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Anonymous

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[It's become pretty easy to associate the Glenn Beck and Michelle Malkin-driven Tax Day "Tea Parties" with the militia movement. While I don't relate to the "no taxation without representation" crowd today, I do understand the potential need for such a movement in theory. It just depends on what you consider "representation," I guess.

A lot of people don't know this about me, but my mom's side of the family has had some pretty healthy ties to the local militia movement in South Carolina. This occurred mostly in the mid to late '70s and the early '80s, but it's something we still talk about. And honestly, it's not something of which I'm ashamed.

I'm not ashamed because what drove my relatives into the arms of the militia movement were the same issues we hear Glenn Beck and Michelle Malkin rail about today: Specifically, taxation without representation. Like their disgruntled, seemingly-disenfranchised followers today, my family members were concerned that their grievances were neither heard, nor listened to by a government which catered to the wealthy upper class.

At least that's how they saw it.

I can't blame them, either. While the taxes they were paying at the time in South Carolina were actually pretty low back then, it was really more about the fact that they felt betrayed by their own government.

Two of my relatives--they were brothers--Lance and Hancock Porter, joined the South Carolina militia in '79 and stuck with the movement until '83. They were joined by a neighbor--another relative of mine named Ed Denney--around the same time. This was when their group was under the direction of a pretty charismatic leader named Thomas Brandon.

Now, being young and stupid, these guys were all pretty hardcore into this stuff--and at one time or another, they all had run-ins with the government in South Carolina. But none of them took it to the level of another relative of mine named Will Bevill. Like the rest, Will tangled with the government a few times, but he was the only one who ever ended with up with a serious injury--sustained in a shootout in '81 when a bullet struck his arm between the elbow and shoulder. Oddly enough, Will eluded capture and had the wound treated by the locals in Union County. According to my family, he was never the same after that. Which, of course, I can understand.

Aside from the Porter brothers, Ed Denney, and Will Bevill, I only have one other relative who I'm sure was into this stuff as well. He was actually from Virginia--and even more serious about the resistance than my relatives who dabbled in the South Carolina militia. This guy, Ellis Palmer, went so far as to become one of the dreaded gun nuts who actually joined the Army in the late '70s to learn skills useful for opposing government authority.

I'll explain more about these guys in a minute, but first I want to make a point.

The one difference between my relatives back then and the Glenn Beck/Tea Party crowd of today is that when my relatives joined the militia--and the Army in Ellis' case--it was for a valid reason. They really were taxed, without representation. And what they believed they were fighting for was a state and country that could elect leaders who were actually accountable and responsive to the electorate; leaders who you could kick out with nothing more than a vote; and leaders who represented the views of the community in which they lived. Because they didn't have it.

It had nothing to do with the sour grapes we see today. In case you haven't caught on yet, when I say the '70s and '80s, I'm talking about the 1770s and 1780s.

Edward Denney is a great grandfather of mine who served under Colonel Thomas Brandon in the South Carolina State Militia during the Revolutionary War. My two g-g-g-g-great uncles, Hancock and Lancelot Porter, served alongside Edward in the South Carolina militia, where they fought the British under General Nathanael Greene of the Continental Army at the Battle of Eutaw Springs in May 1781.

William Bevill, also one of my great grandfathers, was wounded at the Battle of Cowpens in January 1781 by a British musket ball while serving in the South Carolina State Militia.

And Ellis Palmer--my great grandfather who actually joined the Army at the age of 47--nearly froze while serving as a regular in the Virginia Continental Line under General Washington at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777-1778.

Not to be too didactic or overbearing, but these guys--like so many other Americans' ancestors--were literally fighting so that Glenn Beck could have a representative government. So that his listeners could have the right to peaceably assemble in their "Tea Parties" in 2009. Because, see, the system they so disdain works. The system for which our great-grandparents fought--the system which has made Glenn Beck a very wealthy man--works. It's been 225 years and no citizen of any state is taxed without representation. And, perhaps more importantly, the rights of the minority--like those who agree with Glenn Beck--are still protected, despite their paranoia. The government can't do anything in this country without the consent of the governed--and if they do, we have recourse. We can vote them out of office or go to court. It's too bad all this is lost on people like Glenn Beck and Michelle Malkin. This really is a great country. And it has a truly great form of governance. Of all the other forms of government around the world, ours is a thing of beauty. It's a shame they don't see that.

