This is an eyewitness report from the NowPublic member Edmund Jenks who was on the scene at the Pasadena City Hall, Friday, May 1st, 4pm.
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UPDATE: Additional background posting and photos here>>
Ever feel a little left out of the modern day festivities that surround the first day in the month of May?
There was a time that a community would look with anticipation toward May and the recognition that the spring planting season had begun in earnest. Townspeople would gather in the town center and halls to share in traditions that included parties, sing-alongs, Old World maypole dancing, and parades. Throughout the Northern Hemisphere, the month of May is a time to celebrate a renewal of life marked with May Day on the first day of May.
The modern trend for the last couple of years saw the introduction of attention getting protests about United States immigration policy. Protests re-branded not as May Day celebrations of life renewal but as "A Day Without A Mexican" and gatherings to promote socialists ideals where the Government should be in control of everything.
"Reconquista", the undocumented immigrant movement to re-assimilate the southwest United States back into the territory of Mexico has become a modern day May Day theme. Image Credit: Google Images
Two weeks ago, a phenomenon popped-up in the pantheon of protests. Citizens who have always desired and worked toward being a part of the fabric of a strong and free society, gathered in front of City Halls holding Tea Bags as a sign of protest, in the spirit of the original Boston Tea Party against the governmental act of taxation without representation in England to the colony states in North America. These were gatherings in protest of excessive tax laws being enacted and out-of-control Federal Government Spending used to support a shift toward a Socialist society as opposed to one that is based upon self-reliance and the God given rights to make decisions about and control of ones personal life.
The April 15 Tax Day Tea Parties amassed nearly one-million (1,000,000) people at over 900 gatherings throughout the United States.
Since the newly elected executive administration assumed power in office January 20, 2009, the actions of the Obama Administration and the current Democrat Party controlled Congress have enacted two large Taxing/Spending laws (The Stimulus and Omnibus Spending Bills) amounting to an assessment of over $18,000 of additional debt for each and every household to fund spending increases of over 90% of current bureaucratic infrastructure programs. Normal increases generally keep track with economic expansion and inflation (a single digit 3% to 6% increase has been the custom).
Image Credit: May Day! May Day! - Defeat 1A page in Facebook
Enter May Day 2009 in Pasadena (this notice excerpted and edited from a Facebook Tea Party message broadcast):
May Day! May Day! - Defeat 1A
... because socialism isn't cool
An action to celebrate spring and protest the upcoming May 19th vote that asks California citizens to tax themselves even MORE through a YES Vote on Propositions 1 A, B, C, D, & F!
This gathering is to bring attention on why one would want to Vote NO on all of these propositions and reject the notion that they would actually limit government and government spending.
Where: Pasadena City Hall
100 N Garfield Ave
When: Friday, May 1st, 4pm
What: VIP Speakers, Rally, May Day Parade, Happy Hour
The Pasadena Tea Party Patriots are thrilled to announce that conservative thinker Larry Greenfield will join Evan Sayet, Victoria Jackson and Andrew Breitbart to speak at our May Day rally.
Our theme is "Anti-Socialism", so please go all out with the clever signs and "propaganda". We're also having a contest to see who can come looking most like their favorite communist dictator. The top 5 look-alikes will get VIP seating behind the podium for maximum media exposure. This could be a recipe for hilarity!
See you ALL there!
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Dear Tea Party Patriots,
On behalf of the Pasadena Tea Party organizers, we'd like to thank you for standing with us against high taxes and Big Government. Our Tea Party and hundreds of others around America this week are just the first steps toward restoring the personal and economic freedoms that our Constitution guarantees. We must now translate this energy into IMMEDIATE AND AGGRESSIVE POLITICAL ACTION. We must punish those who betrayed us and replace them with principled representatives.
> DEFEAT CALIFORNIA PROPOSITIONS 1A-1F ON MAY 19
Our immediate objective is simple: DEFEAT PROPOSITIONS 1A-1F on May 19. California is already fiscally and politically bankrupt. If passed, these propositions will only drive us further in the hole. When we win, politicians in both parties will know that Californians intend to retake control of state government. Like Proposition 13, it will send a shockwave throughout California, Washington, D.C., all of America and even the world.
