.jpg)
Not without a fair amount of political controversy, the Atlanta Independence Day Tea Party, the Georgia State Freedom Keeper's Rally & Tea Party, took place at the Georgia State Capitol on July 4th from 6 to 9 p.m. The last Tea Party held on April 15th at the Georgia Capitol was a huge success, with more than 20,000 people in attendance.
This time around, the biggest Tea Party in Atlanta area (out of many) was supposed to be held at the Gwinnett Place Mall, in Macy’s parking lot, a much bigger space, by far more accommodating than the small streets surrounding the Capitol. However, with all the preparations under way, the Gwinnett Mall owners unexpectedly pulled the plug.
The event was planned since March and was supposed to include fireworks, activities for children and refreshments. This is where the controversy starts.
The mall is owned by Simon Property Group but the Macy’s building is actually on private property and not owned by the company. George Thorndyke, the owner of the property, agreed to have the Atlanta Tea Party use the lot free of charge and had gone an extra step in sponsoring fireworks. Despite that, the Simon Group was able to pull some strings and found a loophole in the law (reciprocal property easement agreements, many of which have expired) so the event was cancelled.
Of course as a private company, they have every right to do what they did, the timing – just 11 business days before 4th of July- however, seemed peculiar to many.
After some investigation of the Simon Company, the Americanthinker.com connected the dots :
1. Simon Property Group owns Gwinnett Place Mall.
3. Melvin Simon has provided large political contributions to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Al Franken, John Edwards, the DNC and many other Democrats and Democrat organizations.
4. Melvin Simon was a major contributor to Barack Obama inaugural committee and has given at least $1 million to the William J. Clinton foundation.
5. Melvin's wife, Bren, personally donated almost $100,000 to various political candidates, was a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, and contributed to President Obama's inaugural committee.
Needless to say, the organizers were unable to find a proper venue for such a grand event in just a few days. Instead, the plans were scratched, and it wasn’t until the week of July 4th that the word got out about an event at the Capitol.
Naturally, with such a short notice, and no advertisement, the party was only attended by about 200 people (but was broadcasted live on 50 radio stations nation-wide).
The organizer, Dr. Bob Frady, of Campaign for Liberty, still managed to bring out quite a few speakers, such as two gubernatorial candidates Roy McBerry and John Oxendine, talk show host Martha Zoller of WDUN, Jonathon Krohn, Joel Aarons of WGKA, and Gerry Purcell among others (the complete list of speakers is unavailable, since they were recruited in the last minute). Topics varied from healthcare and cap and trade to taxes and sustainable development.
When speaking about healthcare overhaul, Gerry Purcell, a physician himself who’s also a cancer survivor, suggested to the crowd they ought to “adopt a liberal”, to educate them. He told the audience: “ask your liberal friends (…)to name one or two innovations that came out of Europe or Canada in the healthcare market place in the last 10 years. [answer] Zero. There are none.”
He also criticized the European and Canadian healthcare systems for denying patients certain expensive procedures due to their advanced age, calling it discrimination. “This is America, we don’t do that here,” he said. Purcell is running for Georgia Insurance Commissioner.
On the same topic the host, Dr. Bob Frady, asked a rhetorical question as to why our politicians, who are so outraged by American healthcare system, get treatment in United States. “They don’t fly to Canada,” he said to a cheering crowd.
Another speaker, Martha Zoller, warned the audience of “emergency” taxes or fees imposed during national emergencies. She reminded everyone about the 3 percent phone tax (on long-distance calls) that was enacted during the Spanish-American War in 1898 to help pay for the military effort. It wasn’t killed until August 2006. “That’s what happens when they get their paws into us, they will not want to let it go,” said Zoller.
Comments
I think all patriots should boycott that mall for such an injustice. The property owner needs to realized that these patriotic people are/were his customers and need to be represented fairly, regardless of his own political affiliations. If not, then why spend another nickle at a place that isn't worth a dime!
I'm sure not gonna buy anything in that place ever again. It would make a huge difference if all true conservatives in atl area didn't shop there. Too bad most people don't know about it cause main stream would never run this story...
boycotting my local Esplanade Mall
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!