On Monday, I went for a short three hour drive to Fresno, to report on the Tea Party Express II. The weather was perfect, as well as the traffic light. I arrived at the venue at the same time as the Tea Party Express buses coming in from Los Angeles.
Fresno was the second stop of the day, on the second day of the tour, the closest it would come to me. After 12,000 patriots participated in the NewsBlaze Tea Party Express Poll, most saying they would travel to meet it, I knew I had to be there as well to see what it was all about and report what I has seen.
There were families with kids, there were singles and couples, there were retirees, and a few workers taking some time off, business people and a few recently unemployed. A few people looked in, through their lunch hour and then left, some arrived later, after work.
The crowd was not huge, as it had been in San Diego, but reasonable for a working day in a small working community. I counted around 200, but there may have been a few I missed.
The session began with a rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner," followed by entertaining, stirring songs that made the crowd laugh and a makeshift chorus line to a Lloyd Marcus song. There were several speakers, a lot of applause and a sea of American flags and Gadsden flags waving in the breeze.
Think For Yourselves and Vote: Speakers
The main message had nothing to do with a protest orchestrated by corporations or news channels, nothing to do with right wing groups, nothing to do with swastikas and hate speech, although there were a few wild characters.
It had everything to do with people tired of their government taking on a life of it's own, messing around in their lives, telling them what was best for them, what they could do or not do. It had a lot to do with elected representatives looking after themselves and vested interests, but not the people. It had a lot to do with a Congress and Senate that make laws so complex they don't have time to read them, but pass them in a hurry anyway.
These people are tired of that, as one speaker said, "This has got middle America out of their lounge chairs." The question is - have enough people got out of their armchairs yet and what will it take to get enough of them out to make a difference?
I was glad I drove for six hours to be there, to meet some of the participants, to see what it was really all about. There were five or six TV camera crews, including Pajamas Media, and Gary Tuchman from CNN and several shutter bugs.
I would have liked to have videotaped everything, but the government-run USPS lost my video camera in transit. Today, I received notification that my package was signed for and delivered. It is a small matter that I paid double and was guaranteed it would be delivered 5 days ago. Perhaps this is one reason the Tea Party participants don't want the government in the healthcare business.
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