Tax Day TEA Party - My Impressions

I attended the TEA Party in St. Paul, MN yesterday, to show my support of fiscal responsibility, (the government not overspending), limited government, (the government not in the way of peoples freedom), and free markets, (the government letting businesses work).
The crowd estimates for this party were between eight to ten thousand people. Multiply that by the hundreds of tea parties going on across the country and you have a huge event. Now I hope the country was listening.
Of course, many media outlets were not willing to just report the story as it was happening. CNN even went so far as to demonize and harass those attending. ((Watch the video here)) This is showing what conservatives have been saying for a long time; the media is blatantly and unashamedly bias. Every report I could find either hugely downplayed what was happening or linked the people in attendance to "extremists".

Extreme? How extreme is a rally that starts with the Pledge of Allegiance? How extreme is a rally that numerous times broke into chants of "USA, USA"? How extreme is a rally of people who see a news helicopter and turn around to wave? (I thought that was a bit corny myself, but it did go to show how peaceful the demonstration was). Most rallies are liberal in nature. They involve screaming and chanting, they often times have some violence thrown in (RNC Welcoming Committee for example), and tend to be very resentful to any authorities. This is why the media loves to report on rallies. There tends to be something violent happening, and something 'exciting' to show on TV. These TEA Party rallies were not like that. They were sane, peaceful, and had a very easy to understand message - stop spending our money like there is an infinite supply of it.

So, as the country moves forward, where do we go? I sincerely hope that we can move forward in a direction where the conservatives of this country are not afraid to say what they believe; not afraid of being demonized by the media or even those around them. I hope for the country to hear the conservative voice and listen to what they say. But most of all, I hope for a country that is informed about what is happening and willing to get involved with what is happening. Let's all be open to debate, open to conversation, and open to involvement in the process of this country. I leave you now with my favorite picture from the rally.