I just returned from the Chicago Tea Party Protest in Millennium Park. The locale was the same one that President Obama used as a backdrop for his 2008 victory speech. Like that event, this one was all about freedom. This is Obama’s Chicago, but there was not a counter-protester in site. No ACORN; no unions; no victims of our current health care system; just hundreds of well dressed, well behaved American patriots.
President Obama’s Millennium Park Address contained soaring rhetoric and implied great pride in America. Today’s protesters demonstrated a different kind of patriotism. While Obama’s pride was for a country with the wisdom to elect him, theirs was a pride grounded in the principles of our country’s founding fathers and in those who have sought to live up to the promise of our Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution.
The hand-held signs found throughout the crowd convey this pride and the determination to protect that which makes America great. Most of the signs were handmade and few, if any, were held by more than one protester. This was a grassroots affair. No soaring rhetoric; no professional organizers, no talk show hosts, and very little media.
I will be posting many more pictures from the event, but this set is about true American patriots.
