Hennessy's View

I’ll participate on KSDK Channel 5’s post-SOTU discussion panel Tuesday following the State of the Union speech. (I being Bill Hennessy, in case you’re reading this from a news feed.)

I don’t know who my fellow panelists will be, but I think it’s pretty cool that a local network invited a tea partier to help break down the President’s State of the Union speech.

The speech starts at 8:00 p.m. CT Tuesday, January 25 on  KSDK 5. The analysis follows. 

Please tune in and tell your friends.  (Tweet, Facebook, email a link to this post, using the buttons below.) 

Other ideas to make the evening more meaningful:

* Start an office pool on what I wear

* Do a shot every time Barry says “perfectly clear”

* Draw a picture of Nancy Pelosi when John Boehner announces the President

* Have your kids interrupt with applause every time you say something really, really witty at the TV

* In the comments below, post the snarky answers I should have given instead of the lame, unintelligible responses I actually give

* Add your own ideas below

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Yes, there are three major Tea Party events on 9-12:  Washington, Sacramento, and St. Louis. But if you can’t see the Atlantic or the Pacific from your window, why don’t you make the trip to the middle of the country, to the “Gateway to November” Tea Party under the Arch?

I’m hearing from groups in Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, and many from Illinois and Kansas who CANNOT WAIT for the 9-12 "Gateway to November" Tea Party in St. Louis. They’re ready to roll, to recycle, and to repeal.  Are you?

Thanks to the K&N Patriots who volunteered to serve as Ambassadors to the bus groups coming into town.  If you need their assistance or have any questions in putting your bus trip together please call 314-266-1775 and leave a message.  We’ll get back to you as quickly as possible.  You may also email admin@stlouisteaparty.com.  Please include 9-12 Groups in the Subject line of the email.

Now, some people want to know why we’re having a Tea Party on 9-12, and why is always the most important question. 

We’re having a 9-12 Tea Party because believing in a vision is the key to making it real.

If people do not believe that we can accomplish what we hope to accomplish, they will not help us. If they do believe we can change history, they will join the fight. 

Leftist, liberal, and Democrat organizations hire their protesters, their audiences, and their grassroots activists.  That’s because liberalism is funded by billionaires and big corporations, like GE. 

Conservatives, on the other hand, must earn our support. That requires not just being right, but also being creative, offering novelty and reward, to those who come out to events.  The bar rises when you ask volunteers to knock on doors, distribute literature on street corners, or make phone calls. 

One way we attract and energize activists is with big events, like the 9-12 Tea Party in St. Louis. 

On Sunday, September 12, 2010, St. Louis will host the Midwest’s 9-12 Tea Party. This event, billed as the “Gateway to November,” will attract new volunteers and energize veterans. That’s the purpose of all big rallies, and it’s why media attention matters. 

Large crowds of true believers serve as social proof to others who already agree with our view of government and philosophy, but doubt our dedication and our clout.  When they see hundreds of thousands in DC or ten thousand in St. Louis, they begin to believe in our vision as well as in our reading of history.

We need to attract those who believe what we believe—limited government, fiscal responsibility, low taxes, national security, and federalism.  And we must help them believe that, together, we can change things.

If everyone who believes what we believe votes in November 2010, in the primaries and general elections of 2012 and beyond, then we cannot fail to restore the republic.  But if we only talk among ourselves, if we pretend that twenty people in a public library meeting room is enough to change the world, we will forever lash out at and blame bogeymen for our own failures.

Spread the word. 

Build the energy.

Share the vision. 

Grow the movement. 

Win the election.

Repeat in 2012. 

That’s why a Tea Party. And that’s why we need you in St. Louis  on the steps of the Arch on September 12 at High Noon. 

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When you give over most of your private time to a cause, you need some feedback. We got some from former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan on Friday: The Summer of the Angry Mob

Dana's Famous 'Meet the Mob' Blog

Ms. Noonan reflected on the Townhall Revolt which began in St. Louis one year ago. Writes Noonan:

When Rep. Russ Carnahan held a town hall meeting at a community college in Missouri on July 20, he tried patiently to explain that ObamaCare not only would be deficit-neutral, it would save money. They didn’t shout him down, they laughed. When Sen. Claire McCaskill appeared before a town hall meeting in Jefferson County, Mo., on Aug. 11, she responded to the crowd with words that sum up the moment: “I don’t get it. . . . I honestly don’t get it. . . . You don’t trust me?” “No!” the crowd roared.

