It’s 11:17am on a Saturday and I’m already craving beer. Unfortunately, in Iowa, having an open container of alcohol in a car is against the law, even for a passenger. I’m riding with Cory Adams, an organizer and volunteer for the 9-12 Project and a proud descendent of our second President, John Adams. The family’s revolutionary spirit has apparently remained strong over the generations: Mr. Adams and I are headed to a ‘Tea-Party’.
As we cruise south on I-35, I ask Mr. Adams just what it is I can expect when we reach the west lawn of Iowa’s Statehouse. Unlike most responsible journalists, I haven’t done a bit of research on what this 9-12 Project group is all about (though I did stop at an ATM to make sure I had enough cash for bail should the necessity arise). All I know is whatever these folks are up to, I am going to cover it; even it involves parking a Ryder truck full of fertilizer in front of the Iowa Supreme Court building. After all, that would be a big-money story, my daughter is rapidly growing out of her infant clothes, and I could really use the cash.
Turns out—despite worries from a local radio host named Bradshaw that Des Moines may be the next Oklahoma City—the 9-12 Project has nothing to do with domestic terrorism. In fact, the spirit behind the Project is precisely the opposite. The numbers ‘9-12’ are meant to represent the date of September 12th 2001. The movement had been called for by national radio and television personality Glenn Beck, who hoped to revive the spirit of togetherness and patriotism Americans felt on the day after the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
Given the divisiveness across the country since the invasion of Iraq and the subsequent election of Barrack Obama as President, I can understand the need for a call for unity, but I am not quite sure how this all translates into a protest that has been dubbed a ‘Tea-Party’.
I know the roots of the modern tea-party sprung from CNBC economic report Rick Santelli’s rant against the Obama Administration’s mortgage bailout plan. Since Santelli’s call for action, events dubbed ‘tea-parties’ have been planned all across the country, including several in Iowa. But other than that, I’m in the dark.
By time we reach Iowa’s Capitol Building and begin our search for a parking place, I have a pretty good idea of what the organizers’ intentions are. Their aim appears to be a peaceful, patriotic, protest of unfair government taxes—a melding of anti-government and pro-American sentiment; sort of like loving the sinner while hating the sin.
We arrive at noon, about two hours before the two o’clock event. The weather is beautiful, sunny and 60+ degrees. The organizers—distinguishable by their black T-shirts with yellow lettering that reads “We the People…” on the back and “9-12 Project” on the front—are already busy setting the stage and preparing for an unknown number of attendees.
They prep for crowd control, signs that may be overly-partisan, and opposition from other groups. They set up the podium, prepare the area for the band and check the sound system. The Iowa State Patrol is visible, but keeps their distance.
I listen in on conversations among the organizers while they set up. The feelings of descent surprisingly cross party lines. Bush is no more popular with most of these folks than Obama, and in that sense, one feels a united front against a corrupt and out of touch government.
I spot a sign propped against wall that states the principles of the 9-12 Project.
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America Is Good.
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I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
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God “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the external rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” from George Washington’s first Inaugural address.
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I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
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Honesty “I hope that I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” George Washington
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The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
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Marriage/Family “It is in the love of one’s family only that heartfelt happiness is known. By a law of our nature, we cannot be happy without the endearing connections of a family.” Thomas Jefferson
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If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
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Justice “I deem one of the essential principles of our government… equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political.” Thomas Jefferson
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I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
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Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of Happiness “Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely to give him comfortable subsistence.” Thomas Jefferson
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I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
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Charity “It is not everyone who asketh that deserveth charity; all however, are worth of the inquiry or the deserving may suffer.” George Washington
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It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
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On your right to disagree “In a free and republican government, you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude; every man will speak as he thinks, or more properly without thinking.” George Washington
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The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
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Who works for whom? “I consider the people who constitute a society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation.” Thomas Jefferson
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At 1:30 people begin meandering toward the stage from every direction; most have a message.
A person hands me a ‘trillion dollar bill’. On the back of the bill a message asks us to vote out EVERY elected member of the federal government for what they have done.
By 2:15 a crowd of nearly 400 people awaits the 9-12 Project speakers.
The event begins with The Pledge of Allegiance, an invocation, and a live performance of the National Anthem that lay the spiritual roots and the patriotic foundation for the speakers that follow, including a reading of a list of 12 Grievances (written on a scroll) that hearken back to Martin Luther’s 95 Thesis.
While most of the speakers carry the Republican label, their focus rarely strays from the message of unfair taxes and irresponsible government to more partisan issues like gay marriage. After three or four speakers, I really, really wish I had smuggled some beer into the event, or at the very least, some water. The outdoor water fountain hadn’t been turned on yet, and the nearest store was over a half-mile away.
The event goes on for another couple hours, slowly winding down until everything is broken down and cleaned-up. There were no clashes with other protesters or police and nothing blew up. Any disappointment I had that my story wasn’t going viral disappeared when I found out that we were finally heading to a bar.
