9/3 Tea Party Protest at Montclair State University a Success!!!
The North New Jersey Tea Party Group helped sponsor a Tea Party Protest on the afternoon of September 3, 2009, just ahead of Congressman Bill Pascrell Jr.’s (D-NJ) Town Hall Meeting scheduled for that same day. A write-up of this Town Hall Meeting will be done separately; in this document I focus on the Tea Party Protest. The following are my personal thoughts and observations regarding several aspects of this protest:
* A key takeaway for all tea partiers is: DON’T BE INTIMIDATED. When the political left invariably confronts you with its smear tactics, vulgarities, and hatemongering, just laugh it off — it means they’ve run out of intellectual ammunition, which means you’ve won the debate. (See below for more details.)
* For those of you that attended, any photos, videos, and/or comments you may wish to share would be appreciated. You can send links or content to nnjteaparty@gmail.com (this goes for the Town Hall Meeting as well as the Tea Party Protest).
* About 2-3 dozen Tea Party Protesters gathered 15-20 feet away from the front entrance into Montclair State University’s Memorial Auditorium, the site of Congressman Pascrell’s Town Hall Meeting which began at 4:00 PM. I arrived at the protest site at about 1:30 PM, and several protesters joined me shortly thereafter.
* My 2’ x 2’ protest sign read in part “Abolish Socialism or Atlas will Shrug.” Other protest signs read:
“Don’t read it just sign it… would you buy a used car this way?”
“‘Preserve, protect, and defend’ Obama lied”
“Kill the bill not the Constitution”
“America stands for freedom not socialism”
“Tort reform Czar reform Tort reform”
“No socialist healthcare!”
“No Soviet socialist healthcare”
“No public option”
“Hands off my healthcare”
“This is how Patriots Act”
“No to cap-and-trade, government healthcare, [and] socialism”
[held up by a child] “I already have a big brother. I don’t need another!”
[held up by another child] “Even I know socialism is wrong!”
* I’ve uploaded about ten photos of various tea partiers to the Facebook page of the North New Jersey Tea Party Group. Those photos can be accessed by Facebook users at the following link:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=172402990061#/photo_search.php?oid=172402990061&view=all
* Between 2:00 PM and 2:30 PM, our group of protesters was approached by about a half-dozen police officers who had previously been standing just outside the front entrance into Memorial Auditorium. They pointed well away from where we were standing, and made a “request” — their word, not mine — that we move our protest to what one officer called “a protest area.” I explained to them that since Montclair State is a public university, each of us protesters was there to exercise our Constitutional right to free speech, and that we were not moving meaningfully away from the location of the Town Hall Meeting (and not moving away at all). The officers returned to their original location to apparently discuss this, and apparently came to the conclusion that my point was valid, as they did not ask us to move again. The officers deserve credit for this. And I am thankful that I am not spending the night in jail for the apparently semi-subversive act of peacefully exercising my unalienable free-speech rights.
* However, the officers (as best as I could tell) never asked the 2-3 dozen pro-socialized medicine protesters (a.k.a. anti-liberty protesters) standing right next to us to move. It seemed like the officers were working with Pascrell and his cohorts (many of whom were milling about the entrance into Memorial Auditorium) to deliberately defuse the effect of our pro-liberty protest, while simultaneously not making any effort to defuse the effect of the anti-liberty protesters sharing the same small hill with us. I hate to criticize police officers — in general, I’m exceedingly thankful for them and appreciate the effort they put into doing a difficult and dangerous job — but in this specific instance what these particular officers were doing seemed inappropriate.
