We have had many throughout our history -- Citizen Ganet, the Revolution of 1800, Jackson in 1824-28, the Free Soil and Republicans in the 1850s-1860's, Greenbacks then Populists of the 2nd half of the 1800's, the election of 1920, the elections of 1930 and 1932, the Civil Rights movements, are some that come to mind... Unlike Europeans, we Americans assume the people have the absolute right to toss out their government...
The Left saw More-on. org, the Huffington Post, and Obama as a new massive Grassroots movement... So they are unable to concieve that the Tea-parties WERE/ARE the modern descendants of the 19th century Populists... My question is when will the Move-ons admit the Tea- parties are the genuine article??? Please note grassroots movements are for good AND bad... Populists did install many improvement in our political system... They also put in place the Jim Crow laws in the 1890's... http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/Sunday_Reflections/Town-Hall_-Tea-Party-protests-have-long-history-in-America-8194752.html >>> The American public has come awake. President Obama promised to get the >>> people more involved in government and - though this probably wasn't what >>> he had in mind - that has certainly happened. With Tea Party protests and town hall questions, Americans are exercising their First Amendment rights to a degree not seen in decades. This surprises some people, but it shouldn't. And while some people have complained that such demonstrations are uncivil and sometimes downright rowdy, that, too, is an American tradition. As Pauline Maier writes, "From the late seventeenth century, it was again and again stressed that resistance had to be brought to bear against the very first abuses of power. The least attempt upon public liberty was alarming. . . . And, as always, tyranny was 'much easier to prevent than cure.' " As Maier notes, "Eighteenth-century Americans accepted the existence of popular uprisings with remarkable ease. . . . Not that extra-legal uprisings were encouraged. They were not. But in certain circumstances, it was understood, the people would rise up almost as a natural force, much as night follows day, and this phenomenon often contributed to public welfare." That's what's happening now, in a mild sort of way, and what's bringing people out is spending, taxation, and overreaching government - the very same things that have brought Americans out in the past. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
