Politico Exclusive: 2 Women Accused Herman Cain of Inappropriate Behavior

POLITICO: During Herman Cain’s tenure as the head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s, at least two female employees complained to colleagues and senior association officials about inappropriate behavior by Cain, ultimately leaving their jobs at the trade group, multiple sources confirm to POLITICO.

The women complained of sexually suggestive behavior by Cain that made them angry and uncomfortable, the sources said, and they signed agreements with the restaurant group that gave them financial payouts to leave the association. The agreements also included language that bars the women from talking about their departures.
In a series of comments over the past 10 days, Cain and his campaign repeatedly declined to respond directly about whether he ever faced allegations of sexual harassment at the restaurant association. They have also declined to address questions about specific reporting confirming that there were financial settlements in two cases in which women leveled complaints. » | JONATHAN MARTIN & MAGGIE HABERMAN & ANNA PALMER & KENNETH P. VOGEL | Monday, October 31, 2011

US Elections 2012: Bizarre Herman Cain Advert Features Chief of Staff Smoking
The Republican presidential nominee's chief of staff puffs on a cigarette in Herman Cain's latest campaing advert.

Tea Party Legislation Reveals Anxiety at US Direction under Barack Obama
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The rise of the Tea Party has seen an increase in extreme legislation across the US, ranging in from a bill in Montana saying global warming is good for the state to a suggestion in Missouri to end restrictions on child labour.

Earlier this month Utah's state legislature approved a bill that would recognise gold and silver as legal tender as alternatives to more foldable forms of currency. It needs only the governor's signature to become law.

Similar moves are under consideration in a dozen other states, where legislators are outraged by soaring deficits and the federal government's promiscuous dollar-printing.

The Utah bill is among an abundance of proposals made by Tea Party-backed Republicans who were elected to state assemblies last year.
Others include a bill in South Dakota to make every adult carry a gun, a bid in Arizona to nullify federal laws.

In Montana, House Bill 278 would authorise arming citizens' militias against invaders, even though the state borders Canada.

Wyoming and Tennessee are among 14 states that have either passed or are contemplating legislation to ban sharia law, though objectors say that Islamic justice has yet to be presented as an alternative to US law.

Many proposals in the states will never become law, and state legislators have a tradition of eccentricity which is regarded with a measure pride by politicians of all stripes as truly representative of the nation.

But taken collectively, the new plans reveal an anxiety among grassroots conservatives about the direction of the country under President Barack Obama, a fierce devotion to single issues – such as opposing Islam – and at times a yearning for a rose-tinted past. » | Alex Spillius, Washington | Friday, March 18, 2011

Ronald Reagan's Children Reject Republican Claims Over His Political Legacy
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The three surviving children of Ronald Reagan have rubbished efforts by Republican presidential hopefuls to claim his mantle as a conservative reformer, branding Sarah Palin "a soap opera".

Celebrations to mark the centenary of the late president's birth have coincided with the need of what critics call a mediocre group of candidates to burnish their reputations to send Reagan-fever jumping to unprecedented levels.

Speaking at a dinner to honour the 40th president, Sarah Palin said she considered herself a "western conservative in the spirit of Ronald Reagan".

Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker who is also considering a run for the White House, compared his Pennsylvania roots to Reagan's in a small town in Illinois and said [the] man who ended the Cold War would have handled the turmoil in Egypt with much more certainty than President Barack Obama. Other potential candidates have lavished praise on Reagan, who died in 2004, and cited him as their chief inspiration.

But asked what she made of Mrs Palin as a potential successor to her father, Patti Davis, Mr Reagan's only surviving daughter, said: "You've got to be kidding me."

Ron Reagan, her younger brother, scoffed: "Sarah Palin has nothing in common with my father. Sarah Palin is a soap opera." >>> Alex Spillius, Washington | Wednesday, February 09, 2011

The Tea Party Rules Washington as Barack Obama Braces for Savage Cuts
THE OBSERVER: New breed of right-wingers takes over the Capitol with a slash-and-burn agenda that threatens the White House

Republican John Boehner receives the gavel from outgoing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Photograph: The Observer
Dick Armey's black, lizard-skin cowboy boots lay on the floor while he relaxed on the couch in stockinged feet. The former Texas congressman was in a jovial mood in his office just off the Washington Mall – and for good reason. He may no longer be a politician but as chairman of FreedomWorks, one of the main forces behind the conservative Tea Party movement, he is once more a major player in the new Washington DC.