* Here’s more on the 2-3 dozen anti-liberty protesters. Two of them in particular stood out. I asked one of them — whom I’ll call Unhinged Hater #1 — if he thought we (the tea partiers) were racist, and he responded “I believe you are a racist, yes.” This of course is pure socialism — the attempt to intimidate those who value their right to liberty. I started saying quite loudly and frequently “When they call you a racist, you have won the argument. They have no arguments when they call you a racist. They fear that you are right, and we know that we are right.” They didn’t like that. I did. By the way, this anti-liberty protester’s “I believe you are a racist, yes” comment appears toward the end of the following YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9HhNlZkqU8
* Unhinged Hater #1 was claiming that those who were against socialized medicine were responsible for 20,000 deaths annually. Of course, this is simply yet another attempt to place unearned guilt on other people, and I wasn’t having any of it. I asked him “I’m killing how many people?” to which he responded “20,000 a year, buddy.” I responded that it was odd that the police weren’t arresting me since I am supposedly a mass murderer. I turned the tables on him by telling him “If you cared about me, you would not be forcing me to pay for your health insurance. Become an adult. Take some personal responsibility for your life.” I liked that. He didn’t. The video showing this particular exchange is located on YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky5SDFBB3zU
* Unhinged Hater #1 was arguing that because the other 40 industrialized nations of the world have socialized medicine, that we should too. I said loudly in response many times — he hated this — “Forty other nations have jumped off a bridge. I will not jump off a bridge.”
* Unhinged Hater #1 was also trying to make a big point about the World Health Organization ranking the U.S. 37th for healthcare. How typical for a socialist to embrace the propaganda of an arm of the United Nations! A big part of why the U.S. ranks 37th, though, is that it lacks socialized medicine. So, in other words, Unhinged Hater #1’s “argument” essentially boils down to “we should have socialized medicine because we rank 37th, and we rank 37th because we lack socialized medicine.” In other words, this particular “argument” is a tautology.
* A different unhinged anti-liberty protester — whom I’ll dub Unhinged Hater #2 — was carrying multiple signs, one of which read “You sound & look a little racists [sic] to me.” His feeble attempt at intimidation failed. I pointed out to him that his bad grammar was a sign that he probably went to a government school. A short video of this sign and my comment about it can be seen on YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLLyo6D9oNI
* Unhinged Hater #2 also showed off a sign saying “Stop being a fear monger you stupid tea bagger.” Of course, “teabagging” is vulgar slang referencing a sexual act that I will not describe here. I thought this anti-liberty protester made himself look exceedingly vile with his crudeness. (Another sign of his named several insurance companies, and had a big middle finger in the center of it. Classy!) Three more brief videos featuring Unhinged Hater #2 are located here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXejZv-irB0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E0fJMpWcRY
* When I was not videotaping Unhinged Hater #2, but standing near him, he whispered some violent threats toward me (using plenty of vulgarities while doing so; I’ll spare you the details). I challenged him to say those things on video, and he declined. Coward. Right as this was going on, one of Hater #2’s fellow socialists came right up to me, getting very close to my camera — actually putting his hand on it at one point — and said “Why don’t you get a brain… why don’t you get a freaking brain.” If that’s the type of deeply sophisticated argument to which the socialists like to resort, it’s no wonder that they’re losing the national debate. A short video of this exchange is found on YouTube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UestH3hhw4k
* As best as I could tell, none of the 2-3 dozen anti-liberty protesters made any attempt to prevent Unhinged Hater #1 and Unhinged Hater #2 from spreading their hatemongering and vulgarities. (In fact, as the previous video mentioned shows, the anti-liberty protesters at times vocally showed support for these two creeps.) If I were on the political left, I’d be embarrassed that disturbed individuals like these two are openly embraced by my “side” of the debate. One of the many characteristics of the political right that makes it better is that haters tend to be quickly, rightly, and loudly disavowed. The left clearly takes the opposite — immoral — approach to unhinged wackjobs.
* Given the presence of Unhinged Hater #1 and Unhinged Hater #2, I am thankful that the protests remained peaceful. The large police presence was helpful in this regard, as they kept a close eye on what was going on. My thanks to the police for this.
* I plan to publish my detailed write-up of Congressman Pascrell’s Town Hall Meeting as time permits (it won’t be tonight.) For now, let’s just say that Pascrell is… a piece of work.
* Thank you to each tea partier that showed up and kept our side vocal and peaceful!
* I look forward to seeing many of you in Washington DC on Saturday, September 12th!
– Mark Kalinowski
North New Jersey Tea Party Group
Liberty, Free Markets, and Individual Rights
By the way, I encourage ALL liberty-minded folks to “friend me” on Facebook,
and also to join the official Facebook page for the North New Jersey Tea Party Group