My first protest!

These pictures are all from the Atlanta Tea Party Protest. The little girl's sign read:
Don't Mortgage My Future

By Frances at Machine Politick

I attended the Tea Party protest at the Atlanta Capitol building yesterday. Because this was my first protest, it was very exciting to be there. Hopefully it is the beginning of a much larger movement to restore our country to the Constitutional Republic it was meant to be.

First, let me say how impressed I was by the turnout. It was cold and rainy all day yesterday. When I left home, I was afraid there would not be a significant turnout because of the weather. Boy, was I wrong, and happily so. In the spirit of the original Tea Party in Boston ,people from Atlanta showed up with their tea bags and their signs to protest the recent escalation of government spending that can only lead to higher taxes. I spent all day on Thursday making my sign and getting ready for the protest. When I got into downtown Atlanta, and drove past the Capitol building, the steps were packed. I couldn't say how many people, but it was impressive, given the weather. A gentleman was nice enough to share his umbrella with me on the way over from the parking garage, and everyone seemed in high spirits when I got there. Passers by were honking and waving, possibly in response to some of the protestors' signs. The girl next to me had a sign that read: Honk if you're paying my mortgage. And, honk they did. One of my favorite signs from the rally was a large banner that read: Read Atlas Shrugged before it happens. I couldn't have said it better. I hope to post some of my pictures later today on my blog.

Several Atlanta officials spoke, as well as the organizer of the protest and a few people from the crowd. Many of the participants had video cameras and posted live video to YouTube. I will provide the links at the bottom of the article. Chip Rogers gave a good speech. Some of his points had great impact; encouraging the crowd to raise their voices and their signs. He said, "We owe our Founding Fathers for their sacrifices to build this country, ...It's time to kick out the Socialists in our government, ...The time to stand by and be nice is over, ... and Let's stand up for our Freedom!"

John Oxendine was there as well, and got the crowd motivated with his comments: "This economy was caused by government intervention in the private sector...This bailout teaches irresponsibility... This is a revolution, we are going to take back control..." I was not close to the speakers, and it was too wet for a notepad, but you get the idea. I was closer to the street most of the protest, and was happy to see how well the people driving by were reacting to the protest. In fact, people were honking and waving at me after the rally as I made my way back to the car, soaking wet in a coat that probably weighed as much as I do. I think if it had been held on an evening or weekend, there would have been a much larger turnout. Many people who were discussing the event during the planning stages were unable to attend because of work.

I was very impressed by the level of organization and the number of people involved. Many of the people who were there had only just gotten word of the protest and quickly made signs to join in. I am glad to see that conservatives are learning to network and use the internet to organize events. In the past, we have always been afraid to get in other peoples' business or expose ourselves publicly for political issues. Yesterday, I saw many people who were fed up and fired up. I hope this will lead to future events and spark a movement to have our voices heard. Whether we are the majority or minority, our rights remain the same and we have to stand up for them. Standing quietly by in fear of offending other people will only lead to oppression of our principles and freedom. In a few short weeks, Obama and Congress have shown a willingness and ability to push their agenda with no regard for its effect on the American people or the economy. We must fight back before it is too late.

If we are to save our country and preserve our freedoms, we must return to the principles on which it was built. My sign for the rally read: Give me Liberty or Give me Death, Restore America to a Constitutional Republic. We have to scale back the government to its Constitutionally mandated powers and function. Socialism does not and cannot work. History has proven, the only way to achieve collectivism is through force and tyranny. The productive must be punished in the name of the 'common good'. There is no longer any incentive to be productive, and everyone suffers as a result. Socialism does not raise up the meek and the downtrodden. It brings down the successful members of society who produce the wealth and provide the jobs and services that we all need. People need to learn personal responsibility and the fact that our actions have consequences. If the government steps in and rewards failure, there is no reason to make the right decision.

My favorite sign from the protest was dripping and tattered by the time I saw it, but I was able to get a picture. There was a family not far from me, and one of their little girls had a sign that was dragging on the ground. It read: Don't mortgage my future. As the mother of a five year old boy, that says it all for me. I don't want my child growing up in the kind of country that America is becoming. For that reason, this was the first of many protests to come for me.

Pictures from Dennis in Atlanta

Pictures and News from James Arone in LA

Other sources of information on the Atlanta and National Rallies include: The AJC, The LA Times, Jacksonville, Santelli, and YouTube, as well as a long list on Google.

I have cross posted this article at Modern Conservative

Ayn Rand quotes for Muchacho

Muchacho Enfermo requested more Ayn Rand quotes and I am happy to comply. Because I am a huge fan of her writings, I have decided to do a series of paintings based on them. These quotes are from: Journals of Ayn Rand, edited by David Harriman with a Foreward by Leonard Peikoff. I will not be able to post everything at this time, so expect a series.
I am posting the quotes as I will use them, so you will need to read the book to get the full context of each one. Keep in mind that my work qualifies as propaganda and I intend to use these quotes to reinforce my own views. The imagery will, of course, do the same.

Life is achievement...Give yourself an aim, something you want to do, then go after it, breaking through everything, with nothing in mind but your aim, all will, all concentration - and get it.

