Hopes and Aspirations of the Utah Tea Party

I posted a note on Facebook about my answer to an elderly American with concerns about the directions our country is heading. From there, it continued to spread and Larry Jensen copied my response, duly credited it, as the hopes and aspirations of the Utah Tea Party. I wanted to share it with my Blogland friends as well.

(This is a letter from Utah Tea Party activist Candace Salima to an elderly woman by the name of Dora. It's a good summary of the aspirations of the movement).

Dora,

You do have every right to be concerned about America, no question. But two years ago an awakening began in America. On April 15, 2009 the first nationwide tea party, reminiscent of those patriots who threw the Boston tea party in 1773, was thrown. On that date, just shy of a million people showed up at different locations around America, including me.

Over the course of those two years, people began reading again, studying the Constitution thoroughly. They began studying American history for themselves, and not through the prism of progressive education. They began blogging, emailing, calling their congressmen, senators and the White House. They became familiar with and begin dialogues with local legislators. Townhall meetings began and they caught fire. They spread across the nation and those who could motivate others to action began speaking everywhere. I personally answered hundreds of emails a day, questions posted on my FB and Twitter pages as well as my blog. My phone rang incessantly and all asked questions about America, the government, the Congress, how things work, etc. Oh yeah, I found School House Rock again and started showing it to all the kids. Amazing how much was taught through music back then.

The wave grew greater and greater, until one year later on April 15, 2010 what had become known as the "tea party movement," was reported on national news as being over 39 million strong, and that was before Obamacare was signed into law. Our numbers have only continued to grow.

Scores of Utah Tea Party members attended the Restore America rally in August 2010. Between 400,000 and 500, 000 attended the event.

The left has attacked the tea party movement as a bunch of right wing extremists who hate our president because he is black. Not so. The tea party movement is comprised of housewives, farmers, ranchers, businessmen and women, doctors, lawyers, and Americans who punch a time clock every day of the week. We believe a Republic form of government is far superior to a pure democracy, socialism or communism. We believe the U.S. Constitution to be divinely inspired and the greatest document in the history of the world. We believe in free enterprise, no deficit spending - balanced federal budget, states' rights and so much more that fosters a free, responsible society. In other words, we believe in the resiliency of the American spirit, to the fullest.

Why do I tell you all this, Dora? Because all of this effort, education and active Americans standing up for their nation resulted in November 2, 2010 where Republicans retook the House of Representatives majority, over 230 elected to the House that day. In the Senate Republicans gained 6 more seats. Across the nation 687 seats were turned over to Republicans. 37 of out 50 governors are Republican. And in all these races, in most cases, most winners were not the status-quo Republicans. Americans began demanding stringent requirements of their candidates. Those who voted for TARP, OMNIBUS, etc. were gone. Those who had continued to vote for big federal government and ever shrinking states rights, were gone. In other words, in large part, we sent a whole new breed of politician, statesmen if you will, back to Washington, D.C.

State Delegates to the Republican Convention including many from the Utah Tea Party elected Mike Lee over long time incumbent Bob Bennett in 2010. The point? Elect leaders who walk the talk of fiscal responsibility and limited government.

This is a whole new electorate and political climate for elected officials. No longer can they function in the shadow with a trusting public. Americans are demanding complete transparency because of the rabid abuses of the government. We use several sites to track legislation, although my favorite is http://opencongress.org and I always double-check with the government sites (www.house.gov and http://senate.gov,) to keep track of what they are up to. My senators and congressmen, as well as my local legislators, know me by name, have my number in their cellphones and theirs in mine. I don't abuse the constituent/elected official relationship, but I contact them on key issues and legislation letting them know how I feel and what I want them to do. Dora, I am not the only one. There are millions of Americans across the nation doing the same. We are educating our children to the rights, privileges and responsibilities of being an American. We fly our American flags proudly. We make sure to keep ourselves educated so we are able to answer the questions of those who don't have the time to follow everything.

In other words, America is fighting back and we are winning. The new House of Representatives, to be sworn in on January 20th, will work with the Democrat controlled, barely, Senate to restore Constitutional government to Washington, D.C. and we once again have a president who actually loves America and wants to restore her to her former strength, we will begin that long journey back. Don't give up hope, we are fighting this war and have just won a major battle on November 2nd. Everyone elected knows they are going to be watched like hawks.

Candace