Text of the speech I gave at the Baltimore tea party today

Boy, now I know why President Obama is so married to his teleprompter. This would be so much easier if I had one.


I thought long and hard about how to greet you folks today, and I finally decided that I would usurp the traditional greeting the President uses-My fellow Americans. So, my fellow Americans-because that is what we are, right? We are all Americans, united not only by our love of country, but also in our concern for the direction our current political leadership is taking us.

I would like to take a moment to remember those colonists who, on December 16, 1773, decided to take to the streets and docks of Boston to perform an act of civil disobedience that serves as the namesake for our gathering here today. Those brave men felt compelled to consign the cargo of tea carried by 3 ships of the British East India Company to Boston Harbor in protest of an unjust tax, levied upon them without their consent. Unlike those patriots, we seek today no destruction of property, our other motives, however, are identical. Like them we feel burdened and crushed beneath the unjust dictates of a government that has forgotten that it answers to us, not the other way around. We Americans are not mere cash cows, existing solely at the convenience of those in power in Washington, to be milked of our rightful property and goods on demand. We are not cogs in an unthinking machine, expected to serve up what we have rightfully earned for politicians to squander. These tea parties are a defiant and bold statement, shouting out to Congress, reminding them again of that one fundamental truth: You work for us, and by God it’s time we reminded you of that simple fact!

In this simple declaration, we have history on our side. The entire basis for our great republic is that our leaders derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. Those are the exact words set forth in the Declaration of Independence, 233 years ago. Tell me, do you feel that Washington is exercising “just powers” today? If not, then what ever happened to the “consent of the governed”? Where and when did we sign up for this?

It’s also found right there in the preamble to the Constitution, stated boldly and simply in straightforward language: WE THE PEOPLE, of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity. Those are the rock solid ideals upon which the United States was founded, who can blame us for today forcibly insisting that our government honor them?

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there who seek to demonize us for doing just that. They are not subtle in their outrageous and unfounded claims. They seek to belittle and dismiss our just expression of our First Amendment rights as a meaningless gatherings of rednecks, racists and Republican stooges. I state today for the record that this movement is the province of no single political party, ethnic group or religious belief. We stand here today representing ALL Americans, male and female, black and white, Asian and native. ALL Americans, gay or straight, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Pagan and Atheist. We must NOT by our silence allow our opponents to don the mantle of moral superiority that they have not earned. They seek, as they always do, to marginalize our voices and to demonize our just cause. Identity politics are their stock in trade, if we allow them to factionalize our message, we shall surely lose our voice. Our message must remain coherent, our stand united, or Ben Franklin’s simple statement upon signing the Declaration of Independence will surely be our epitaph: “We must all hang together or most assuredly we shall all hang separately”.

Just this past week, the House of Representatives passed the largest tax increase in history under the guise of “cap and trade”. On the horizon are bills seeking to gut the finest medical system in the world, to bail out irresponsible homeowners with taxpayer money and to deny all of us our Second Amendment rights to bear arms. The statests in power now are not stopping in their quest to push as much of their leftist agenda on us before we can push back for freedom in 2010. They imagine that they see the light at the end of the tunnel heralding the dawn of their socialist utopia. I’m here to tell you, and you are here to show them, that the light they see is the headlamp of an express train called freedom!

I’m going to end this the same way I began it. My fellow Americans, as we get ready to celebrate the 233rd birthday of our nation this Saturday, please remember that the United States of America has always been a beacon of freedom, a shining city on the hill, an example to the world of the very best mankind can be. Our task today is to make sure that America continues to live up to that standard for the next 233 years, and beyond, truly ensuring the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity.

Thank you and God bless the United States of America!