"My wife likes the terminology of a 'paradigm shift'," he said in a western drawl. "And I like to agree with that. It is a paradigm shift. It's a phenomenon."

Democrats might not agree, but it is hard to argue the Congress sworn in last week – now with a Republican-dominated House of Representatives – has not made Washington a very different place from the "New Camelot" hailed by the media when Barack Obama was inaugurated in 2009.

The new influx of GOP politicians that has swaggered into the American capital, represents a massive change in political culture. A staggering 87 new Republican congressmen and six new Republican senators have landed on the banks of the Potomac river.

But it is not just the numbers; it is the way they were elected. The 2010 midterm elections, which sank the Democrats, were propelled by the energy of the right-wing Tea Party movement. Many of those new Republicans are Tea Partiers themselves or beholden to its activists and their conservative agenda.

That's why people such as Armey will shape the new face of the capital. To its critics, FreedomWorks is a corporate-backed front group exploiting the Tea Party. To its fans, it helps to co-ordinate and focus an outpouring of anti-government rage and desire for personal liberty the like of which have not been seen for a generation. Either way, Armey's cheerfulness seems justified given the sudden change of fortunes between Republicans and Democrats.

"The Obama White House forgot about America," he declared, as a young fan from a Republican-leaning website walked in and asked him to sign a book. >>> Paul Harris | Sunday, January 09, 2011

How Republicans and Tea Party Will Use Congress to Bash Barack Obama
THE GUARDIAN: The phoney peace is over: US right plans to tackle healthcare reforms and federal budget

John Boehner, the Republican leader who is expected to replace Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House. Photograph: The Guardian
The Republican party is to use the new Congress, which begins on Wednesday, to mount a guerrilla campaign aimed at destroying Barack Obama's healthcare reforms, slashing the federal budget and preparing the ground for his defeat in the 2012 White House race.

When the Senate and House convene at noon, both will be awash with Republican members elected in November's crushing victories over the Democrats, many of them backed by the Tea Party movement.

In a political shift comparable to the Republican takeover of Congress in 1995 and the Democrats in 2007, the Republicans have a strong platform to harry Obama, having won control of the House and reduced the Democratic majority in the Senate.

The handover of power in the House will take place on Wednesday after a bipartisan prayer service at St Peter's Catholic church. Members will vote in the House for a new Speaker, and Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to hold that post, will pass the gavel to the Republican leader, John Boehner.

Pelosi and her Democratic colleagues are to meet behind closed doors in Washington tomorrow to discuss strategy for coping with the shift in power and how to protect the gains they have made over the last two years. Read on and comment >>> Ewen MacAskill in Washington | Monday, January 03, 2011

Marco Rubio Tries To Still Debate Over His Religion
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Marco Rubio, the new Florida senator and one of the Republican Party’s brightest stars, has been trying to stifle a debate over his religious affiliation amid allegations that, contrary to his claims, he is not a Roman Catholic.

Marco Rubio and family. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
Mr Rubio, 39, a darling of the Tea Party and touted as a future presidential candidate, was born and raised a Catholic by his Cuban parents. However, for the past six years he and his wife have attended the Christ Fellowship, a Florida congregation which describes itself as “non-denominational” but is affiliated to the Southern Baptist Convention, whose theology is firmly anti-Catholic.

According to the St Petersburg Times, Mr Rubio has donated much of the $66,000 he has given to charity since 2000 to the Christ Fellowship.

Alex Burgos, a spokesman for Mr Rubio, told The Daily Telegraph on Friday: “[Marco] regularly attends Catholic Mass, and he was baptised, confirmed and married in the Roman Catholic Church. On the final Sunday of the campaign, for example, he attended Mass at Christ the King Catholic Church in Tampa ... He also attends services at a Christian church with his wife and children.” Asked why Mr Rubio attended a non-Catholic church regularly. the spokesman said: “He attends both regularly.” >>> Damian Thompson | Friday, November 12, 2010

Marco Rubio: Latino or not?
THE WASHINGTON TIMES: MONGTOMERY VILLAGE, Md. November 11, 2010 — Marco Rubio won his bid for senate for Florida this past November 2nd. He is the son of a Cuban bartender and a hotel domestic worker.