...theme is that of humanity - warped by a corrupt philosophy -is destroying the best in man for the sake of enshrining mediocrity... bitterly denouncing a world that seems to have no place for heroism.

...her dominant premise is that men are responsible for the ideas they choose to take... she cites the ideas that have led to the moral corruption in the world, and her implication throughout that men choose to accept these ideas or not...

Your life, your achievement, your happiness, your person are of paramount importance. Live up to your highest vision of yourself no matter what circumstances you might encounter. An exalted view of self-esteem is a man's most admirable quality.

Do not paint one side of the world, the polite side, and be silent about the rest; paint a real picture of the whole, good and bad at once, the "good" looking more horrid than the bad when seen together with the things it tolerates. Men see only one part of life at a time, the part they have before their eyes at the moment. Show them the whole.

...One cannot believe one thing and do another, for such a belief isn't worth a nickle and that's what humanity's doing.

...men act on feelings, not on thoughts.

Show the silent terror that is life at present, the silent terror that hangs over us, chokes us, that everybody feels and nobody can define, the nameless thing that is the atmosphere of humanity.

Show that the mob determines life at present and show exactly who and what that mob is...show that all humanity and each little citizen is an octopus that consciously or unconsciously sucks the blood of the best on earth and strangles life with it's cold sticky tentacles.

Communism, Democracy, Socialism are the logical results of present day humanity. The nameless horror of [these systems], both in their logical end and in the unconscious way that they already rule mankind.

...I want to show that there is no good at present, that the "good" as it is now understood is worse than the bad, that it is only the result, the skin over a rotten inside that rules and determines it: I want to show that all the conceptions of the "good", all the high ideals have to be changed, for now they are nothing but puppets, slaves, and accomplices to the horrible [stifling] of life. There are too many things that people just tolerate and don't talk about.

Show them the real, one and only horror - the horror of mediocrity.

...to be loved by the mob is an insult and that to be hated is the highest compliment it can pay you.

He half-consciously realizes that he possesses something sublime, and that he is going to be condemned for possessing it. From this - his tense, wild, ferocious attitude.

They are too small and weak to feel with all their soul - and they disapprove of such feelings... They are too small and profane themselves to know what sacredness is - and they disapprove of anything being too sacred.

A small soul choked with a poisonous ambition to dominate and crush everybody and everything..."I know that I am inferior and therefore I don't want to let anything superior exist". This is subconscious of course, because one of those muddy souls would never admit it to itself. Consciously it believes that "we are all equal" and defends that equality with all the jealous, greedy zeal of a bulldog that has his teeth sunk into a piece of meat; the dull despotic zeal of mediocrity that is [concerned with] the equality of those above, which it wants to pull down, and not with those below, which it [allegedly] wants to pull up.

Okay, these aren't the most uplifting quotes, but I'm just going in order. The parallelsto modern times and political action are appropriate however. It is amazing tome how many of the problems she foresaw have come to pass, and no one cares.
I would like to know where the hell is John Galt?

The Read the Bills Act

As you can see from my sidebar, I support the Read the Bills Act sponsored by DownsizeDC.org. The basic idea behind the proposal is that Congress should read a bill before they sign it. What a novel idea. This would have the benefit of making sure each Representative is aware of what they are voting for, as well as making them fully responsible for that vote.I find it highly unacceptable that bills are passing and Congressmen are claiming to be unaware of their contents. If they don't have time to read the bill, it's either too big or they aren't qualified for their job.
The RTBA would also eliminate 'log-rolling', which is the popular practice of lumping a bunch of bills together for expediency. This way, Congressmen feel the need to vote for a package containing pork or bad legislation because they don't want to kill the provisions of which they approve.
In the interest of brevity and accuracy, I will direct you to the following link: DownsizeDC's Read the Bills Act

It’s too much trouble to find out what a candidate stands for.

This is something I was told in a recent conversation. It was delivered with a straight face – the man was completely serious. He went on to say that it’s easier to watch the campaign ads closer to the election and pick the one who sounds the best. This, essentially, is what is wrong with the American voter. Everything has become dependent on the latest sound bite, the latest promise of a handout, the best way to benefit from the system. People are lazy, they don’t care, and they want to be taken care of. It’s so much easier to blame someone else than to take responsibility, so lets put someone else in charge of everything. These are all reasons why I think Obama has a good chance of winning the election.
He has learned to master the sound bite. He is a performer of high talent, and even runs his campaign like a ringmaster or game show host. You can register to win a place next to him at the convention. The Presidency has become a popularity contest. He seems genuine, even when he changes his position to please the current audience. He inspires people. No one cares about the substance of his speeches, or the consequences of enacting his proposals.
I can’t help but wonder what is so inspiring about income redistribution. How is compulsory volunteerism different from slavery? How is diplomacy going to work against people who dream of martyrdom and the annihilation of our country? When has the government ever run a social program that didn’t become a gaping black hole sucking money and freedom from the people? Where in the Constitution does it say that the government should do these things?
The fourth of July has become just another day to barbeque, because the majority of people don’t want to be free. Freedom requires personal sacrifice, responsibility and work. No one wants to make the effort anymore. Let the government take care of it.