Houston Tea Party Amazing Success!

I am floored, simply floored, by the fact that around 500 people showed up in Downtown Houston, on a Friday lunchtime to rally for our country!

There are some good write-ups and pictures that I will link here as soon as I get all the links together, but here are a few:

Future of the HCRP

Photoshow Account

Grass Widows Diary

And a great video montage by Bryan.

The people who poured into the park to talk about our country and how we can heal it were such an inspiration to me. I heard stories from stressed parents, worried grandparents, hard-working taxpayers, fed-up citizens and people who have such a passion and a love for this country that it brings tears to my eyes.

We asked that attendees fill out index cards with their contact information and how they heard about the event. I have over 350 response cards! People really do want to see action taken to defeat the huge spending bills and keep Congress from snatching our wallets entirely. (Upon arriving home after the event, I was informed that my phone had been ringing off the hook all day, and that the house was pretty-much designated Tea Party Central for Houston.) By the way, that 350 number doesn't include the 150 e-mails I've since tried to wade through from people equally angry, but too tied up in actually working to pay their own bills to attend the rally. I know, novel concept.

This is the beginning of a national movement, as Tea Parties sprung up in over 50 cities nationwide, from Washington DC to the Santa Monica Pier. Locally, the organizers are trying to recover, then we will be working on plans for the next rally.

Again, every one of the people who came Friday, and every one of the ones who missed but contacted me, move me deeply. I hear their passion, I know their hearts, I understand their frustration. And if I have anything to give them with the meager gifts I've been given, it is to convince them that we are neither hopeless nor powerless. This is my mission now.

Thanks to Ces Guerra,

Chris Nelson,

Wendy Herman,

Natalie Arceneaux,

Claver T. Kamau-Imani, and

Jessica Colon

for addressing the crowd and inspiring us all to refuse to take the abuse anymore! Also, special thanks to Josh Parker (I could kiss you!) and Chelsea Winfree (my baby girl!) for working their rears off to plan this event and make it so special. They were the awesome duo that did everything while I got massive amounts of credit I didn't deserve.

Stay tuned for the next Tea Party Event in Houston. We will have BIG DOINGS planned!

He Started It

Rick Santelli started something here.



Upset over the possibility of having to struggle further in this economy by being taxed to pay mortgages for irresponsible people, Santelli has had enough. And now, so have the members of:



Top Conservatives on Twitter

Smart Girl Politics

Americans for Tax Reform

Heartland Institute

The American Spectator

and
DONTGO



Efforts are being combined here, and the local group is trying to get together here on Facebook and here with the Future of the HCRP and Rebuild the Party.





Our local group will be organizing the folowing:



2/27 - Houston Tea Party Protest

4/1 - Send teabags to the White House

7/4 - Houston Tea Party Event



Watch this space to keep up, and check out the links above as well. This ought to send a strong message to the tax-and spenders!

My Dear Children, I Apologize

Dear Bigun and Little Critter,

As your mother, I've attempted to teach you personal responsibility and owning up to your mistakes. Sometimes I did that by example, like when I thought one of you had made a mess and it turned out to be your father. I'd apologize and ask for your forgiveness.

Other times it would take the form of long talks; ones that bored you, I know, but ones filled with words that I'd hope that you'd remember.

This time, I've failed you in a huge way, and I want to apoligize publicly for what I've done; not just for absolution, but to serve as The Bad Example you spend your life trying to avoid.

I'm sorry that the government is going to be taking so much of your future earnings. With one of you in college and the other in grade school, the burden on each of you will be felt differently, but you will each feel it.

Bigun, provided that you can actually afford to finish college, your earnings will immediately be cropped to pay for such things as mortgage bailouts of irresponsible borrowers, large public works projects that provide no lasting employment, dog parks in Maine (offered to entice that state's senators to vote for the bill,) disc golf courses in Austin, and a snowmaking facility in Minnesota.

Little Critter, honey, college may not even be in the cards for you. I know it's 8 years away at least, but before then, we may have to move in with Grandma and Paw Paw. By the time you finish school, they will still be around and not be dependent on Social Security for their income, because they were very smart and saved like demons in their working years.

Oops, forgot about that incredible mortgage-failure-driven market downturn here recently. Perhaps the retirement plans they slaved to build will provide very little income after all. However, somewhat generous Social Security benefits will still be paid to them, which could help support us; at least until they eventually succumb to the ailments of people in their eighties. By then, Medicaid will have begun to ration their health care, and they might not qualify to receive treatment because they will be deemed too old to treat or save, too spendy to waste money on. And baby, we can't depend on receiving any inheritance from them if they are refused treatment: they'll have had to sell everything before qualifying for the government care anyway.

So again, dear children, I'm sorry.

Sorry I knew what would happen and did not stop it.

Sorry your future paychecks will be scissored to the point where you'll never be financially independent, or free of government's greedy grasp. If, that is, you can find a job.

Sorry that my generation has stolen not just from you, but from your children-to-be as well.

Sorry my political activism did not convince as many people as I needed to in order to prevent this coming to pass.

Sorry that I took time off from advocating universal personal responsibility to work part time, go to your events, support your sports teams, see you in plays or behind the scenes, volunteer at your schools, teach others how to shop with coupons, attend Bible studies, teach your science and computer labs, run your school carnivals, cook your dinners and all the other "frivolous" things I did with my time.

Please forgive your mother who thought just bringing two responsible, kind-hearted, talented, warm and loving children into the world would be a great enough contribution. I had no idea that my legacy would not only be the two of you, but all the mess the grown-ups in this country made.

The Stimulus Made Easy

Ripped off completely from Josh Flynn on his Facebook page:

Shortly after class, an economics student approaches his economics professor and says, "I don't understand this stimulus bill. Can you explain it to me?"The professor replied, "I don't have any time to explain it at my office, but if you come over to my house on Saturday and help me with my weekend project, I'll be glad to explain it to you. “The student agreed.

At the agreed-upon time, the student showed up at the professor's house. The professor stated that the weekend project involved his backyard pool.They both went out back to the pool, and the professor handed the student a bucket. Demonstrating, with his own bucket, the professor said, "First, go over to the deep end, and fill your bucket with as much water as you can."The student did as he was instructed.

The professor then continued, "Follow me over to the shallow end, and then dump all the water from your bucket into it." The student was naturally confused, but did as he was told.

The professor then explained they were going to do this many more times, and began walking back to the deep end of the pool.The confused student asked, "Excuse me, but why are we doing this?"The professor matter-of-factly stated that he was trying to make the shallow end much deeper.

The student didn't think the economics professor was serious, but figured that he would find out the real story soon enough.However, after the 6th trip between the shallow end and the deep end, the student began to become worried that his economics professor had gone mad.

The student finally replied, "All we're doing is wasting valuable time and effort on unproductive pursuits. Even worse, when this process is all over, everything will be at the same level it was before, so all you'll really have accomplished is the destruction of what could have been truly productive action!"

The professor put down his bucket and replied with a smile, "Congratulations. You now understand the stimulus bill."

Epiphanimonious

Remember the commercials that were the direct cause of the smackdown of Hillary Health Care in the '90s? It looks like the creative conservatives are fighting the stimulus with the updated version of Harry and Louise:

Try this:

And this:

And tell me that humor and tipping sacred cows isn't going to get the job done in the long run.

And while we're at it, I got an invite to join THIS group. Now, I don't consider myself a member of the entertainment industry by any means, but I have written a little professionally and certainly enjoy the arts, specifically the dramatic arts. I'm an artistic supporter, I guess. But this group looks like it has the right idea! I'm all in!