Nevertheless, they have that right. It's been given to them by a very successful system of governance that allows them to be as anti-American as they wish to be. So enjoy it this week, Tea Partiers. It costs you nothing. Your right to dismiss the American form of government has been paid in full by others--like the men above--who you clearly don't appreciate.]

I read this and it created a lot of thought on my part and should to everyone else on this forum when you are ranting and raving about everthing you can think of.
 

Steve

Well-known member
hurleyjd said:
Your right to dismiss the American form of government has been paid in full by others--like the men above-who you clearly don't appreciate.

I am not a "fan" of Glenn beck.. and am not going to the tea party because of just high taxes, or lack of representation.. but more to uphold the constitution.. and to add my number so politicians will hear our voice..

our government should and must be controlled .. and the Tea parties are well over due..

but to say I don't appreciate them is wrong.. to say I didn't pay the price they paid, might be true.. even as a retired disabled vet.. (with a combat service connected disability) you are in part true,... and tonight I will by stepping up and going to protest,. I will finally start repaying that debt to preserve the great nation they started!

In fact before I read your post, I was not sure why I was going,.. I'm not a protest type of person.. sure I grumble alot,. and I want real constitutional republic government that your ancestor's and mine fought for.. ,.,,

but now I know why I am going..

The real reason I am going is to start repaying that debt on the freedom we have.. and to make sure the freedom to protest and speak out is there for those who follow.. and to be heard by our government.. and is not just for a few wacko lefties with pink hair.. but for US all..
 

Steve

Well-known member
Hurlyjd said:
I read this and it created a lot of thought on my part and should to everyone else on this forum when you are ranting and raving about everthing you can think of.

Thank you after reading it, it occurred to me that for as much as i have done, and as much as I appreciate our freedom.. I was not sure why I wanted to join this protest so badly and to go..

Now i know and will be able to spread the message,

It is about preserving our great Nation and all of it's ideals.. not just for US but for all who follow.
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
Steve said:
Hurlyjd said:
I read this and it created a lot of thought on my part and should to everyone else on this forum when you are ranting and raving about everthing you can think of.

Thank you after reading it, it occurred to me that for as much as i have done, and as much as I appreciate our freedom.. I was not sure why I wanted to join this protest so badly and to go..

Now i know and will be able to spread the message,

It is about preserving our great Nation and all of it's ideals.. not just for US but for all who follow.

:clap: :clap: :clap:
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
Watch how CNN how tries to instigate at the tea parties, and use talking points directly from the DHS document.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G3fvNhdoc0&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fhotair.com%2Farchives%2F2009%2F04%2F15%2Funreal-cnn-reporter-openly-contemptuous-of-tea-parties%2F&feature=player_embedded
 

Sandhusker

Well-known member
reader (the Second) said:
The article makes an excellent point. The United States provides more freedom of expression and more ability to have an impact as a citizen than any country I have visited or lived in.

And when the tea partiers use that freedom of expression, he calls it "anti-American"
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
reader (the Second) said:
The article makes an excellent point. The United States provides more freedom of expression and more ability to have an impact as a citizen than any country I have visited or lived in.

Now the next logical question would be....What makes it that way, and what ways could it change, if not careful?
 

Mike

Well-known member
reader (the Second) said:
The article makes an excellent point. The United States provides more freedom of expression and more ability to have an impact as a citizen than any country I have visited or lived in.

This article is junk.

I would hope the U.S. does these things for all people. Maybe that's what our founding/forefathers had in mind.

How about we try to preserve it for a few more years? :roll:
 
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