Conservatives flock to Acacia Park as part of national event
Conservatives in Colorado Springs and cities across the country rallied Wednesday to protest bailouts, handouts, earmarks and a host of other big-government sins, real or perceived.
About 1,500 gathered in Acacia Park downtown to hear speakers rail against stimulus spending, budget deficits, mortgage relief and efforts to right the banking system.
If there was one prevailing message it was opposition to taxes. "Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery," said Richard Randall, a talk show host on KVOR-AM and emcee of the local event. He was quoting Calvin Coolidge.
But a series of speakers, hailing from various points on the red end of the political spectrum, delivered a message that was far more diffuse. They condemned everything from abortion to Somali pirates.
What the rally lacked in focus it made up for in free-floating anger, epitomized in the "Impeach Them All Now!" and "No More Laws!!" placards that were among hundreds of hand-lettered signs hoisted in the spring sunshine.
Despite Obama's pledge to enact tax breaks for most Americans, some of the bitterest messages were directed at the president: "I Hope Obama Fails," "Obama Hopes America Fails" and "Obama=Hitler."
"Don't Tread on Me" banners nearly outnumbered American flags.
The crowd roared when Dan Cole told them, "There is such a thing as righteous anger." Cole organized the opposition to a local proposal to boost economic development efforts. It was defeated by voters last week.
The nationwide protests, pegged to income tax deadline day and invoking the Boston Tea Party of 1773, drew tens of thousands, according to the Associated Press. They were organized by FreedomWorks, a conservative advocacy group based in Washington and led by former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas, now a corporate lobbyist.
Among those addressing the Colorado Springs rally were Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., who recited his votes against "Obama's spending sprees" while some on the fringes of the crowd chanted "no more earmarks!"; El Paso County Commissioner Wayne Williams, who took aim at government spending in Denver as well as in Washington; and Douglas Bruce, father of the small-government Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, who was greeted with shouts of "Thank you!" and "My hero!" as he stepped to the microphone.
Ed Bircham, a local office-supply merchant, told the crowd he'd pay for a weekly bus to bring Colorado Springs folks to the state Capitol to protest the state government's tax-and-spend ways. When he repeated the famous "Ask not" line from John F. Kennedy's inaugural address, Bircham was the only speaker to get a favorable reaction when invoking a Democrat.
Sean Paige, a former Gazette editorial page editor and now a libertarian blogger, said the gimme-gimme culture exists not just in Washington or Denver, but at home. "Pork is always in somebody else's district," he said. "The change has to come from within."
Critics of the nationwide day of protests said it had been stirred up by wealthy lobbyists and the talking heads of right-wing television and radio. But it clearly struck a nerve among grass-roots conservatives, a fact emphasized by the thousands of hand-made signs and placards brought to rallies across the country.
One sign in Colorado Springs read, "Silent Majority Silent No More," prompting the question of whether it had ever been silent, or is now a majority. Nationwide polls show most Americans think Obama is the leader most likely to make the right decisions on the economy.
Gazette reporter Maria St. Louis-Sanchez live-blogged the event. The replay is below:
