Self-Reliance

“Don’t count on anyone but yourself,” my mother used to warn me. This rigorous admonition got me through many encounters at school and in the work place.

There’s been a lot of ballyhoo about Glenn Beck’s opinion of the Tea Parties, and I’ve certainly added my “hoo” to the “bally.” A friend said, “Well, he’s rich and you’re not, so that makes him right.”

To which I replied, indignantly, “Oh no, it doesn’t. He’s completely wrong about the Tea Party signs and he’s making too much out of the poor people who wear colonial costumes.” Beck seemed to back down after reading the article from the BBC, saying something like, “Have I gotten it wrong? I was only telling them what I think.”

Well here’s what I thought of GB when I looked at the photo gallery on his website mocking the costume-wearing tea partiers, especially the poor kid in the militia uniform: “What a jerk!”

That was no cheesecloth costume that kid was wearing; it was the real deal, and a real expensive deal at that, I’m told by re-enactors I’ve met on parade and at concerts. They provide all their own uniforms and equipment – rifles, flags, other antique props. Maybe it’s a joke to Glenn Beck (we know all of American history is a joke to the Liberals), but to those volunteers, it’s serious business. They do it because they have an affinity for American history. It’s their way of honoring their country, not smearing it.

All I can say is, shame on you, Glenn Beck. And he calls himself a history buff. It may sound like I'm biting that hand that feeds us, but really, this is more a case of the hand that's feeding us biting us.  Instead of mocking them, why doesn’t he invite one of the units onto his program? They’re all around the New York area – New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Long Island – they all have regiments. He might learn a thing or two about history from them.

Well the Tea Partiers I know were worried that I might have offended the Beckoner. But that’s just too bad. He’s wrong about the Tea Parties, and that’s all there is to it. Actually, there’s a lot more to the Tea Parties than just the rallies, although that’s all he knows about them. Both parties I attend have regular monthly meetings, where they listen to speakers and strategize.

“Don’t let anyone see how smart you are.” That was another favorite piece of advice my mother was always dispensing. “Don’t let your brains show.” Of course the Tea Partiers don’t lay out all their strategies in public; that would be like one football team trotting over to the other team with their playbook. Why should the Tea Parties disclose what they intend to do?

The biggest mistake the Tea Parties make is to quiver at the mere sight of power and money. If they don’t have the gumption to stand up even to Glenn Beck, if they simper and fawn at his feet, and cower at his displeasure over costumes or signs, how are they ever going to stand up to some politician who says to them, “We’re going to do things my way because I’m richer and smarter than you?”

The Tea Parties are doing plenty besides holding rallies, if that’s what’s worrying the pundits. No one knows better than the Tea Partiers – the average Americans - how much is at stake. They know what it is they have to do in a very short time and they know where they have to do it (sorry, Libs – NOYB).

Whether they do it in a Betsy Ross costume or a tee shirt and jeans or a three-piece suit is immaterial. That’s up to the individual Tea Partiers and what they’re comfortable doing. The important thing is that they do it – their way - and soon – and not let anyone intimidate them into not doing it their way.