> MAY DAY! – MAY DAY!
Our next action dates are May 1 and May 19. We’re choosing May Day because that’s when despotic socialist countries like North Korea stage parades pretending to celebrate the worker and democracy. We need to take that day back. Choosing “Mayday” is also fitting because all pilots and mariners use this expression to signal distress and imminent danger. This is exactly where we are in California.
> SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
May 1, 4p-7p, Pasadena City Hall
Tea Party Rally, Parade and Happy Hour
May 1- 19, San Gabriel Valley
‘Boots on the Ground’
May 19, 6-10p, Mijares Restaurant
Post Election Party
> COMMUNITY RE-ORGANIZERS NEEDED NOW
The radicals and agitators driving us into financial ruin – including at least one President – like to call themselves “Community Organizers.” Well, I guess that makes anyone trying to fix this mess a “Community RE-Organizer.” If this describes you, then we need your help in putting Boots on the Ground. Wes Hampton has volunteered to lead the ‘ground game’ here in the San Gabriel Valley. He has generously offered the use of his San Gabriel offices and phones to support our efforts.
While we appreciate your financial support, we are most interested in your personal involvement. Our strength lies not only in our numbers but in the active commitment and participation of our members in the political process. We have to take the battle to the Big Spenders. The upcoming special election will be our first big test. Our opponents will be watching us very closely to find out just how real we are, whether we can transform vigorous dissent into electoral success. They are hoping that the Tea Parties will be a one-time event that fades into politics as usual for the two major parties.
The only way we can change their political calculations is for us to participate fully, regularly and reliably in the electoral process. Ronald Reagan once said that the Russians loved the arms race as long as they were the only ones in it. It’s the same with California politics.
The Spendocrats in both parties have had the game to themselves – with predictable results. All that changes starting now.
> ACTION STEPS
Here are the steps you need to take:
• Make sure we know who you are. If you’re getting this message, at least your on our facebook page. Reply to this message and provide information requested below.
• Volunteer for something. We currently need volunteers to perform the following tasks:
· Full-time and part-time volunteers to monitor our email and web site. This can be done in the office or at home.
· Full-time and part-time volunteers to staff our office, especially during the upcoming Prop1A-F campaign.
· Bookkeeper and/or treasurer. Financial professional preferred.
· Coordinator for Speakers’ Forum
•Make sure we know who your friends are. Using the reply function, send us the name, email and as much additional contact information as is available for anyone you think should be on our distribution list.
Reference Here>>
So, we at MAXINE urge ... come one and come ALL ... May Day Is Not Just For The Undocumented, Anymore!
UPDATES - Photographs and videos to be added after the event (MAXINE will be in attendance as a Citizen Journalist/Editor - NowPublic).
It is time for all with a passion to place "BOOTS ON THE GROUND" in the community in order to defeat Propositions 1A-F. California is already fiscally and politically bankrupt. If passed, these propositions will only drive us further in the hole. When we win, politicians in both parties will know that Californians intend to retake control of state government. Like Proposition 13, it will send a shockwave throughout California, Washington, D.C., all of America and even the world.
Edmund Jenks
Los Angeles, California, United States
Roy C
Vancouver, Washington, United States
albertacowpoke
Canada
Amy Judd
Vancouver, Canada
Rachel Nixon
Vancouver, Canada
nukegingrich
Mccomb, Mississippi, United States
jazzyzazzy
Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
René
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Rhonda J Mangus
North Tonawanda, New York, United States
Jarrett Martineau
Vancouver, Canada
tikun
Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (3)
at 07:56 on May 1st, 2009
Great report, Ed.
Thanks.
at 08:17 on May 1st, 2009
Very interesting piece, thanks!
at 08:35 on May 1st, 2009
Thanks for this. I guess this is a May Day gone astray. In Europe, particularly in Bavaria, they still put the May Pole in the town square. The day is normally celebrated by families going on long walks, intermixed with a picnic and of course some beer and wine.
I have participated in a few of those and it sure puts fellowship and the family in the forefront.