Fifteen or so 9-12er’s pile into Legends Bar & Grill in downtown Des Moines. I’m the only non-organizer. As we settle into our seats and prepare to order I know it would be a good idea to start off with two drinks right off the bat because with a group this large it would take a while before our waitress came back with a second round. It would make me look like a lush, but I’ve been craving beer for over five hours, slowly roasting under a cloudless sky.
A guy sitting at the end of our table orders two whiskey and cokes for himself. It’s an impressive display of intelligence that opens the door for my New Castle and Templeton Rye order.
I knew that these folks had—in less than three weeks—put together an impressive and well-organized protest, but it isn’t until now, sitting in the bar, I really get a feeling for what they are about. Their diversity is staggering. Ages range from 21 to 65+, there is an equal representation of men and women, and geographically they came from all over central Iowa, rural or urban doesn’t seem to matter.
Perhaps more impressive is the structure (or lack thereof) of their organization. ‘Grassroots’ is a word that gets tossed around a lot, but in most cases, individual chapters of organizations are managed from the top down, especially when it comes to financing. Des Moines 9-12 Project is exactly the opposite of this.
There is no top-down organization at all. These were just people who believed in a common set of principles and came together on the internet. There isn’t a headquarters in Washington that tells them what to do. They literally gather in libraries, schools, each others’ houses, or in this case, a bar, and have meetings to decide what their agenda will be. Now, as I thirstily chug down my New Castle they are discussing what went well at the Tea-Party—and what didn’t.
The biggest change they want to make for future events is to make them less partisan. Every political speaker at the Tea-Party was Republican, and it is very clear that these folks don’t care a lick about the Republican Party. They are pushing for corruption control, term-limits, secure borders, and balanced budgets; none of which they feel they received from the Bush Administration.
The non-partisanship of 9-12 Project I find astonishing. Mostly because I’m a cynic, and for the most part I’ve only seen our society become more and more divided, producing sharp divisions like Keith Olberman and Sean Hannity or Bush and Gore. I truly get the feeling that the 9-12ers would be happy to see every politician replaced with someone who would listen to the people, instead of dictate to them.
I finish my New Castle and start in on the Templeton while they discuss the positives and negatives of their first event. I’m struck by the leadership of the group. Nobody is afraid to speak their mind, yet everyone is courteous and sticks to the point. Duties are spread equally among members, and there isn’t a single member that doesn’t seem capable of running the entire show if they needed to.
(For readers unfamiliar with political organizations, this is extremely rare. Typically, there are one or two leaders who carry the load in any group. They make the decisions and do the organizing, and everyone else follows the marching orders. Personally, I have never seen a group with as many true leaders as this one.)
When I finished my drinks and left the meeting, I was encouraged about the future of the 9-12 Project. They seemed to have found a way to reconcile anger at the government with the desire to destroy it. It was refreshing for a cynic like myself (who believes the problems of the Federal Government are likely unfixable) to see people who not only believe they can make a difference, but have also demonstrated they have the capability to do so.
That said, the 9-12 Project still has hurdles to jump. Remaining a non-partisan group won’t be easy. In my opinion the key to their success is to stay focused on routing out the corruption that exists in the system. If they can stop or restrict the money that flows to politicians and the political parties from special interest groups, then they might be able to accomplish their goal of a forming a “more perfect Union”.
Despite the challenges the 9-12 Project faces in the future, it has already managed to restore, if not my faith, at least my hope that the American people are capable of governing themselves; something I've been missing for quite a while now.
I wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors.
Comments
At tea party I dressed as Uncle sam with signs "Tax Breaks for Veterans" & "Don't Forget Vets Healthcare. 4/15 I had sign "Tax Money for Vets, Not Wall Street. See 912 Tea Party - Live Video.com
Johnvet - I understand you folks. But there's more too it than just Taxes, John.
Our Monetary system is a Tax. An Inflationary tax to begin with. Which allows those in the Banks and corporations to get the spending power out of these newly printed dollars before you and I ever do.
Why? Well because They have the interest money to pay back on the Loans before they get 1.
How? Well they Buy real assets Like gold/Silver/etc. and trade it on the markets and undermine currencies, especially US dollars as they trade them, back & forth.
example: They buy a 100 lbs. of Gold at $25 an Ounce. Then the market is manipulated so gold goes way Up.
They sell their Gold and receive tons of fiat
back. Then You & I an everyone else, pay taxes to cover the loss by the market manipulation of our currency.
It's more complicated than this short explanation, but will do for a short version.
Our Local Governments have been using Bond markets to enrich themselves and their friends
Using our Tax dollars in the business world.
They know the benefits that will be received before hand by each investment made.
And then Representatives buy into the markets they themselves created which have some manipulated guarantees.
The Laws are so complicated hardly anyone understand them, anymore.
Even at the State Level.
There's a reason. So you do not understand what's going on unless you are in on the take.
Every State in this Union has been making Billions on returns of US tax payer dollars for years. thy just do not tell us. Enough that we should have stopped paying our State taxes to them way back in 1965.
Because? They used our Tax dollars as benefits for themselves, not our communities as they were suppose too.
And they Hide this rip -off in so called, legal jargon.
It is much worse than many people realize.
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