I'd Like a Little Party With My Tea, Thanks.

I picked my kids up from school today and drove them to Forest Park. The St Louis Tea Party Coalition was beginning to gather across the street from the home of Tom Carnahan as we arrived. A block away, a much larger (and louder) gathering was also taking place. Why all the excitement? President Barack Obama visited St. Louis today. He appeared at a reception at a hotel, and then proceeded to our location for a $25,000-a-plate fundraising dinner. 

When we arrived, people I didn't know offered American flags to my children. They struck up conversations about mutual friends, and introduced their children to mine. Within fifteen minutes, my kids were sharing their fruit snacks and cookies with kids they had just met, chasing each other around the trees at the edge of the golf course, and waving their flags at cars driving by. They held signs that protested wasteful government spending. "I owe the U.S. $30,000 and I'm only 5," "Where's my windmill?" and "Hot air fuels politicians, not nations." 

The family hosting the Obama fundraiser, the Carnahans, are political royalty in Missouri. And because of that, when Obama pushed his last stimulus, the Carnahan family received $107 million to fund the family wind farm. Trading favor for favor, the Carnahans then hosted this fundraising dinner for the President.

The group down the block from the Tea Party Group had gathered for a different reason. Hoping for a glimpse of the man they idolized, they too eagerly awaited Obama's arrival. But they waited to cheer on the furtherance of his failed policies, to praise his efforts to stir up class and race warfare, and to demand that he stick it to those evil rich people who just don't want anyone else to get any of the money.

The whole time I was there, the tone remained mostly civil. A few people from down the block came over to where we were, and I heard a few mumblings of "this is crazy," "these people are idiots," and "I need to get away from these people before I have to bust some ass." Let me point you back to the above paragraph and remind you that the "crazy idiots" who inspired "ass-busting" were sharing fruit snacks, carrying flags and demanding accountability for the uses of their tax dollars. The scandal! I can see how that would push someone right over the edge...

Because of a few very badly timed potty emergencies, we had to leave before the Obama entourage arrived. From what I heard, after we left, several of the Obama supporters advanced on the Tea Party gathering and proceeded to yell and curse at the peaceful protesters in front of their children.

I am of two minds on the subject. I told my kids before we got out of the car that people might say mean things to us because of what we were doing. I told them that some people do not have the ability to disagree with you without being nasty about it. That being said, half of me is glad that they didn't have to see my warning proved accurate tonight. I'm glad that they didn't have to witness their mother and her friends being called names that they are not allowed to say. 

But on the other hand, being called those names is what solidified in me the strength that I have today. My mother mentioned to me about a month ago that she didn't remember me being so outspoken politically even just a few years ago. I told her that's simply because I wasn't. But something pivotal happened to me three years ago: I had the audacity to vote against a black man. Because of that one simple action, I was labeled a racist, a bigot and several other names that I am not willing to repeat. When you are called names like that, you can have one of two reactions: You can back down, or you can learn to defend yourself and do it fast. Backing down is not in my nature.

 Surprisingly, the only *green* vehicle that showed up at the $25k-a-head fundraiser...

 Bill Hennessey, warming up the crowd.

Gateway Pundit Jim Hoft, resisting much.

I know my kids will have to learn that lesson on their own, and I want them to see me live that lesson before someone puts them on the spot. Maybe it wasn't tonight, but I know it's coming. Bring it on.