Marco really embraced the American Way. He left his parents’ traditional, Roman Catholic religion to convert and attend an Evangelical community, received a law degree, and married a Miami Dolphins cheer leader. He is also articulate, apparently intelligent and good looking.

Even before the media started hinting at a possible “first Latino president”, I was thinking of this possibility. This doesn’t mean that I am smart or a personal friend of his (very far from it). With the Republican Party in need of “dream team” candidates, he will rise to the top.
 


I do however have a problem with Marco being the first Latino president of the United States. While in school I met and befriended several of the early arrival Cuban Americans. I remember that to a man, when asked if they were Latinos or Hispanics, they would respond, - “No, I am not, I am Cuban.” >>> Mario Salazar | Friday, November 12, 2010

Midterms 2010: Marco Rubio's Victory Fuels Presidential Talk
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Marco Rubio, a young Tea Party-backed Republican, was last night elected Senator for Florida - and gave an acceptance speech fuelling speculation that he could one day be US president.


Mr Rubio, the 39-year-old son of Cuban exiles, comfortably beat Charlie Crist, the outgoing Republican state governor, who he forced to run as an independent.

He told hundreds of supporters at a rally in Coral Gables: “Our nation is headed in the wrong direction and both parties are to blame.”

Conceding the night’s results were not an endorsement of his party, Mr Rubio said they offered “a second chance for Republicans to be what they said they were going to be.”

Nonetheless he promised the “clear and genuine alternative” he said American voters had shown they wanted over [sic?] the agenda followed by Barack Obama since 2008.

Supporters hailed Mr Rubio’s win as a victory for “common-sense conservatism”. Jeb Bush, the former Governor of Florida, welcomed him to the stage with an impassioned introduction.

“Marco Rubio makes me cry for joy,” Mr Bush said. “We need great leaders who can lift the cloud above us.'' >>> Jon Swaine in Miami | Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Sharron Angle: 'We the People Have Been Awakened'

Mosque Debate Strains Tea Party, GOP
The proposed mosque is becoming a divisive issue between Republicans and tea party conservatives. Photo: Politico
POLITICO: The debate over the proposed mosque near ground zero, which has tied Democrats in knots, turns out to be just as tricky for their adversaries on the right—particularly those in the tea party.

Within the loose coalition of local and national conservative activist groups that form the tea party movement, a quiet tug-of-war is being waged between those who want to embrace the hard-line opposition that has emerged as the Republican Party line and those who have urged their fellow tea partiers to refrain from rallying opposition because it’s inconsistent with the movement’s focus on economic and constitutional issues.

While the debate is taking place within the confines of the movement, it nevertheless reflects a larger sense of unease on the right with an issue that is dividing both Republicans and tea party conservatives over tensions between core principles such as balancing religious freedom and property rights and the raw feelings evoked by the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. >>> Kenneth P. Vogel | Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Sarah Palin Attacks NAACP Over 'Racist' Tea Party Motion
THE TELEGRAPH: Sarah Palin has attacked a prominent civil-rights organisation which has officially branded the American tea party movement as racist, a day after Michelle Obama delivered the keynote speech at the organisation

The former US vice-presidential candidate urged President Obama and his wife Michelle, to "repudiate" the allegation and "set the record straight".

The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) has passed a motion condemning the tea party movement – which is closely linked to the right wing of the Republican Party – for being racist.

In its motion, the NAACP says the movement has engaged in "explicitly racist behaviour" and calls for people to "stand in opposition to [the tea party's] drive to push our country back to the pre-civil rights era." However, Mrs Palin has hit back at the allegation.

