“How thrilling it was to be around normal Americans who were of a similar mind”

Reader Cindy W. mentioned that she had attended the march in D.C., and I asked her to tell something of her experiences.

Cindy W. writes:

I live near Tampa, Florida.

Regarding the 9/12 march, while on the shuttle from long-term parking to the airport on 9/11, one person inquired about my FreedomWorks 9/12 T-shirt, and after hearing that I was going to a march on D.C., he and two other people (all appearing to be traveling independently of one another) nodded in full agreement and gave me big smiles and words of encouragement. The man sitting next to me asked specifically what the march was about, and I said there were a variety of reasons but that the main reason I was going was the outrageous borrowing and spending (along with power grabs) that I believe is going to lead to our economic collapse if not stopped. Wow, did I get him started with that! He talked on and on offering his full agreement. So I figure that with those three people, plus a dozen family members and friends, I was representing with my presence at least 15 other people who whole-heartedly agreed but simply couldn’t be there.

I can’t tell you how thrilling it was to be around normal Americans who were of a similar mind. Everywhere, people were wearing FreedomWorks or TEA Party Patriots T-shirts or red, white, and blue with stickers. Both hotels (across the street from one another) were filled to the brim with TEA partiers from all over the country, from Arizona, Texas, Florida, Alabama, Ohio (2500 people, I understand, traveled from Ohio). I even met one woman who (if she can be believed) said she was from Western Washington state and was “surrounded by liberals” and just had to drive here to participate! On Friday night, at one point, the entire lobby of the Hyatt was shouting over and over in unison, “Silent no more!”

I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything in the world. The only thing I wish I had done is budget for an extra night so I could have flown in a day earlier and immersed myself in it for a longer period of time. To anyone who thought about going but didn’t, I say, do whatever you can to attend any similar events in the future. It will be the best vacation you ever gave yourself.

September 16

Ed L. writes:

Concerning outrageous borrowing and spending, what does Cindy have to say about Cheney’s statement in 2002 that “deficits don’t matter”? How many of those like-minded normal Americans whom she was so rhapsodic about agree with Cheney on that?

You can say what there is to say about Obamacare and the direction of fiscal policy under the new administration, and much of it may be true, but to my knowledge, no one under Obama is overtly justifying or rationalizing deficits (“starve the beast”) in the way that die-hard Republican partisans have done.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at September 15, 2009 04:07 PM | Send