A special thanks to Jesus Alaniz, Ulysses Arn, and Laura Kelly for their photo and video contributions.
SPRINGFIELD, Il, April 20, 2011 — For Tea Partiers, Tax Day 2011 should have been a celebration of sorts. It should have been a benchmark of achievement. Yet, the mood at Tax Day rallies across the U.S. was decidely mixed. Even bittersweet.
Tea Partiers fill the Capitol in Springfield, Illinois
With its stunning victories in the 2010 midterm elections, Tea Party candidates finally became office holders this year. However, in the first test of their resolve, the new GOP congressmen succumbed. In all, three-quarters of the freshman class of Republican congressmen buckled under political peer pressure, voting to accept House Speaker John Boehner’s measly offering of $38 billion in budget cuts. Only $38 billion.
Did someone forget to tell the new Congress that our current federal debt is $14.2 trillon? Should someone remind them?
So now the Tea Party Movement is left with the question: whom can we trust moving forward for 2012? How can we tell who is really with us or against us?
In other words, do you just talk the talk or have you walked the walk?
DISAPPOINTMENT WITH GOP LEADERS
The disappointment in Boehner and the national GOP leadership was palpable as hundreds of passionate Tea Party leaders, activists, and supporters gathered in Springfield, Illinois for its statewide rally against taxes on April 15th. But Tea Party leaders looked for ways to inspire, energize, and refocus on strategy.
Organized by the Illinois Tea Party Patriots, and the Springfield and Alton Tea Parties, Tea Partiers assembled inside the ornate Capitol building, surrounded by the ghost statutes of Illinois legislators past – from Abraham Lincoln to a then future Mayor of Chicago, Richard J. Daley. Even the oil-painted portraits of former Illinois governors – including the convicted ones – seemed to be waiting for something inspiring to happen. Thanks to event organizers (some would say guardian angels), Denise Cattoni, Rhonda Linders, and Sandy Dragoo, it did.
INSPIRATION AT ILLINOIS' CAPITOL
There are few places left in America – other than sports stadiums and VFW Halls – where you say the Pledge of Allegiance or can hear the National Anthem. A Tea Party rally is one of those places.
Her voice resounding through the Capitol, a singer, Mary Thurman, delivered a rendition of the National Anthem that put Christina Aguilera to shame. Did her powerful voice reach state legislators who were in session – many of the same legislators who had voted for a 67% tax increase in lame duck session in the cover of night? The largest tax increase in Illinois history? Would it have made a difference if it did? I wondered.
One by one, event speakers went up before the cheering sign-holding crowd. In true Tea Party fashion, the signs didn’t mince words. There were signs like, “Born Free, Taxed to Death.” Or “I am not your ATM.” Or my personal favorite, “Save Trees, Stop Printing Money.”
Speakers like the Illinois Policy Institute’s Brian Costin let loose on Governor Quinn’s income tax increase. Others like Glenn Ebbing argued on behalf of the Fair Tax (no more IRS!). David Hale recounted his triumph in “outting” the Wisconsin 14 lawmakers hiding in Rockford. Heidi Holan spoke about parental rights. Commentator Lenny McAllister spoke about American exceptionalism and why we must fight to protect it.
But, like every Tea Party rally, it was an opportunity for Tea Partiers to call out the Obama Administration’s failures, Democrat hate speech, weak-kneed Republicans, and, of course, its favorite target, the mainstream media.
THE REAL TEA PARTY
“Let me ask you ladies and gentlemen do we have any grandparents here? asked Fitz Pfister. A big show of hands. He continued. “How many veterans?” Even more hands. Pfiser continued to rattle off a list of occupations that included small business owners, tradesmen, farmers, coal miners, truck drivers, bus drivers, retail workers and waitresses, retirees, taxpayers (of course) and even…state workers. All Tea Partiers.
“Take this down media, you were just introduced to the real Tea Party, not the one you report which is fabricated from your allies on the left,” said Pfister. “We are the people who pay the bills, who build and maintain this country, we make this country work, we serve to defend her.”
Since its beginning, the Tea Party Movement has been victimized by false and misleading media reporting. When you attend a Tea Party rally, you see what the media has been hiding. You see your neighbors. You see the guy who hauls your garbage or fixes your drainpipe. It is a real people movement and that is what makes it so dangerous.
In fact, the Tea Party is so dangerous that Democrat leaders – from President Obama and Nancy Pelosi to Harry Reid and Dick Durbin - have been at the forefront of the unleashing the hate speech they claim to despise.
Springfield Tea Party organizer, Rhonda Linders
NO FANS OF DICK DURBIN
“Anyone here a fan of Dick Durbin?” I asked the crowd. Their boos were deafening. “After the Arizona shooting, Dick Durbin - our senator – jumped right out and blamed it on the Tea Party. This turned out to be 100% false. I called on Dick Durbin to apologize. He has yet to apologize for his hateful rhetoric. The fact is that the Tea Party have been the ones on the receiving end of the hateful rhetoric in America. I call on Dick Durbin again to apologize.”
But neither political party – Democrats nor Republicans – can afford to underestimate Tea Party power now. With 2012 looming on the horizon, GOP candidates continue to trot themselves out before Tea Partiers like Miss America contestants. Meanwhile, Democrats continue to attack Tea Party allegiences, false injecting the specter of racism and hate speech into a debate about taxes and deficits.
The bitter pill for Tea Partiers now is the knowledge that not all Tea Party candidates are created equal and just because you say you are a conservative does not mean you are one.
Like the Tea Party, I, too, have a healthy skepticism about the Republican Party – especially in Illinois. Twenty years ago, I went on bended knee to an Illinois conservative leader and asked him, “How can I help serve the conservative movement?” His advice? “Go home.” Since that is not the way to build a movement, I, not-so-politely, declined his suggestion.
So, whom can the Tea Party trust in 2011 and 2012?
The walkers, not the talkers, have my vote.
Conservative satirist and commentator William J. Kelly and his wife, Laura, edit and manage the Tea Party Reports for the Washington Times Communities. Kelly also pens Bill Kelly's Truth Squad and is a contributor to Breitbart.com. He is a native from Chicago's Southside. Email questions to him at williamjkellyrebuild@gmail.com.
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Outside the Capitol building.
GOP legislators prepare to speak.
Tea Partiers gather in Springfield.
Tea Partiers listen attentively to the speakers.
A GOP legislators speaks out!
Kelly calls on Sen. Durbin to apologize.
William J. Kelly speaks to the Springfield Tea Party.
Heidi Holan of Parental Rights
A statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Illinois Capitol. 
Fitz Pfister speaks!
Lenny McAllister talks about American exceptionalism.
Tea Party speaker Lenny McAllister.
Tea Partiers say: "Repeal Illinois' 67% tax increase!"
Tea Partiers fill Illinois' Capitol in Springfield.
Tea partiers are fed-up with Illinois Gov. Quinn.
Protesters let their signs do the talking.
Springfield Tea Party organizer Rhonda Linders.
GOP legislators join the Illinois Tea Party rally.
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