"The charge that Tea Party Americans judge people by the colour of their skin is false, appalling, and is a regressive and diversionary tactic to change the subject at hand.," she said. >>> Robert Winnett in Washington | Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Related article here

Barack Obama Compared to Hitler and Lenin in Tea Party Billboard
THE TELEGRAPH: A roadside billboard created by a branch of the Tea Party in Iowa comparing President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin has been condemned by other groups in the movement.

North Iowa Tea Party co-founder Bob Johnson said the sign highlighted what the group argues is Mr Obama's support for socialism. Photograph: The Telegraph
The North Iowa Tea Party began displaying the sign in Mason City last week. It shows photographs of Mr Obama, the German Nazi leader and Russian communist with the statement: "Radical leaders prey on the fearful & naive."

The words "Democratic Socialism" are featured over Mr Obama's picture, over Hitler's photo is "National Socialism" and over Lenin's head is "Marxist Socialism." The word "Change" – Mr Obama's campaign slogan – is included on each photo.

North Iowa Tea Party co-founder Bob Johnson said the sign highlighted what the group argues is Mr Obama's support for socialism. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Michelle Obama Controversy as Tea Party Is Labelled 'Racist' by NAACP
THE TELEGRAPH: Michelle Obama has provoked controversy by giving the keynote speech for a civil rights organisation which has formally accused the American Tea Party movement of being 'racist'.

Michelle Obama lavished praise on the NAACP. Photograph: The Telegraph
The First Lady said that her husband's presidency had been made possible by the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) and urged the group to "increase its intensity".

The organisation later issued a motion condemning the Tea Party movement – which is closely linked to the right wing of the Republican Party – as racist.

The motion threatens to turn race into an important issue in this autumn's midterm elections as several members of the movement are standing for the Republican Party.

Mrs Obama's appearance at the organisations's annual conference in Kansas City, was primarily focused on warning African-Americans about the dangers of childhood obesity.

However, she also lavished praise on the NAACP. Mrs Obama said: "I know that I stand here today, and I know that my husband stands where he is today, because of this organisation – and because of the struggles and the sacrifices of all those who came before us.

"When African American communities are still hit harder than just about anywhere by this economic downturn, and so many families are just barely scraping by, I think the founders would tell us that now is not the time to rest on our laurels.

"When stubborn inequalities still persist – in education and health, in income and wealth – I think those founders would urge us to increase our intensity, and to increase our discipline and our focus and keep fighting for a better future for our children and our grandchildren."

In its motion, the NAACP said the Tea Party movement engaged in "explicitly racist behaviour" and called for people to "stand in opposition to the drive to push our country back to the pre-civil rights era."

The increasingly influential Tea Party movement has been embraced by a series of senior Republicans including Sarah Palin, the former vice-presidential nominee. >>> Robert Winnett in Washington | Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Tea Party Controversy: Congressional candidate defends Tea Party against allegations of racism, homophobia

The Right-Wing Revolutionaries: Tea Party Movement Mirrors a Deeply Divided America
Photograph: Spiegel Online International
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: US President Barack Obama came to power promising to unite the nation. Now he has divided it even more than his predecessor George W. Bush. The burgeoning conservative Tea Party movement is calling for Obama to be removed from office.

The auditorium in Tulsa, Oklahoma is silent for a moment, as the Walkers, a happy couple in their mid-50s, walk onto the stage. They manage an electronics store in the area, and they say that after being married for decades, they still love each other just as much as they did on the first day. They are here to demonstrate that love to the audience -- with a passionate kiss.

It's meant to be an homage to the old, forgotten America, the land of high-school sweethearts and beauty queens, where honesty, decency and loyalty still meant something. A land where the promise of the American dream -- that anyone could make it to the top -- still reigned supreme. There are 5,000 people -- ordinary people -- in the audience, including Democrats, Republicans and independents.

The Walkers are seated on two folding chairs, placed a respectable distance apart -- the old America was a chaste place, after all. They kiss a few times to the sound of country music. Then, suddenly, it gets very loud in the room.

Radio and TV talk-show host Glenn Beck is standing on the stage. He has just arrived from the Doom Room, which is what he calls the studio where he records his broadcasts. From there, he spreads a message of fear and dread of a new America, a place that no longer has anything in common with the land that the Walkers know and love. It is a country of poverty, deprivation and an omnipotent government, a cross between the Soviet Union and Hitler's Nazi Germany.

