From One of Our Members

Hello everyone…

Here are my thoughts about the March on DC yesterday, 09-12-09. It’s lengthy and I understand about not having time to read things like this. Thanks if you have time. Also, I’ve attached some images from the day.

Yesterday was probably one of the most exhilarating and rewarding experiences for Joe and me (besides the birth of our children). We purchased bus tickets at the last minute to go with the Richmond Tea Party to the 9/12 Taxpayer March on Washington DC. It was an event that we had discussed back and forth about whether to attend. We are very glad we decided to go. I was told 8 buses came from the Richmond area.

We had no real idea of what to expect, we just knew we couldn’t stay home. It seemed like a chance to be part of something historic. After we arrived, we first walked from Union Station down to Freedom Plaza, which is sort of near the White House, where there was a huge rally. From here, we marched up Pennsylvania Ave to the Capitol to congregate on the West Lawn of the Capitol grounds. This large area wasn’t large enough and people spilled out onto the surrounding areas and onto the Mall. There were people everywhere as far as you could see. We could not get any images that give a good idea of the scope of the crowd. Only an aerial photo could do that.

We travelled with others like us, who are fed up with out of control spending by our Congress…and the out of control growth of government. We saw many people in wheelchairs, on crutches, using walkers…certainly folks who had made more of an effort to be there than we had. One lady on our bus had to be helped on and off, she could barely walk. We met people from TX, IL, FL, NC, SC, PA and New Mexico, to name a few of the states. All 50 states were represented, even Alaska and Hawaii. People spent their own money to get to DC for this event. Many spent several nights in the area, making it a family vacation to visit the historic sites. Our measly little 2 hour, $60 ride to get there paled in comparison to the time and monetary sacrifice others had made…just to be at an event where no one knew what to expect…but they just knew they had to be there.

The crowd was very excited and energized about the many reasons they were there. We could feel the energy. We saw or heard no ranting and raving. There was no angry mob. People were very polite…if they happened to bump into another saying excuse me, I’m sorry, etc. The crowd was extremely well mannered. One of the most meaningful times for me was the singing of the National Anthem…singing in front of the Capitol along with tens of thousands of people and the cheering when we finished brought me to tears. Then the Pledge of Allegiance with a thunderous UNDER GOD…incredible experience. There were many great speakers…one in particular was Rev C.L. Bryant from Louisiana…a fiery black minister…he had the crowd cheering and yelling in agreement with him. A few members of Congress actually were brave and had enough nerve to speak. Sen. DeMint from SC and Reps from TN, NH & GA. One Congressman said he was sure there were more people than at the last inauguration…which had 1.2 million…I have only seen crowd estimates for Saturday at ‘tens of thousands’…Unless the National Park Service releases their estimate for the crowd, it’s only speculation about how many were actually there. I know one thing; it was way more people than I’ve EVER been around.

I heard many conversations along the way between people discussing what they believe to be wrong and anxiously looking forward to the coming elections in 2010 & 2012. These were just people (likely strangers) along the street having serious, knowledgeable discussions. It made me think of how it probably was with our early Patriots…meeting in the streets of the colonies to talk about problems and what to do about them.

There were so many clever hand made signs! I couldn’t get over the effort some had put into making their signs make their statements for them. And so many flags…lots of American flags, state flags, Don’t Tread on Me flags along with many others.

I was glad to see lots of children and young adults…good parents giving their children a great civics lesson. It gives me hope for the future of our country…because that’s where our future lies, with these young people.

We saw several people fall to the ground (Joe actually caught a lady as she fell backwards into him). Then people nearby would rush to them to offer assistance.

We only saw 2 counter protests. One had about 15 people, the other about 40. There were no angry exchanges with these other protesters. There was a huge police presence. I saw many people walk by the police, smile and say hello, how are you…the police would smile back…I’m sure they had very few problems with this March/Protest. The biggest problem the police had was keeping certain streets around the Capitol cleared of people. One 9 year old boy named Drew became separated from his mom…the crowd helped him find a police officer who helped get him reunited with his mom. Honestly, these were the worst problems the speakers had to inform us of. There was no litter left lying around. The provided trash cans were overflowing with trash on the ground around them, but nothing left where it shouldn’t be. And, people waited very patiently in very long lines for the too few port-a-johns.

I have nothing negative to say about our whole experience yesterday, except I wish Union Station had more bathrooms. J

My only wish is that more members of Congress would hear and listen. Maybe we got their attention yesterday, maybe not. Only time will tell.

Betty Elko