Danville TEA Party reconsidering effigy burning of Perriello, Pelosi
The chairman of the Danville TEA Party Patriots said yesterday he was unsure about whether the group will continue with its planned effigy burning of Rep. Tom Perriello, D-5th District, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at a bonfire rally Saturday in Blairs.
Hours after news of the bonfire hit the Internet on Friday, at least one national news outlet had the story on its Web site, among dozens of bloggers. Chairman Nigel Coleman said coverage of and public reaction to the event was "kinda strange."
"We've been getting a lot of flack about this," Coleman said, "about burning those two in effigy and a lot of people in the public are unhappy about it. The story has gotten so large, it's kinda strange."
Coleman sent a news release to local media Friday about the event, which opened with: "In a move sure to spark controversy, the Danville TEA Party will close their 'Fired Up for Freedom' rally by burning Rep. Tom Perriello and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in effigy in response to the passage of landmark health care legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives."
But Coleman said Sunday that some members of his group were "uneasy" with the idea of counter-protesters and that people might mistake the TEA Party Patriots for being violent. Coleman compared the event to similar acts of protest in the nation's history, such as opposition to the Stamp Act of 1765.
The bonfire is still planned, Coleman said, but the effigy burning was in question. However, TEA Party member Patricia Evans wrote in an e-mail to the group Saturday night that "nothing will be burned at our upcoming bonfire except an occasional hot dog."
"I still would like to do it," Coleman said, "but it's still up in the air at this point. We've already started stacking firewood and building the effigy we will have a bonfire. Burning someone in effigy was just gonna be part of it."
In a news release Friday from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Chairman Chris Van Hollen condemned the bonfire.
"These shocking and despicable acts are becoming all too common at extreme right-wing Republican rallies, "Van Hollen said in the statement. "While there should be a robust debate about reforming America's broken health insurance system, violent expressions are beyond the boundaries of a respectful debate."
Coleman defended the burning, which he said was not violent in nature.
"We were using it as a symbol of how things are similar to that (colonial) period in history," he said. "Things have gotten out of hand the more real we get, the more unreal it gets.
"We knew that it would garner attention; we didn't know how much People are upset, people are angry. This isn't just some $100 million bridge to nowhere. This is a fundamental change in the constitution; a fundamental change in America."
Amos is a staff writer for the Danville Register & Bee.
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Reader Reactions
(Jack), I agree with you 99.9%. Nothings perfect u-no,,,
(AG) needs to understand what he is afraid of (and he had better be) has already happened to many good “””hard””” working Americans already.
People will not be starting OVER, trust me I know. You will be starting UNDER!
Posted by JB on November 17, 2009 at 8:19 am
For the ˝ a million people losing their jobs every week, I have spoken to too many friends and family that are living off their retirement as we speak. Good people that have worked for 20 + years having to reevaluate (job loss) every aspect of their life because the (early)
retirement funds for the average person did not include house, car and tuition cost for their children that can’t get a job today as well! Savings will be depleted!Believe me I feel your pain; the politicians on both sides DO NOT feel any pain!!!
This is a big problem of Americans. It didn’t just start however with the current downturn. The seeds were sown in the Clinton administration with the push on the “Global Economy” which more or less allowed American companies to send millions of good paying, good benefit jobs overseas and then import the product back into the U.S. Each succeeding administration Republican and Democrat have expanded this to the point we don’t have a manufacturing base.
Employees who worked at these companies sometimes generations of the same families suddenly find themselves out of a job and with no prospects of ever finding another job that’s comparable. Now we can debate the unions drove up wages and benefits to the point that companies with American labor can’t compete. I say BULL! Unions are guilty of a lot of misdeeds but this one they can’t pin on them. Mismanagement and government policies are the main reason.
I think that we should have laws to prevent companies moving the manufacturing overseas and then bringing it back to sell. I have no problem with buying products made in other countries by foreign companies if a comparable American onshore produced product is not available. If a product is truly worthwhile then an American company could figure out how to produce it here.
Our only economic hope is to have good jobs available for our citizens and government should have policies and programs that strive to reach that goal. The so called service jobs are not going to be the answer. Environmental regulations should not force the elimination of jobs. Politicians should be held responsible for their role in creating or destroying jobs. We the people hold the power to make changes and it’s not the “change” we see now.
Burning in effigy for the wrong thing, but the general idea is good. Ms Pelosi is a gun-grabbing witch who needs the doctor’s medicine to go away. Burning in effigy is as good a way as any.
(AG)
I do understand your comment and I agree with the fact you need to be concerned! For the ˝ a million people losing their jobs every week, I have spoken to too many friends and family that are living off their retirement as we speak. Good people that have worked for 20 + years having to reevaluate (job loss) every aspect of their life because the (early)
retirement funds for the average person did not include house, car and tuition cost for their children that can’t get a job today as well! Savings will be depleted!
Believe me I feel your pain; the politicians on both sides DO NOT feel any pain!!!
Wish you luck…
Posted by mrright on November 16, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Jack….I want the name of YOUR financial advisor.
Well my advisor and I learned the hard way with the dot com crash several years ago. We both took a terrible hit that we never recouped.
This time with the exception of my Wachovia preferred stock I actually beat Warren Buffet. I’m in the “maintain” strategy right now but it’s doing very well. I really should be more aggressive but I just can’t bring myself to do it.
The fact is nobody really knows except the big money and by the time we figure it out it’s too late.
You probably was smart to pull out before the losses became too great to get out.
Jack….I want the name of YOUR financial advisor.
Mine thinks letting your money rot in a mutual fund for 30 yrs is some sort of strategy.I guess it is/was.
I’m glad I got out of the market last October.Didn’t lose much. But NOW I’m afraid to get back in.
“They are not to do anything they please to provide for the general welfare…. [G]iving a distinct and independent power to do any act they please which may be good for the Union, would render all the preceding and subsequent enumerations of power completely useless. It would reduce the whole instrument to a single phrase, that of instituting a Congress with power to do whatever would be for the good of the United States; and as they sole judges of the good or evil, it would be also a power to do whatever evil they please.“—Thomas Jeffer
JB, perhaps you missed the point of those postings. What happens when a retiree loses their retirement money?
Do we say “Get the #-N over it!!!“
I think rvacitizen asked a simple/legitimate question that has yet to be answered…
Freedoms and rights? How delusional can you be?
How about repealing the Patriot Act? Now THERE’S an obvious assault on basic freedoms.
The Feds can wiretap (without a court order), can enter your homes without a warrant, and torture you by simply calling you a enemy combatant.
All of those things are taking place and you people are marching about Health Care Reform?
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