'I'm a Guy Just Like You'

People believe what Beck says. Beck is their hero, savior and guru. He has made millions by capitalizing on people's fears of the future. "Tulsa," he shouts into the cheering, grateful crowd, "I'm a guy just like you."

He now has two shows, a weekly radio show that airs on more than 300 stations nationwide, and a television show on Fox News, "Glenn Beck," which has 3 million viewers. He weeps, raves and yells on these shows. Every day, he warns his listeners and viewers that America has moved yet another step along the road to becoming a socialist dictatorship. His enemies are the "progressives," or the American left, who see Europe as their role model, says Beck.

The Europe he means is currently celebrating the reinvigorated US president, who achieved two historic victories in the space of a few days. After the controversial healthcare reform bill, which President Barack Obama recently managed to push through Congress, he signed a treaty to reduce strategic nuclear weapons in Prague last Thursday, a successor to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) signed in 1991. It was a step that its signatories pledged would make the world a safer place.

It is a double triumph for Obama, in both domestic and foreign policy, and yet he has met with more hostility in his own country than almost any other president in history. According to a Gallup poll conducted in late March, Obama's Democrats have dropped to their lowest approval rating in almost two decades. Some 60 percent of Americans believe that America is on the wrong path and is headed for decline. What unites the world is dividing the country. America's Choice >>> Marc Hujer and Thomas Schulz | Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Nevada : Les Tea Party contre la réforme de santé
20MINUTES.ch: Sarah Palin a appelé samedi des milliers de conservateurs réunis près de Las Vegas à sanctionner les démocrates.



L'ancienne gouverneure de l'Alaska s'est adressée à une foule de 7.000 personnes réunies par la mouvement d'opposition Tea Party à Searchlight, ancienne petite ville minière du désert du Nevada, où Harry Reid, l'un des artisans de la réforme de santé voulue par Barack Obama, a grandi et possède encore une maison.

Harry Reid «dilapide notre futur», a affirmé Mme Palin. «Quelqu'un doit lui dire, ce n'est pas un simple coup de dés». «Nous n'allons pas rester assis et nous taire», a-t-elle ajouté, assurant vouloir inciter les gens à la mobilisation et non à la violence.

L'ancienne candidate à la vice-présidence américaine a annoncé aux manifestants la fin de la politique du sénateur Reid, du président Obama et de la porte-parole de la Chambre des représentants Nancy Pelosi. «Vous êtes virés», a lancé Sarah Palin. Les organisateurs du mouvement d'opposition Tea Party ont affirmé pouvoir rassembler jusqu'à 10.000 personnes. >>> ap | Samedi 27 Mars 2010

Sarah Palin Talks of 'Revolution' at Tea Party Meeting
THE TELEGRAPH: Sarah Palin tried to rally conservatives on Saturday night at a national convention of the "Tea Party" movement, taking aim at President Barack Obama on everything from big government to teleprompters.

"I believe in this movement ... America is ready for another revolution," said Palin, former Alaska governor and Republican John McCain's running mate in the 2008 election won by Obama.

The Nashville convention brought together hundreds of activists from the "Tea Party" group, which hopes to make a splash in the 2010 congressional elections and beyond.

The three-day event had been plagued by infighting, pullouts and criticism of tickets costing more than $500.

But the appearance of Palin, the darling of the US conservative movement, raised its profile and gave her a national platform to appeal directly to an emerging base for the Republican Party.

In a speech that made frequent appeals to patriotism and faith, Palin used the folksy, Washington-outsider rhetoric to lambaste Obama and his Democratic Party.

"How's that hope-y, change-y stuff working out for you?" she asked, mocking the slogans of hope and change that swept Obama's campaign into to the White House. >>> | Sunday, February 07, 2010

Sarah Palin Keynote Speech at National Tea Party Convention


THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Tea Party Activists Ponder How to Win Elections: NASHVILLE—Tea Party activists gathered in Tennessee this weekend grappled with a central question looming over the burgeoning political movement: Where does it go from here?

