtown Greensboro
Friday, April 16, 2010 (Updated 6:44 am)
By Dioni L. Wise
Staff Writer

GREENSBORO — “Silence is consent.”

If the phrase on the protest sign holds true, then hundreds of people at the Tax Day Tea Party in Greensboro on Thursday made it clear that they disagree with the U.S. government.

“We’re opposed to a lot of things that’s going on in Washington today as far as taxes and government growing and the people being taken out of the picture,” said Tom Roberts, a real estate appraiser from Jamestown. “Our politicians aren’t listening to what the people are saying.”

Roberts and his wife, Dawn, said they likely will attend more tea party movement events. People who identify with the movement have expressed frustration with government expansion, taxes and the recently passed health care reform measures.

The Conservatives for Guilford County planned the tea party in the downtown governmental plaza on Thursday. It coincided with dozens of rallies in North Carolina and hundreds across the U.S.

People carried signs reading, “Big Government Isn’t The Answer, It’s The Problem,” and “Party Like It’s 1773,” referring to protests against British rule at the Boston Tea Party shortly before the American Revolution.

Some people spoke with political candidates, got their faces painted and registered to vote at the event Thursday.

Guest speaker after guest speaker urged the flag-waving crowd to let their voices be heard by their elected officials. Bill Flynn, the morning co-host on WPTI (94.5 FM), even called on the crowd to shout loud enough for the Guilford County commissioners to hear during their meeting in the old courthouse.

Joanne Wittenborn, an event organizer with Conservatives for Guilford County, joined a few chants, but she said people should hit the polls in November to make a real impact.

“(We’re) letting people know that they need to become active,” she said. “Voting is the way that we can really make a difference.”

She said the group will talk with candidates to try to gauge which ones are most conservative and then the group will distribute voter guides after the May primary.

Isabella Adkins, who heads event planning for the organization, also requested more voter participation during her speech.

“The progressive liberal left believes that by this November, and especially by 2012, we the people will forget and become complacent. I will not forget. How about you?” she asked.

Adkins then led the crowd in a chant: “We will not forget.”

The Romanian-born U.S. citizen said she wants to see her new country go in a different direction. “I think the election in November is so important to the future of this country, because unless we get a more balanced government in Washington,” Adkins said, “I don’t see the future of this country very well.”

Some restaurants supported the event by serving free “Liber-Tea ” — iced tea — to all the tea partiers who bought a meal.

But one restaurant hosted a quiet counterprotest to the tea party protest. The Reasonable Uprising in Greensboro met at The Green Bean coffeehouse on South Elm Street.

http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/04/15/article/tea_party_organizers_push_for_voter_participation

[Constitution Day]

NC ping please

[VOA]

“
According to arrest reports, Daniel Emerson Stainkemp, 22, of 1602 West End
Place in Greensboro was charged with wearing a mask or hood on public property,
“

I don’t know if it’s still in effect...but when I took Oklahoma History
classes in junior high school...
it was mentioned that it was against the law to appear in public with
a mask/covering that would prevent your identification.
The law (IIRC) was a reaction to the KKK in Oklahoma “back in the day”
(1920s?).

[wbill]

I missed "unibomber guy". But then, I was a little late. What a fool.

I was stuck in traffic, sitting right in front of "The Green Bean". Didn't see a thing. The protesters must've all been inside drinking their $5.00 cups of free-range organic coffee and congratulating themselves on sticking it to The Man.