Actually, C and I did make the thousand mile trip to Washington to join in.
C is for Christie (my daughter); C is also for Connie (her best friend); and the other C is for Carol (her North Louisiana cousin). DC is obvious and TEA is for the March on Washington by conservatives who want the government, of all stripes, to stop spending billions of dollars of our money for every stupid earmark, bailing out banks, carmakers and insurance companies and trying to spend another trillion dollars on Obamacare, the ill-fated health reform bunk pushed by her highness Pelosi and in-political-trouble Harry Reid from Nevada.
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When two of the girls found out at the last minute they could not make the trip, Christie was left standing alone, very unhappy that it appeared her plan to go to Washington had been aborted. Knowing how important this was to her and how much she had been looking forward to it, I immediately decided that the two of us would get up the next morning and head north.
Christie had signs made up for the march and I was ready.
We made it a two-day drive instead of one, however.
On that Saturday morning, we hopped the metro in Northern Virginia and made the ride to the Federal Triangle on Pennsyl-vania Avenue. The metro ride in was a hoot, with hundreds of people jamming every car to the door, Many people waiting to get on had to wait for later trains, but they eventually got there.
It was so crowded at the Triangle we could hardly walk and were unable to hear the early speeches. But after about an hour, the mass of people started moving toward the Capitol. We walked fast, our signs of protest held high, and made it to the West Lawn in time to get up near the front as the speeches began. It was an overcast day and quite comfortable as men and women from across the country spoke out against the Democrats’ health care ploy, government spending and socialist-leaning senators and representatives.
One of my favorite “cheers” which went up on high all during the day was: “Can you hear us now?!”
The number of conservatives there that day is unclear. The best estimates seem to have been between 75,000 and 100,000. The DC Police Dept. refused to make an estimate since they had been criticized many times before for playing politics with the numbers.
I can tell you this: it was huge. It was orderly and loud. The messages were clear and nobody used a teleprompter.
There were literally thousands of posters and signs carried by the throng. One of ours was “Congress is the disease, not the cure.” There were almost as many criticisms of the Repubicans as the Democrats. It was a strong message to both sides of the aisle: control spending, stop waste, reward work, stop the move to socialism, return to the conservative values of the founding fathers, obey the Constitution, fire the Czars, stop supporting ACORN, no government-run health care.
It was a sea of red, white and blue American flags and banners. The music and speeches were All-American.
Liberals would not have felt welcome, however; let’s tell it like it is. It was a day for conservatives to show up, march and be heard. President Obama wasn’t around to hear, however. He went to make his daily speech in Minnesota—with his teleprompter along for the ride.
The March on DC wound up at 3 o’clock and Christie and I, rather worn out from a very busy day, made our way out of the masses and headed out of the city back to Virginia.
We awoke to a rainy Sunday morning and began our two-day thousand mile drive back South. We had joined the March with thousands of Americans from all over the nation.
Our parting shot and hope lie in five words: “Can you hear us now?”
Lou Major Sr. was publisher of The Daily News for 34 years (1963-1997) and retired as CEO of Wick Communications.
Comments
Jo Ann Zeringue wrote on Sep 28, 2009 8:02 AM:
jmcgrig wrote on Sep 26, 2009 12:53 PM:
gafat wrote on Sep 25, 2009 7:49 PM:
We better keep a 'heads-up' on NObama's push for a NWO - New World Order. He and his G20 comrades speaketh all of the rhetoric. Keepeth your eyes/ears open - and your guns loaded.
Mine are............ "
Edmond Chandler wrote on Sep 23, 2009 4:34 PM:
... with your permission, Lou, I'm going to adopt this when addressing the City Council here in Bogalusa.
... I am convinced that City Hall and the Mayor and Councilpersons do not listen nor care what we, the citizens and voters CARE about. "They" underestimate our POWER!
We VOTE you into office and we can vote you OUT OF OFFICE!
... CAN YOU HEAR US NOW? ...
GO BOGALUSA! "
Edmond Chandler wrote on Sep 23, 2009 3:53 PM:
iI love your true account, Lou ... PROS and CONS aside. .
... This issue is causing people to THINK and DECIDE and SPEAK UP!
There is no room for a "silent majority" to stay silent!
Let your voices be heard loud and clear.
Personally, I want to begin again at square one. I don't like the choices given to us thus far.
"CAN YOU HEAR US NOW"
I hope so. we want a better program! "
Marcus wrote on Sep 23, 2009 2:50 PM:
American wrote on Sep 23, 2009 2:01 PM:
Mr Martin I'll refrain from embarassing you with facts. I only need to use two words to describe the new Democrat party: NANCY PELOSI Never has there been such a mentally unstable person in such a powerful position in our nation's history. The silent majority are learning that the ones who yell the loudest get the most attention. Unlike most protesters we have full time jobs which makes the recent rally that much more patriotic. "
old school wrote on Sep 22, 2009 1:47 PM:
old school wrote on Sep 22, 2009 1:36 PM:
old school wrote on Sep 22, 2009 1:37 AM:
Thank you, for making the trip and helping the conservative voice be heard. The libs don't seem to understand that conservatives ALSO have the right to protest. They continue to call us (racist, teabaggers, rednecks and ignorant), because they cannot argue and win on facts. The silent majority no more “CAN YOU HEAR US NOW”
I think myself that we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious.
Thomas Jefferson "
Scott Martin wrote on Sep 21, 2009 5:11 PM:
I'm also impressed that the crowd was orderly, considering the rage displayed in many of the protest signs. Do some really think Obama is a Fascist or Communist or Nigerian Islamic extremist?
Another question: Why are they okay busting the budget with billionaire tax cuts/pointless wars but can't abide saving us from a second Great Depression? "