Before I write anything about Thursday’s rally in our nation’s capitol, I want to acknowledge and thank my show producer Dave Logan, who posted about our decision to head north and kept you updated with my travel to DC, reports from the road, and rally on the Capitol. He conveyed and shared my excitement with several (ten!) posts and Twittered tweets from the Northern California (“NorCal”) Command Center of the Andrea Shea King Show. Dave reported on our visit to the Cannon House Office Building where we met with Fl Rep. Bill Posey, and our attempts to meet with Rep. Michele Bachmann and “Nancy the Wicked”.
Though he modestly claims “It’s my ‘yob'”, I know better. Dave encouraged us with every turn of the tire, answered the phone no matter the time, and prayed for our safety as we traveled 900 miles from Florida’s Space Coast (“Southern Command”) to Ground Zero and back again. Though he was unable to make the trip to DC with us, he was with us in spirit. Thank you, Dave.
Thanks also to my DH Tim, without whose constant and unhesitating support I couldn’t have made the trip.
Grateful also to John Vail, the “Rodeo” patriot who got this whole adventured started when he called and said “saddle up, we’re heading out”. And adrenaline-pumped, ably drove the entire I-95 ribbon that stretched between Central Florida and our nation’s capitol.
I was touched and delighted to see John’s son Steve experience the awesomeness of our national treasures as we passed by them for the first time in his young 20-years of life : the Pentagon, the Air Force’s soaring memorial, the US Marine Corps National Museum; the Washington Monument, the White House, the Capitol dome, and later, Capitol Hill and the inside of our representatives’ House offices.
Kudos too to Kristinn Taylor of Free Republic who turned around on a dime to join us, superbly directed John into DC proper, and called in to WMAL’s Chris Plante morning show as we were making our approach through the “mixing bowl” labyrinth of interconnecting highways that lead into the capitol to alert everyone listening on the airwaves that the Florida reinforcement was ten minutes out and closing in as fast as wheels could turn.
Some of the best commentary about Thursday’s Rally and House Call has been written by Dan Riehl, so in addition to my comments, here are his (in italics). Some of the photos are mine, others were taken by Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit which I’ve distinguished from mine with the caption “Courtesy of Gateway Pundit.”
So… Here we go. Ready? Cue Dan… roll tape…
The Great Adventure to Washington DC to Take Back our Country!
“Making my way to the Capitol, with every block the roar became just a bit louder.
And the crowd was only getting started.
(ASK: At exactly 12 noon, the loudspeakers came to life with the opening guitar riffs of The Who’s “We Won’t Get Fooled Again”, a protest song familiar to those of us who grew up in the ’70s, but with new meaning for today.)
We’ll be fighting in the streets, With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgment of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song
I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution, Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me, Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday, And I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again, Don’t get fooled again
Change it had to come, We knew it all along
We were liberated from the fall that’s all
But the world looks just the same
And history ain’t changed
‘Cause the banners, they all flown in the last war
I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution, Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me, Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
And I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again, Don’t get fooled again
No, no!
I’ll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half alive
I’ll get all my papers and smile at the sky
For I know that the hypnotized never lie
Do ya?
There’s nothing in the street, Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left, Is now the parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight
I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution, Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me, Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday, Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again, Don’t get fooled again
No, no!
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! Meet the new boss…. Same as the old boss
Over 100 yards out from the crowd, the Star Spangled Banner began to play and every single man, woman and child froze in their tracks.
In going to the Capitol today, we were exercising the rights of American citizenship for which so many good men and women have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice every day.
This was not a crowd to insult their magnificent contribution on our behalf by failing to stop and stare with wonder at the majestic site of our flag as the Anthem played.
We were young, old, white and blue collar, black, white, red and brown in color, but we stood united and indivisible as one heart and one holler.
We did it as we have no intention of allowing a seemingly spoiled and arrogant number of DC insiders on a power trip to take our rights and our freedoms away.
We were and remain Americans.
And as the howls, shouts, yelps and cat calls conveyed to them today as I stood there amongst so many good Americans, we have no intention of going away.
Nor will we allow them to get away with this without paying a devastating political price.
This is our democracy every bit as much as it is theirs, perhaps more so these days.
As was obvious from watching the assembled crowd, to watching it melt away without a shred of paper, or remnant of celebration left upon the ground we stood protesting, these Americans know how and want to take care of themselves.
We don’t need government to tell us what we should or can and can not do with our health, nor its care.
Gateway Pundit has Mark Levin and Jon Voight via a link, I was privileged to stand and hear them both today.
Listen to it, neither one of those men has any intention of backing down.
(ASK: Embedding the video below.)
Nor does Michelle Bachman, who led thousands in God Bless America at the end.
Like thousands of others, I was proud and moved in singing along as a single voice.
It was the voice of American freedom come to claim rights and freedoms given to us by far better men in far distant times. They are rights and freedoms these people can not take away unless we allow them.
We neither need, nor want some bureaucrat in Washington pretending to take care of us.
And if they persist in trying, we will take care of them down to almost every last Congressman and Congresswoman who supports it, doing so at the ballot box in 2010.
