Back on October 16, 1995, I attended the Million Man March (MMM) organized by Nation Of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan. While I wasn’t a supporter of the Nation Of Islam, I was very curious about the entire event. Hmm… A million black men pledging to be better husbands, fathers, leaders, etc? What’s not to like about that? Sure Minister Farrakhan was/is controversy personified, but I was looking at the big picture. And I’m glad I went. While the media and pundits concentrated on how many people showed up (numbers between 450,000 to 1.9 million have been floated) and on Minister Farrakhan himself, I was immersed in a sea of interesting people. Out of the MMM, I made friends and business contacts I deal with to this day. An amazing experience that I will never forget. And even though then President Bill Clinton went with the “can’t separate the message from the messenger” approach about the MMM, he was forced to address it (albeit in a small way).
Fast forward to 2009 where the United States Of America is immersed in rising unemployment, spiraling deficits, health care debates, foreclosures, and all-around economic blues. A group of Americans have decided to actively protest at various town halls organized by government leaders as well as having more organized events. For the sake of this article, I am lumping these group of Americans in the “tea party protesters” group. When I look at the tea party protests as a whole, a thought just keeps crossing my mind: if Farrakhan can pull it off, why can’t the tea party protesters?
What I mean is why isn’t there a massive tea party protest in the works on the same scale (or greater) as the Million Man March? The tea party protesters, with all their quirks, have much more immediate and far-reaching issues to address than Minister Louis Farrakhan did. The economy is in every aspect of our lives. And no matter what the geniuses on Wall Street say, Main Street (regardless of sex, race, color, or creed) is still getting put out to pasture. Americans are hurting. And that hurt is fueling anger. So why no massive tea party protest in the face of President Obama?
Michelle Malkin and other conservative blogs are giving each other high fives about the recent town halls that have been interrupted by loud, boisterous, and upset Americans. Unlike the stupidity coming out of The White House and the Democratic National Committee concerning these protests (this is America folks and we have the right to peaceful and public assembly), I wholeheartedly support Americans busting up these town halls with pointed comments directed to the politicians and their staff. Our political leaders aren’t nobility. We elect them and without our support they are out of office. So we can rhetorically break our foots in their well-fed butts when we disagree with them (honestly they need to be kicked in the butts FOR REAL but you didn’t hear that from ME). But while Malkin and Company feel good about these smaller protests, I want to see how serious Americans really are about issues the tea party protesters bring up (and the majority of these issues are economic related not “birther” related). And a large protest in Washington, DC with Americans showing up en masse is what’s needed.
Watching President Obama throughout his campaign and during his presidency so far, I willing to bet the farm that he would come out to address the protesters. Especially if the protesters take the necessary precautions (bullet-proof glass around the stage like Farrakhan had at the MMM, etc). And I’m quite sure scorn will be heaped upon him liberally. But this is why it needs to be big and in President Obama’s face: to force him to address you. To show him that this isn’t a fringe thing. To take negative poll numbers and crystallize them into a tangible force to be reckoned with. If one (possibly more) large scale tea party protests can’t be organized to “take the issues home” then these protests will be relegated to “cute” status. And there’s nothing cute about today’s economic situation.
As motivational speaker Les Brown says:
“If you want to keep on gettin’ what you’re gettin’, keep on doing what you’re doing!”
And I think your not getting enough tea party protesters.
UPDATE
A couple of commenters have pointed out that I didn’t make note of the 9/12 Tea Party protest this year. I am very aware of it. And I should have mentioned it in this article at first. But my larger question is, why can’t the tea party protests (especially the 9/12 one) generate the buzz that a so-called fringe leader (Minister Louis Farrakhan) was able do with the Million Man March. Liberal media conspiracy? Poor organization? Lack of interest? I don’t know for sure. But looking at the 9/12 March On Washington website tells me that the protests feels too exclusive rather than inclusive. Conservatives aren’t the only people feeling the pain these days.
I’m not complex. Don’t have time for all that. And all that complex stuff bad for the stomach. Just color me simple and plain with a twist.