Guardians? Rightwing and Leftwing? Huh?

Guardians of the free Republics looked to Gandhi, King, and Mandela

In a recent plea, Sam Kennedy, a "guardian elder" of the Guardians of the free Republics, warned the modern-day "original government" revolutionaries to approach their March 31 "Restore America Plan" with Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Mohandas Gandhi in mind.

"We would simply like to urge patriots everywhere to champion their faith instead of force, and allow The Restore America Plan an uneventful 30 to 60 days for visible implementation which will ultimately end the bogus prosecutions and terrorist activities once and for all," wrote Kennedy recently.

The FBI failed to understand the Guardians' peaceful intentions.

A letter by Mr. Kennedy to all 50 governors demanding they step down within three days or be removed contained an implicit threat – and could be a cause, the FBI worried, for incitement for others to take action against the government.

Actively recruiting across the country in the last few months and promoted on a Texas radio station, the Guardians of the free Republics believe the US government is a corporate imposter put in place by corrupt bankers as part of the New Deal in 1933.

[...]

A mix of left and right

"Traditionally, critique of the IRS has come from the right, such as the Christian patriot movement, but [sovereign citizen] movements also invoke a lot of left-wing ideas like anti-capitalism that are consistent with the times and the downturn in the economy, where people may have property liens against them," says George Michael, an expert on political extremism at the University of Virginia's College at Wise. [...]

Is it newsworthy? I suppose. But I suspect it's also a storm in a tea cup, no matter how much the media would like to make it a hurricane.

Arnold in California didn't get his:
Guardians of the Free Republics' letters to governors spur inquiry

[...] California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not received the letter, said a spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol, which is charged with the governor's safety. The CHP would not discuss whether changes were made to the governor's security detail.

Federal law enforcement officials would not comment on the investigation. A source in a governor's office that received the letter confirmed its wording.

The Guardians of the Free Republics appears to work in the anti-government and anti-tax movement. The group's philosophy -- rife with its interpretation of arcane federal law -- mingles with the anti-Federal Reserve mantra espoused by followers of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas as well as with anti-tax advocates.

"Everything is going to be orderly and no one is going to be harmed in this movement," said Billy Ray Hall, who identified himself in a telephone interview Friday as a follower of the Guardians of the Free Republics. "It's going to be really good. There's going to be funds enough for everybody." [...]

"Funds for everyone"? Yeah. Whatever. How is getting rid of Governors supposed to help? I expect there is more to this story, I'm just not sure it's worth hearing about.
     

CNN's Susan Roesgen; media bias at it's worst

Her "coverage" of Tax Protesters is a good example of many in the Mainstream Media who have contempt for ordinary Americans. And now there is video of what happened after that:

MORE OF THE STORY OF SUSAN ROESGEN'S TEA PARTY MOMENT

I hope that by now, the name Susan Roesgen is a household name. I hope it is a name that is equated with idiocy. I'm sorry, folks. There is no other way to put it. Her little tirade at the tea parties the other day was an embarrassment for CNN.

A blogger has now released footage of what happened after Susan Roesgen decided that her tea party coverage was "no longer suitable for family viewing" .... It seems as though the tea party protestors had their way with her. Gotta love it. Warning: bad words. [...]

Unfortunately, it looks like CNN has yanked the video from Youtube. But not before her little song and dance got exposed for what it was. [I'll update the video link if I find it reposted]

The Boortz article goes on to show how low CNN news is in the ratings. Gee, I wonder if it's because they do crap like this? I hope it costs them advertisers.

I don't believe that ordinary Americans have become "Fringe", although clearly reporters like Roesgen want to make them that way, by any underhanded means they can manage.

Unfortunately, I agree with Pat, that the tea parties started over 5 months too late. Better late than never? I don't know; sometimes too late is too late. We shall see.
     

Tax Protests were wide-spread and HUGE

Massive: Tax Day Tea Party USA; Updated

I just have one word: Wow. More than 800 tea parties across the country. Here’s your first photo/vid round-up from the events across the country, large and small, every corner of this great nation (hit your refresh button often…I’ll keep updating…11:20pm…just added tons more crowd pix and vid…trying to keep ‘em all in one post to give you the full breadth and scope of the protests — not just the size, but the reach, a true sense of which is missing from the MSM coverage. More coming…): [...]

Follow the link for more, and lots and lots of photos.


Related Link: Why bother to pay taxes?

     

Tax Day, Tax Protests, Bi-partisan Outrage

Tax Day Becomes Protest Day
How the tea parties could change American politics.

Today American taxpayers in more than 300 locations in all 50 states will hold rallies -- dubbed "tea parties" -- to protest higher taxes and out-of-control government spending. There is no political party behind these rallies, no grand right-wing conspiracy, not even a 501(c) group like MoveOn.org.

So who's behind the Tax Day tea parties? Ordinary folks who are using the power of the Internet to organize.

[...]

I spoke to an organizer for the Knoxville tea party who said that no "professional politicians" were going to be allowed to speak, and he made a big point of saying that the protest wasn't an anti-Obama protest, it was an anti-establishment protest. I've heard similar things from tea-party organizers in other cities, too. Though critics will probably try to write the tea parties off as partisan publicity stunts, they're really a post-partisan expression of outrage.

Of course, it won't be the same everywhere. There are no national rules, and organizers of each protest are doing things the way they want. And that's the good news and the bad news for Democrats. It's not a big Republican effort. It's a big popular effort. But a mass movement of ordinary people who don't feel that their voices are being heard doesn't bode well for the party that positioned itself as the organ of hope and change.

Will these flash crowds be a flash in the pan? It's possible that people who demonstrate today will find that experience cathartic enough -- or exhausting enough -- that that will be it. But it's more likely that the tea-party movement will have an impact on the 2010 and 2012 elections, and perhaps beyond.

What's most striking about the tea-party movement is that most of the organizers haven't ever organized, or even participated, in a protest rally before. General disgust has drawn a lot of people off the sidelines and into the political arena, and they are already planning for political action after today. [...]

The article goes on extensively about the bi-partisan nature of these protests. RNC chairman Michael Steele wanted to speak at one of the tea party events, and he was denied. For many people it isn't about partisan politics, it's about taking our government back from the "professional politicians" who don't listen to us taxpayers. I doubt these protests are going to be a mere "flash in the pan". We are talking about serious debt here, that will have to be paid off for generations. Dangerous debt that could drag us down. It can't just be swept under the rug.

These protests are happening because politicians on both sides are ignoring the tax payers. And I expect that most of the politicians will continue to do so, for as long as they can. As a result, I predict the protests will continue, and grow stronger. We'll see.


Related Link:

A Tax Day Tea Party cheat sheet: How it all started