Since the inception of the Tea Party Movement, I, like many people here, have been curious about them. Who are they? What are their goals? What do they talk about at their meetings? Are they really Nazis? Are they total freaks, or can liberals find common cause with them on some issues?
Tonight I actually went to a meeting to check them out.
I didn't go to argue with them, I just went to sit and listen to what they had to say.
The Redding Tea Party was held at the Redding Holiday Inn at 5:30 in the evening.
When I walked in the door of the conference area, there was a long table set up in the foyer where volunteers were helping folks with name tags. Someone asked me if it was my first meeting. I said that it was, and I was given a red pen for my name tag in order to indicate that I was a new person.
I then went towards the room where the meeting was to be held, and I was handed a flyer titled "Patriot Press." The flyer had "In God we trust" and "Don't tread on me" written at the top, along with "Limited Government-Fiscal Responsibility-Adherence to the Constitution." The flyer was mostly concerning past and future actions on the part of the different groups, such as upcoming voter registration drives and a fundraiser for families in the Central Valley (more about which later.)
In the main meeting room there were about 350 chairs set up facing towards the front of the room. In the back of the room there were three tables. The first table had a bunch of petitions flyers, and cards, as well as hats, t-shirts, and a donation jar. I walked up to this table and I was immediately asked if I was registered to vote. Once I said that yes, I was registered to vote, I was asked my opinion about anchor babies, to which I gave an equivocal answer. (I'm all in favor of anchor babies, but I wasn't about to out myself that fast!) I was then asked to contact my senators and congresspeople about the new ammunition laws in California, and I was asked to go to a website to educate myself about a climate change treaty. I was also given a handout asking me to contact Boxer and Feinstein about the "Obamacare" bill.
(One of the oddest parts was that the man asked me if my boyfriend, husband, or dad had a gun as a preamble to discussing the new ammunition laws. I found that oddly sexist, as though the right to bear arms has nothing to do with women at all.)
One of the tables at the back of the room had books. They were basically what you'd expect: O'Reilly, Huckabee, and Gingrich. I didn't see anything too far out as far as books go. The other table was from a group called the Appleseed Project. The Appleseed Project is ostensibly dedicated to cultivating marksmanship among rifle owners, but they are really a militia movement.
http://www.appleseedinfo.org/There were no refreshments, either free or for sale.
The meeting got started at around 6, and I would guess that there were 350 people there. There were about 10 people under the age of 40 (most of whom were women), and most of the people there seemed to be in their 50's, 60's, and 70's. It was a gray-haired crowd. There were about 4 women who looked like they might be Asian, Hispanic, or Native American (but I wouldn't put money down on it!), and the group seemed to be equally divided between men and women. I would guess that about half of the crowd was wearing business casual clothes, and half were wearing a t-shirt and jeans. Many of the shirts had quotes from the constitution or were Tea Party shirts. A few were overtly religious. It had a very middle-class vibe.
The opening speaker talked about the need to "beat this onslaught of taking away freedoms." After a few opening words we had a prayer. We prayed to the Lord for freedom and the constitution, we prayed for the overcoming of enemies of freedom, we prayed for Israel, and we prayed for our leaders that they might be lead towards the cause of freedom and be lead towards the will of God.
After the prayer, all the veterans were asked to stand up. They mostly seemed to be in their 70's. I didn't see a single veteran who looked under 50 or who was a woman. We applauded the veterans, and while they were still standing we all rose for the pledge. (There was a flag in the room, but I didn't see how many stars it had!)
A man then got up and gave what he called a "patriot moment." He mentioned that the three goals of the movement were, yet again, limited government, fiscal responsibility, and adherence to the constitution. (This was repeated several times throughout the evening.) The speaker then mentioned a race in upstate New York where the moderate Republican was forced to withdraw as an example of the perseverance of the movement. He then gave a quote by Patrick Henry (which many people in the audience murmured alongside him): "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
Then a woman got up named Erin. She was an energetic (but slightly sarcastic) speaker, and she is clearly a lot of the energy behind the local Tea Party. (I think she posts on their website as John Galt.) She talked about arranging an anti-anti-war protest in Red Bluff, and how she saw the counter-protesting of anti-war demonstrators as not being pro-war, but pro-troops. She said that the strategy was to move in after the 10 hapless Red Bluff leftists had vacated that particular corner, and occupy that corner for an additional hour so as to avoid confrontation. Erin then talked about how a few days ago a bunch of Tea Party members had gone to the airport to greet a local kid who had just finished boot camp and who was about to be shipped out for active deployment.
Erin then talked about upcoming events.
There is going to be a rally on Veteran's Day, and Erin said that everyone there should keep the rally focused on supporting the troops and not on bashing Obama or any other politicians.
She mentioned that a big upcoming local action is to fight the Tehama County Air Resources Board regarding government interference, especially with farming. Erin said that fining farmers for plowing was wrong, and that if we thought so too we should go to the Air Resources Board meeting on Thursday at 7 A.M.
A woman who claimed to have a Ph.D in public health got up and talked about flu shots, and how Obama had declared a national emergency over swine flu. We were encouraged to go to the Tea Party website to educate ourselves about this, and to draw our own conclusions about whether a national emergency was warranted.
