Community Columnist: A proud Tea Partier thanks the president

America has rarely witnessed a momentous or important a political event than the ascendancy of Barack Obama to the presidency. For it, many citizens of this nation owe him debt of gratitude. More later on the definition of gratitude as it applies to this event.

Candidate Obama promised “Hope and Change” to an army of devotees drawn to a charisma hiding any real substance or achievement. They embraced what would become unfulfilled promises of health care reform, bipartisanship, transparency, absence of lobbyists, withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, closing of Guantanamo, cuts in spending and elimination of “pork”-packed legislation, improvements in education, lower taxes and a balanced budget.

Grave concerns began surfacing to those who listened closely to his words. Obama said, “I will fundamentally transform America.” Americans found this of concern and wondered about the audacity of a man with absolutely no executive experience to make such a brash statement.

Not coincidentally, Saul Alinsky, Obama’s close friend and fellow radical “community organizer,” preached the same ideology in his book, “Rules for Radicals.” It worried us that our new president seemed to be no more than a Jesse Jackson-style activist, but with oratory skills which, with his friend Alinsky, had been spawned in the cesspool of Chicago politics. Thank you, President Obama.

When President Obama took the oath of office he swore, “... to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution...” Yet previously on a number of occasions, he had stated: “(The Constitution) ... is a charter of negative liberty.” His sworn oath apparently was just meaningless words.

The radical nature of Obama’s agenda became clearer when we witnessed the cabinet appointments of radicals and those of over 30 czars who answered only to him. Tax cheats, radicals and cronies with little background in their appointed roles surged into the administration. Americans heard a wake-up call.

Using Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi to complete his American version of a troika, he continued his plans to socialize our nation, beginning with our health care system. His preoccupation with this goal trumped the more urgent matter of the economy and creation of jobs. After 411 televised speeches promoting his version of health care, the citizens’ gag reflexes reacted to having it jammed down their throats and said, “Enough!” The awakening gained momentum.

The wakeup call

An exploding national debt resembling a Madoff ponzi scheme fueled a reaction by the citizens not seen for decades. That concern and the proposed Obamacare plan became a catalyst for what is now known as the Tea Party movement.

Celebrating the rights of free speech and assembly, it began with small gatherings all across America until it grew to millions of citizens. The administration and critics’ response was to ridicule their fellow citizens by referring to them as un-American, an unruly mob and domestic terrorists. This was their only option because there were no leaders they could attack personally. The mainstream media followed this lead and many of them did not cover these events, but insulted the attendees as well. The momentum continued and more and more people joined the chorus of voices and expressed their concerns.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife explained the left’s dilemma. She said, “The establishment is afraid of the grass-root patriots because they don’t know what to think of them or how to deal with them. They have no leader, they are all leaders, they are everywhere, and they are not going away.”

The Tea Party movement supports any candidate who believes in smaller federal government, lower taxes, reduction in national debt and adherence to the Constitution. While respecting the office of the president, they are repudiating the man who occupies the Oval Office. Had Diogenes left the streets of Athens in search of an honest man, and visited Jefferson, Wis., his quest would have been rewarded.

An African American man from Milwaukee came to this small town to be part of the protest. As he proudly joined the Tea Party he displayed his handmade sign that said, “Blame me, I voted for the bastard.” This frustrated man resorted to using harsh words to express his disdain for the man whom he had voted. He is only one of a diverse group of patriotic Americans who are sincerely concerned about the direction of the country.

Who knows best?

The administration’s socialist policies are bad, but the principals behind them are worse. They represent a return to the idea that the American Revolution repudiated: The idea that some are equipped by nature or training to manage the lives of others without their consent. There is an inane view that this administration of average career politicians and cronies possess an acuity greater than that of the combined whole of 300 million citizens.

Read the words of Abraham Lincoln from 1864:

“We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others, the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men’s labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible things, called by the same name - Liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatible names - liberty and tyranny.”

The ascendancy of Barrack Obama to the presidency of the United States of America has stirred a slumbering populous that in the past has been complacent and uninvolved. With his ineptness as a leader, and failed policies based on far left and radical policies, we are grateful to President Obama for awakening America.

We have let it be known that we are willing to be governed by patriots, not by tyrants. Millions will continue to mobilize for the purpose of taking back this great democratic country.

“The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.” Frederick Douglass

Gary Meinert is retired businessman who owned and operated a wholesale plumbing, heating and industrial supply business in Wisconsin. He and his wife, Karlyn, who owned a small printing business, spend the four months of summer living on a lake in northern Wisconsin. They have wintered in Green Valley since 2001. He can be reached at gkmeinert@msn.com.