Trey Wood / Daily News
Todd Walker, 48, of Newnan holds an American flag at Monday’s ‘Tea Party’ in downtown LaGrange. .
Todd Walker, 48, of Newnan holds an American flag at Monday’s ‘Tea Party’ in downtown LaGrange. .
The LaGrange Patriots hosted Troup County’s first protest “Tea Party” on Labor Day. An acronym for “taxed enough already,” the gathering was one of a series held around the country to promote the values of fiscal responsibility, limited government and free markets.
“We’re not violent, but we’re mad,” said Donna Wright, a core member of the committee that pulled the event together.
“What a day!” echoed Hilda Railey, another organizer, who estimated the crowd in excess of 3,000.
Crowd members held signs reading “How can we have sense without any change?”, “When only cops have guns, it’s a ‘police state’ ” and “Stop spending my grandson’s money,” with a picture of an unborn child’s ultrasound under it.
Residents young and old from Peachtree City, Newnan and Auburn, Ala., joined Troup County participants for the protest. Veterans, students, businessmen and women sat and listened with American flags in hand as speakers from around the state gave their thoughts.
Political wunderkind Jonathan Krohn, 14, of Duluth, who already has written a book on conservatism and spoke at the 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference, held the crowd’s attention with his call for a “return to the Constitution.”
“The American people want something that’s in their best interest,” Krohn said. “… We can speak freely because we are free.”
Decrying the Obama administration’s economic recovery plan and government health-care proposal, Krohn said America needs to follow the principles of the Constitution.
“Maybe (President Obama) should read the Constitution again,” he told the crowd. “Everything begins with the individual, and if it doesn’t, then it’s not worth doing.”
Others speakers at the event were Zell Miller’s grandson, Bryan Miller, who read a note written by the former Georgia governor and U.S. senator; Ray McBerry, a candidate in the 2010 governor’s race; Melvin Everson, state representative and candidate for labor commissioner; and Virginia Galloway, director of the Georgia chapter of Americans for Prosperity.
Though their topics varied, the messages were similar - the federal government has gone too far and needs to return to the principles of America’s founding fathers.
“It’s called the Constitution itself,” McBerry said. “Our founding fathers gave us the solution to every problem.”
Trey Wood can be reached at twood@lagrangenews. com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 228.
To add my two cents to this conversation I'll just say this--I am a conservative and I am under the age of 30. Unlike my demographic counterparts I do not support the populist movement that has put an inept leader in the most powerful position in the world. "Yes we can" and other hyperbole inflating mechanisms has elevated President Obama to near diety status with no pragmatic nor foundational ideas; and that is a bad mixture. At such a crossroads true conservatives are in the position to take back Washinton, with that said I am highly disenchanted with the right because of their lack of leadership and ability to lead on conservative ideals that the party was founded on. Instead, they are focused on mudslinging and engaged in you've done more wrong than I politics. Not once have I heard any Republican come out and say this is wrong because of point A, B, and C, and this is what my alternative solution is. If they were to do that "we" the people would then have fuel to perpetuate real change. Being an alarmist with "death panel" propaganda and other slanderous rhetoric is not constructive and needs to stop. We the people want what is promised to us--The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That means being non-intrusive on us, not taking my hard earned money(if 10% is good engough for God, then is should be to you too), and providing only what your true manifestation was--protection and providing infrastucture. That is it...now bug off.
Furthermore,I have got some bad news for all of the people who seem to think that the governments main reason for existence is to provide them with handouts. Big brother was not supposed to provide monthly checks and free health care to you. Go to work earn your money. If you don't have insurance get a job that provides some. If you don't like what you are getting paid work harder and move to a better paying job. I have no problem with people who need a little extra help, but when you constantly have your hand out (and it's in my pocket) it is far time for you to button up the chin strap and go to work. We were promised opportunites for a betterment of life not handing your freebies.
And that friends is what the TEA parties are for, it is us the people collectively gathering and showing our disintrest in the nanny state deciding how my hard earned money will be paid out. If I'm gonna pay at least let my shop for the groceries.
Just maybe we are white collar workers with nice homes & cars because we worked & studied so hard to get there. Also - typically in a white collar work environment, holidays like the LABOR Day we spent on the square are days off for us. Although - there are many blue collar workers with lesser homes & cars who have also fiqured out just how far left the left has gone & just how outrageous government spending of OUR money is.
There are politicians who if I had the chance to vote for I sure as hell would. Bernie Sanders, Dennis Kucinich and Russ Feingold are all good men in my opinion. If someone comes up in 2010 who has positions I support in the Senate race or against Westmoreland, I will vote for them. I do the wicked thing by not voting for the lesser of two evils, but I vote for people whose positions I agree with.
JMMoore, name me one substantial difference between the Republican and Democratic parties other than abortion. On the two most important issues that affect the country, that is economic policy and foreign policy, the two parties are IDENTICAL.
You really claim that the economy fell apart after the Democrats took office, as if correlation is causation? Lets look at real causation. The current economic crisis is very complicated, but one of the most obvious and clear causes is the passage of the Gramm-Leach bill in 1999. It was passed by a REPUBLICAN MAJORITY legislature and signed into law by a DEMOCRAT president. When it comes to jobs Republicans and Democrats are mirror images. The shipping of American jobs has nothing to do with high corporate taxes, it has to do with CHEAP labor brought on by free-trade (the most spectacular economic failure to date) policies. Democrats and Republicans BOTH support neoliberal economic policies.
Foreign policy is even worse. Since Bush 1, the Democrats have rubberstamped every conflict we have entered, even clearly egregious ones like Panama and Iraq.
I saw ads for this rally at IHOP saying it was "nonpartisan", though the rally may not have been the message clearly was. Obama poses no separation of any President since Reagan. He may do populist things like support taxing the rich on a progressive basis (a hugely popular position in America) but he is pure a pure neoliberal in economics like Reagan through Bush 2 and the same destructive foreign policy that we can't survive with.
Oh and on health care, it is not government regulating the insurance industry. It is the insurance industry regulating the government. The insurance companies have wrote HR 3200 and if it passes or doesn't pass they will be the winners, not Americans.
Even though I sounded very cynical, it is good to see Americans take an interest in their politics beyond quibbling about what they heard on the Corporate Propaganda Factories of cable news. Though you "Tea Party Patriots" should realize that what you are protesting is no different than what has been going on for almost 30 years. The "D" next to Obama's name means jack.
For lagrangeman the economy fell apart after the democrats took control of congress, get a clue. The economy is now Obama problem and his responsibility, you can't always blame Bush for all of Obama's failures. I know thats an idea democrats aren't use to you know actually taking responsibility for yur actions.
L-Letting
I-Ignorant
P-Politics
T-Take
O-Over the
N-Nation
Ignorant-lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact: (even more Ignorant) Not willing to come up with solutions only confusion......
I guess we were not in a big enough mess the last couple of years to speak out huh? LOL
"Political wunderkind Jonathan Krohn, 14, of Duluth, who already has written a book on conservatism and spoke at the 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference, held the crowd’s attention with his call for a “return to the Constitution.”"