Do you remember what last summer was like?  I do. I remember being at work on July 20 and getting emails and tweets on my phone.  I remember watching that video, then watching it go viral.  It spread across the country. Suddenly, people in every city were flooding politicians’ formerly sleepy townhall events:

It was a largely self-generated uprising, and it was marked, wherever it happened, in San Diego or St. Louis, by certain common elements. The visiting senator or representative, gone home to visit the voters, always seemed shocked at the size of the audience and the depth of his constituents’ anger. There was usually a voter making a videotape in the back of the hall. There were almost always spirited speeches from voters. There was never, or not once that I saw, a strong and informed response from the congressman. In one way it was like the Iranian revolution: Most people got the earliest and fullest reports of what was happening on the Internet, through YouTube. Voters would take shaky videos on their cellphones and post them when they got home. Suddenly, over a matter of weeks, you could type in “town hall” and you’d get hundreds, and finally thousands, of choices.

Those grainy videos–and some not-so-grainy–came from you.  Darin Morley, Michelle Moore, Adam Sharp, Patch Adams, Dana Loesch, and others.  The video camera became the weapon of choice, and St. Louis became the viral video epicenter of the Tea Party movement.  And we never stopped. Never.

In the heat of August 2009, the action heated up. The SEIU and Russ Carnahan sent thugs to beat us down and intimidate us.  Now, the SEIU enforcers prepare for trial, their apologists accusing the victim of Uncle Tomism.  Barack Obama is considered a Socialist by 55 percent of Americans, and his approval rating is in free fall.  ACORN had been forced to change its name, and the President’s party is in danger of losing the House and Senate in November’s election.  Strong conservative candidates have upset RINOs in numerous states and races.  And the colors of the American flag seem a little deeper–stronger reds, more faithful blues, and blinding whites. As Ms. Noonan observes:

And yet his [Obama's] poll numbers continue to float downward. He is not more loved with victory. To an unusual and maybe unprecedented degree his victories seem like victories for him, and for his party, and for his agenda, but they haven’t settled in as broad triumphs that illustrate power and competence.

Take a moment to reflect on the long, hot August of 2009. Many of us went toe-to-toe with the enemy, day after day. I was five confrontational protests in seven days at one point, and I saw many of the same faces at each of them.  We were defiant yet friendly, confrontational yet civilized.  Outspent $10,000,000 to $1, we forced the Socialist Obama to wait eight monts for his healthcare victory, and then it was watered down.  And it will cost him if we make it.

It’s not quite morning in America, but the sun is on the rise.  The left is on the run.  We’re ready for the sprint to November and the party afterwards.  Victory is in the air, and I love it.  God help me, I love it so.

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My hat’s off to Bob Anders and the crew from Creative Video Services for this 3-part series of the St. Louis Nationwide Chicago Tea Party protest held February 27, 2009. If you need videography, you can’t go wrong with Creative Video.

Part I:

St. Louis Tea Party (Part 1) from CR8VDO on Vimeo.

Click here for Parts 2 and 3.

Dana has lots of great links.  

*UPDATES*

1.  It was a 3-part, not 4-part video. Sorry, my math.

2.  The STL Tea Party made Drudge!!!!  How flippin’ cool is that?

St. Louis Tea Party Makes Drudge

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This morning, I heard the news of the murder of a young police officer.

Officer Norvelle Brown, only 22 years old and a rookie cop, made St. Louis headlines for the second time in his short career–his short, honorable life.  In April, Officer Brown responded to a hostage situation during a barber shop robber, defusing the situation and apprehending the armed robbers.   He and another officer received citations for that action.  He had been out of the academy only 7 months at the time.

Last night, Officer Brown left his patrol car to investigate a group of people who were loitering in a vacant lot.  No one knows the exact details leading to Brown’s murder.  We do know that the bullet that killed him missed his body armor, passing through both lungs.

Officer Brown was able to speak for a short time before he died.  Police have not publicized his last words.  I hope they were to his parents.

Fox2 News online has more information.

Backstoppers is an organization that takes care of first responders killed or disabled in the line of duty.  If you have an extra dollar or two, they will put it to great use.  For instance, within 24 hours, Officer Brown’s family will get a visit from Backstoppers, along with a $5,000 check.  Later, the Backstoppers will help the family with any additional needs related to their son’s service and tragic death.

That was this morning.  Tonight, one of St. Louis’s finest churches was destroyed in a fire that still roars on in the hot, humid air of August in St. Louis.  The 125-year-old St. Alphonsus Liguori “Rock” church stood at 1118 North Grand, about 4 blocks south of Vashon High School where Officer Brown attended.  The Rock church was beacon in the North St. Louis area.

My mood has been glum all day.  It’s glummer now.  The heat wave that’s plagued St. Louis for two weeks broke this evening.  But the rain that damped the temperature seem more like tears from Heaven, mourning St. Louis’s long, hot day.

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