The earnestness combined with the incredible energy of the crowd of Americans I stood with so proudly today assures me that it will come to pass.
If the neo-socialists pass Pelosi care, unread, un-reviewed and mostly unshared, incredible numbers of them will pass into history as once having been, but now un-legislators.
This battle did not end today.
It did not start today.
It began well over 200 years ago and we’ll be damned if it is going to end on our watch, if for no other reason than our children that follow.
Making my way around the various Congressional office buildings as the protest wrapped and the crowd moved there, every entrance saw lines four and six people across stretching back, in some cases, around blocks.
Those patriots did not come to Washington to be denied their right to speak, or otherwise exercise their rights as faithful, freedom loving Americans.
Some men and women who could not find their Representative eventually stood outside the buildings, calling them out by name and demanding that they come down and face them.
They never came.
The brave that call America their home were in the streets in Washington today, not hiding in their offices.
And those people think that they have the power? They could not be more wrong in their thinking.
We were there, we showed up, where the hell were you, Representative?
The word means nothing if you are incapable of representing yourself to us face-to-face.
Today was only a relatively small ad hoc crowd of ten thousand – some pictures here.
If Congress continues on the course they are charting, I have no doubt that crowd will increase exponentially.
And if there is any one message I would leave for the Democrats in Congress it is, you damned well better have heard our voices today.
If you haven’t, rest assured we are coming back.
You can plot and scheme however much you want behind closed doors where, as we are law abiding citizens, we could not get to you today.
But the day is coming when you will be called out and confronted in the public square.
Eventually, you will be forced to face us and we will be there, impatient, but waiting, rest assured of that.
And it will be because of the very same system we came to Washington today to protect, preserve, defend and fight for if we must.
This fight is not over. This particular fight has only just begun.
In the end, nothing and no one is going to stop freedom loving Americans from enjoying life with our liberty intact, pursuing our own happiness now threatened by an elitist band of tyrants we the people will take down.
What I learned at the Capitol today is that it is we, not you who have the courage and determination to stand unafraid as one.
Being every bit as much millions as we can be one, we the people will pull you down from thrones you now appear to occupy in your minds.
Those are thrones that do not exist and never will exist any where else but in your minds in the freedom loving America we the people know, love and are prepared to fight for to defend if we must.
The liberals in Congress would all know that, too. Unfortunately, some number of them were apparently too damned afraid to even show up.
***
Hospitality, Florida Style…
Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fl 15), my representative in the People’s House, was in his office at the Cannon Building.
Available to all, he welcomed everyone who stopped by, inviting them into his office where he posed for photos, refreshed us with delicious Florida OJ, gave us booklets containing the words of the US Constitution.
We talked about the bill which he had stacked on his table, one version of which was dog-eared and fringed with post-it tabs. Beside that was the latest Amendment, itself numbering at least 100 pages, which Posey acknowledged he had yet to read.
Though he had to depart for the House chamber, Rep. Posey urged us to stay and relax for however long we wanted, and thanked us again for making the effort to come to Washington to help him fight back against the atrocities being wrought by power-mongering socialists.
Joining us while we were there — blogger/writer Lorie Byrd of North Carolina and her friend Zan.
Lorie recorded her impressions of the House Call rally at Wizbang, where she wrote:
“But what is unmistakable is the sincerity of those attending these rallies. They are taking time off work, bringing their children, spending their own money, and even driving all night to to get there in some instances.
For anyone to describe this as “astroturf” is absurd and marks those making such claims as either grossly uninformed, delusional or in complete denial.
The homemade signs are one clue, but just talk to these people for two minutes and you’ll have plenty of proof. They care about these issues. Most of them would describe to you their personal reasons for demonstrating — whether it be medical conditions or economic interests or fear of loss of liberty.
If this is not grass roots activism, I don’t know what is.”
The Cannon House Office Building is huge, and we made our way on the polished marble hallways to the 2nd floor to call on Nancy the Wicked.
As we made our way toward Room 235, were stopped by a phalanx of Capitol Police who prevented us from venturing further. The hallway was littered with torn up pieces of paper.
Earlier, protesters reportedly led by pro-life activist Randall Terry, tore up pages of the bill, scattering them all over Pelousy’s office and the corridors leading to it.
It didn’t appear that we were going to get much further, so we turned around and headed downstairs to Rep. Michele Bachmann’s office where we waited for a while, hoping she would return.
Unfortunately, we missed her, but not before leaving her a message of appreciation for what she’s done to help save our nation from the clutches of the coven.
And grabbing a photo of me with the next best thing…
By the time we wrapped up our House Calls and headed back outside, daylight was gone and the waning moon was rising. The dome of our nation’s Capitol glowed against the darkened sky, radiating with the white color of purity, the symbol of freedom, the icon of the world’s shining city on the hill. We shall recapture this icon of “We the people” that says Freedom, Liberty, Justice to all. That’s the message we left on this day.
God Bless America!
Wonderful, inspiring report!!! Thank you!