Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on April 16, 2009

By Vicki McClure Davidson * Frugal Café Blog Zone

My daughter Lacy and her best friend Joe, 2009 Tax Day Tea Party Protest, Phoenix, AZ

My sister Milissa, my daughter Lacy, her friend Joe, and I arrived two hours early to the Tax Day Tea Party protest in front of the Arizona State Capitol building in Phoenix. I was excited (such a protest newbie!). We had our homemade protest signs and were wearing our campaign buttons (Joe wore a McCain button, and us girls proudly wore buttons of Sarah Palin). The lawn area was already filling up. At that point, I did a guesstimated head count of a few hundred. Cool…

My husband and my sister’s husband wanted to attend, but couldn’t. They said they’d be there “in spirit.” My dad and his wife were concerned about the potentially large crowd, said they had mailed a number of protest teabags to the White House, and would also be at the tea party “in spirit.”

By the time the protest started at 5:30 pm… yowzer! There were THOUSANDS—people in business suits or blue jeans or tie-dyed T-shirts, wearing cowboy hats or biker jackets or colonial tri-cornered hats or colorful Americana garb, with babies in strollers or themselves in wheelchairs—and more were still arriving by the dozens with their homemade protest signs even an hour later. Soccer moms were calling their friends on their cell phones, “You’ve got to come down here now, it’s amazing!” I overhead a young businessman, fully suited, on his cell, saying, “Dude, you’re missing it all. Get your ass down here!”

Elbow to elbow, the throng of people grew, and walking through the crowd, except at the outside perimeters, was slow going by 6:00.

But no one cared.

No one cared that it became chilly and windy (not common in Phoenix in April). No one cared that it was so squooshed and noisy you could barely hear the local radio hosts or the guest speakers over the loud speakers. No one cared that there weren’t any food concessions or places to buy bottled water. No one cared that there weren’t any big-name bands or Hollywood celebrities. No one cared that it took at least 20 minutes to use one of the four on-site porta-potties (I counted 68 people in the “bathroom line” at one point, six times the liberal protesters at the lamentable anti-tea party rally held in Washington, DC on April 11… ha!).

Grins and joy and friendliness was everywhere. I witnessed no disorderly conduct (one elderly woman that I talked with said two rebel rousers were escorted away by police. She thought they were liberal kooks. However, I didn’t see that happen.)

Stepped on my foot? No prob, neighbor! Your first protest? Yes, it is! Me, too! God bless America! Let freedom ring!

We were energized! No division of political parties, all were concerned about their beloved America. Absolutely awesome.

I talked with so many people: housewives, a member from Team Sarah.org, auto repair men, retired folks, military veterans, businessmen, retired elected officials, college students… so many took a vacation day from work to be there (like me). J.D. Hayworth (former Arizona congressman, from 1995 through 2007) and Bruce Jacobs from KFYI radio were there. All the important local news teams were there, and several local news helicopters hovered above to videotape the growing crowd. Lots of free bumper stickers were being handed out; I have a “I Support Sheriff Joe” sticker now. (Click here or here for posts about Sheriff Joe Arpaio.)

We were united and of the same mind and we all knew it: we were of all ages, shapes, sizes, colors, religions. We were Americans… concerned, conservative, tax-paying, hard-working Americans who are fed up with our government.

And we had a common voice that swelled for several hours. NO MORE TAXES. NO MORE LARGE GOVERNMENT. NO MORE SOCIALISM. NO MORE ENTITLEMENTS. NO MORE PORK. NO MORE REWARDING FREE LOADERS. DON’T SPEND MY CHILDREN’S FUTURE. YOU KEEP THE ‘CHANGE.’ QUIT SPENDING ALREADY!

We the people… thousands of taxpayers here in Phoenix and throughout the country, united and protesting our misguided president and Congress in Washington on tax day.

Wow, my first protest. It exceeded my expectations.

Were there any liberals posing as media or hoping to “expose” this group of protesters as kooks, conservative wackos, Christian extremists, ignoramuses? I believe I identified three there. However, they were swallowed up like tiny little minnows by the huge crowd of people who legitimately wanted to be there. So, go ahead… write up your pitiable paragraph or two for the loathsome Huffington Post, lie about the number of people in attendance, marginalize conservatives, feign cringing fear at anti-Obama signs, exaggerate about anything you want to. Be as mocking as you want.

We don’t care.

You’re in the minority. And you’re becoming more outnumbered with each passing week.

I was truly proud of being an American at this rally, although I usually am proud. And I was among thousands of other grassroots patriots. Energizing, exciting, and just the beginning.

We the people… have spoken. Washington, you’d better be listening.

*****

Below is the photo gallery of some photos I took at the Phoenix tea party; you can click the thumbnails to see the larger-sized photographs. Quote from The Arizona Republic newspaper:

The state capitol played host to the state’s largest such gathering, drawing a spirited but well-behaved crowd that numbered more than 5,000 at its largest, according to an estimate by representatives of the state Department of Public Safety. A similar event in Tucson hours earlier swelled to roughly 1,500, and about 1,000 met in Gilbert. All told, there were more than 18 tea parties across Arizona.

A great video montage below of the Phoenix tea party protest (local news sources said about 5,000 were in attendance at its largest point of the day, with approximately 7,500 in attendance during the entire protest – only 400 had been anticipated by the media).

UPDATE: Phoenix police, at 6 pm, reported to Tom Jenney of Americans for Prosperity that the attendance at that time was at 6,000. However, with more and more people still arriving well after 6 pm, that attendance number has been adjusted to 10,000:

Michelle Malkin: Massive: Tax Day Tea Party USA; Updated
NoBama: White House Says Obama ‘Unaware’ of Tea Parties
Moderate in the Middle: Update: Arizona Tea Party- Phoenix
Gateway Pundit: Dem Leaders Say Tea Party Protesters Are “Neo-Nazis, Militias, Secessionists and Racists”
Sister Toldjah: Attempts at delegitimizing the Tea Party movement have failed
Jim Blazsik: MSM babies and others reactions to the Tax Day Tea Party
Hot Air: Unreal: CNN reporter openly contemptuous of tea parties (video included)
Peace and Freedom Global Future: Obama, Media Should Take Note Of Tea Parties, Not Ignore or Belittle
Michelle Malkin: James Wolcott: Beclowned and CNN Beclowns Itself and California Tea Party to California GOP: Smackdown
Conservatives4Palin: Surprise: MSNBC’s Chuck Todd Just Doesn’t “Get It”
Legal Insurrection: Looking At Tea Parties Through Binoculars, Like On Safari
Riehl World View: Troubling Times Ahead For The Right?
Townhall.com: It’s On! Showdown Between CNN Reporter & Chicago’s Tea Party Guests UPDATE: Shep Responds To CNN

Categories: Conservatism, Economy, Freedom of Speech, Government, Illegal Immigration, National Security, Social and Political Climate
Tags: Arizona, citizens against government waste, Congress, Obama, Phoenix, porkulus, president, protest, Sarah Palin, socialism, Tax Day Tea Party, taxes, tea parties, tea party, Washington