RSS Feed MenuSome 80 Tea Party activists gathered on Capitol Hill this morning to protest the “unconstitutionality” of the healthcare reform bill currently before the Senate. The Tea Partiers threatened to “storm” Senate offices and stage a “die-in” — or, as their press release put it:
…Play out the role of patients waiting for treatment in government controlled medical facilities. As the day goes on some of us will pretend to die from our untreated illnesses and collapse on the floor. Many of us plan to stay there until they force us to leave.
Their hope to “expire” in front of President Obama — who was scheduled to meet Senate Democrats on the Hill today — was dashed when the President moved the meeting to the White House.
And by high noon, there’d been no sign of a die-in or even a “storming”: Instead the activists broke into their own rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Then a group of Tea Partiers went to Georgia Republican Senator Johnny Isakson’s office, where they demanded a meeting. They got their wish with little fuss. After about a half-hour wait, the Senator dropped by to take some questions.
He received a friendly reception, with some of the activists even applauding the Senator after he discussed the Republicans’ plan to delay the passage of healthcare legislation. “America is looking for heroes right now. Thank you for being one of them!” said one tea party protestor.
But perhaps the biggest applause of the informal, half-hour meeting was reserved for when Sen. Isakson said that several Democratic Senators would likely lose their seats when they come up for re-election due to their roles in healthcare reform. “Chris Dodd is done – he’s cooked his own goose, and Ben Nelson too” said Sen. Isakson. “And Blanche Lincoln is finished, and that’s a tragedy in a way, she’s a nice lady, but she’s completely wrong.”
The Tea Party activists plan to reassemble at about 1 PM today. One organizer told FrumForum that they expect around 15,000 protestors to come. DEVELOPING….
FrumForum Photos: Tea Partiers Storm Congress (Flickr)
Tea Party Rendition of Twelve Days of Christmas:
llbroo49 // Dec 15, 2009 at 1:10 pm
You know, what this movement needs is a leader and a direction. maybe someone should copyright the “Tea Party” name so they can control the message. MLK is known for a lot of marches/activism (Montgomery Bus Boycott, etc). What he is not as well known for is his 1968 march in Memphis for sanitation workers that devolved in to violence when individuals not associated with the march took the opportunity to loot and riot with police. This unfortunate incident was further compounded by the assasination of King.
In reference to the Tea Party, they appear to be all over the place, standing against everything, while conveying the message that they stand for nothing.
balconesfault // Dec 15, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Do they realize that their “die-in” could just as easily be construed to represent all those seniors who would die prematurely each year if there were no taxes being collected for Medicare (after all, the Tea Partiers are fundamentally anti-tax) … and thus no Medicare system whatsoever?
The interesting thing is that they are protesting federal government controlled healthcare facilities. The only such facilities in America are VA and DOD hospitals. Is that what they are against?
mlindroo // Dec 15, 2009 at 1:40 pm
> Some 80 Tea Party activists gathered on Capitol Hill this
> morning to protest the “unconstitutionality” of the healthcare
> reform bill currently before the Senate.
> The Tea Partiers threatened to “storm” Senate offices and stage a “die-in” —
> or, as their press release put it,
Reminds me of the silly protests staged by the communist fringe in Western Europe during the late 1960s and 1970s. These folks were always blathering about the oppressed working masses, staging a “revolution” to return power to “the people”, they were adamantly opposed to the “fascism” of the elected government etc..
MARCU$
teabag // Dec 15, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Best of luck “storming” congress with 80 people. These are the fringe of the fringe.
So far off the planet that they are on the moon. Main rationale for their anger is that we elected a black man President. That’s what their birther thing is all about
CentristNYer // Dec 15, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Teabag: Fringe of the fringe? Au contraire — Michele Bachman was there to lend her special gravitas.
ConArtist // Dec 15, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Nice emphasis, Centrist. I frequent these offices on a daily basis and rarely if ever see anyone from this ‘tea party.’ The Senate staffs scoff at the nominal knowledge these people have and their misplaced anger. Far-right or far-left is really quite irrelevant – they’re haughtily (and justifiably) dismissed by most everyone.
To deduce that the stymie of health care reform is from these tea baggers is bogus. It’s tactically brilliant for the GOP, but doesn’t stem from any clout these people attain. I hope to see more columns from an intellectual forum chastising this lunacy.
Help, David.