Erin resumed the podium and said that a current Tea Party mission is helping people and fighting regulation, specifically for farmers in the Central Valley. It's apparently a nationwide concern among Tea-Party-goers that the Central Valley of California has a staggering unemployment rate, a high suicide rate, and one of the biggest demands on food banks in the area. Erin said that there are people sleeping in front of food banks overnight, only to find the food all gone by 9 in the morning. Therefore, it is a goal of Tea Parties nationwide (including the 153 Tea Party groups in California) to donate food and Christmas gifts to needy families in the area. Erin then said "We need to turn the water on and leave it on! This is California's Katrina!" (She seemed so enthusiastic about this project, I didn't have the heart to tell her that many of the needy people in that area are Mexican immigrants.)
Erin then said that if everyone there could contribute a dollar or two to the cost of renting the room we were in, it would be greatly appreciated. She said "Acorn isn't helping us here," and got laughter (which was the only real crowd reaction of the evening).
We then broke out into groups, all of which looked interesting. The groups meeting tonight were Orientation, Preparedness/Second Amendment/Veterans, Political Dynamics, and Family Values.
Since it was my first visit, I chose the Orientation group. I would guess that there were 30 other people who were new, so there were a bunch of us there.
The speaker, Bill, spent some time talking about how to introduce the topic of the Tea Party into conversation. Bill said "People are angry, frustrated, and upset- they want to do something. Well, we're doing something." Bill said that the movement is avowedly non-partisan, and anyone who wants to speak may speak. He said that campaigning is not allowed at the meetings, and one local politician tried to campaign and he will not be invited back. The group got together on April 15th, and for a while they were almost doubling in size every meeting. Bill said that most of the leaders were new to activism, so all this was very odd for them.
Bill then discussed a ballot amendment for union dues opt-out.
Bill talked about needing to write to our elected officials, and he said that at the bottom of every letter you should say "I respectfully request a written response." He also said that everyone should educate themselves about what the constitution really says.
After that, he talked about how we all have talents, and if we want to be involved we should pick a group based on our talents. The political dynamics group is focused on legislation, writing letters, and making phone calls. The Minutemen is a group that's sort of a rapid response team, calling out supporters at short notice. The family values team is currently working on trying to get more young people involved in the movement, and they're working on setting up a debate at the local junior college. The voter registration group is devoted to getting people registered and out to the polls, "because change starts locally." The preparedness/Second Amendment group is devoted to being prepared for emergencies, and part of that preparedness is having a "go bag" that we can take with us at a moment's notice.
Bill finished with the statement that the goal of the group is to get "our government, our constitution, and our country back." (I had a strange deja-vu moment here!) He said "We're not kooks, we're not Nazis, and we're not astroturf... if we are, I don't know where the money's going."
He then started a question and answer session that bored me, so I left.
The first group I came across was the political dynamics group.
They were just wrapping up discussing the Air Resources Board in Tehama County in great detail when I got there. They then segued into a discussion of the situation in the Central Valley. A guy who was either South African or Australian (and who was definitely not one of the leaders) said "I love this country, and I'm sad to see all this trouble. But can't we just ask all the people committing suicide down there to take a politician with them?" :o
Someone then changed the subject to taxes, and she said "I'm in a state of panic about all this indebtedness." There was some discussion about Prop 13, and nobody really understood what the question was there. Someone said "I am worried that we are turning into a European social democracy." :)
Then there was a long back-and-forth about the new California law that people cannot buy ammunition without a thumb-print. This was by far the most animated discussion of the evening, and many people (both men and women) participated. Someone suggested that people go to Oregon or Nevada and get bullets with cash. One man joked that instead of selling oranges out of the back of his truck, he wanted to sell bullets. One guy said that he was disappointed with the NRA, but he still thought that the Tea Party should have them in to speak. One woman replied that she was through talking and she wanted to do something. One man then said that one solution was the abolition of professional legislators. The South African/Australian man said "This is so serious... I never thought I'd see this here. Bullets are the third most sought-after item in Africa, and that's where we're headed." He went on to say that friends of his who were guides were routinely robbed for their bullets, and Africa is in a state of chaos that it will take them a thousand years to recover from.
The man from the Appleseed Project came in and said that the new law did not take effect until February of 2011, so we didn't need to freak out immediately. He then said "I suspect that handgun ammo is going to be difficult to get in California... probably for the rest of our lives."
On this note, the political dynamics meeting broke up, and I wandered over to Preparedness.
I got to the preparedness meeting right in the middle of a gripping discussion on food saver crystals, followed by a discussion on best books for home canning, and a contentious argument about the best dehydrator brands. A woman gave out fresh eggs, then the evening was over.
In summary, everyone I met was friendly. They seem very organized, moreso than any liberal meeting I have been to. The people I talked to were nice and welcoming. The South African/Australian guy was the only person who said anything really freaky. :o
However, I felt like what was being said by the organizers was pretty topical. I think most of the interesting discussion happens in the groups, and unfortunately I didn't spend a lot of time there. They're certainly not overt Nazi skinheads, but I suspect that there are racist fears somewhere in their movement. I hope to corner a few of the organizers at some point and really get some insight on the thought process.
They don't bite, and I encourage other curious people from DU to go check them out. I intend to make future visits to their lair to do further investigation.
www.reddingteaparty.com
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