The early consensus suggests the those most associated with Tea-Party activism might change their focus from staging political rallies like the one held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. last September, to attempting to win elections. >>> Susan Davis | Saturday, February 06, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Sarah Palin: it 'would be absurd' not to consider White House bid: Sarah Palin on Sunday set her sights on the White House, saying it "would be absurd" not to consider running against Barack Obama in 2012. >>> Alex Spillius in Nashville | Sunday, February 07, 2010

LE TEMPS: États-Unis – Nouvelle révolution conservatrice en marche? : Des centaines d’Américains représentant les «vraies valeurs de l’Amérique» se réunissent ce week-end à Nashville où se tient la première convention nationale du «tea party» >>> Luis Lema | Samedi 06 Février 2010

Tea Party Convention Stalled by Racially-charged Opening Remarks
THE TELEGRAPH: A conference designed to galvanise opposition to Barack Obama's "big government" agenda has hit controversy after racially-charged remarks by the opening speaker, a leading anti-immigration campaigner.

Tom Tancredo, who served for ten years as a Republican in Congress, said America's first black president was only elected because "we do not have a civics, literacy test before people can vote in this country".

Such tests were used to prevent blacks from voting during segregation and were banned by the landmark civil rights legislation of 1964.

Speaking at the first National Tea Party convention, Mr Tancredo also denounced the "cult of multiculturalism". The 2008 election had "put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House ... Barack Hussein Obama," he said, using the president's Islamic middle name.

"This is our country," he told the audience. "Let's take it back." >>> Alex Spillius in Nashville | Friday, February 05, 2010

Tea Party Turns Nasty: ‘It’s Our Country – Let’s Take It Back’
TIMES ONLINE: They will proudly boast of how they have galvanised ordinary Americans against runaway government spending, but a dark underbelly of xenophobia has been exposed at the first national gathering of the Tea Party movement.

Here in the vast Gaylord resort in Nashville, where 600 members of the conservative grassroots phenomenon that exploded in revolt against President Obama’s economic policies have gathered, it would be advisable not to wear a T-shirt declaring “I am an illegal immigrant”.

The anti-Government, anti-Establishment movement, which has splintered in the past week with many boycotting this gathering, has billed itself as a revolution born of the widespread disgust at Washington and the way that the nation’s politicians are bankrupting America’s future.

With its raucous protests it has undeniably become a political force that threatens to hand Democrats a disastrous midterm election night in November. Voter anger against spending and debt, of which the Tea Partiers are in the vanguard, played a significant role in the recent loss of the late Edward Kennedy’s Senate seat and could conceivably lead to Democrats losing the House and Senate.

Yet the speech that opened the Nashville event yesterday, an address greeted with whoops and cheers from the mainly white audience, reflects a movement that also appears to have a less attractive side to it.

Tom Tancredo, a former Republican congressman who ran for president in 2008 on an anti-illegal immigration platform, said of the voters who elected Mr Obama: “They could not even spell the word ‘vote’ or say it in English and they put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House — Barack Hussein Obama!”[.]

Decrying America’s multiculturalism, Mr Tancredo said that Republicans and Democrats had voted for a black man because they felt they had to. To a standing ovation, he shouted: “We really do have a culture to pass on to our children: it’s based on Judaeo-Christian values.”

“This is our country,” he declared. “Let’s take it back!” He added, to applause: “Cultures are not the same. Some are better. Ours is best!” The crowd, some wearing recently purchased T-shirts saying “Keep the change — I’ll keep my FREEDOM my GUNS and my MONEY”, loved it. >>> Tim Reid in Nashville | Saturday, February 06, 2010

Massive Crowd Marches Against Obama's Agenda
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Tens of thousands of angry conservatives converge on Washington to denounce the president's healthcare proposals and more, echoing Rep. Joe Wilson's accusations.

Demonstrators are shown during a rally at Freedom Plaza in Washington. Photo: Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Washington - Tens of thousands of protesters marched on the U.S. Capitol on Saturday, airing a wide range of grievances rooted in a shared sentiment: seething anger at President Obama and his far-reaching agenda.

Led by a fife and drum corps in period costumes, the demonstrators filled Pennsylvania Avenue and swarmed the Capitol grounds with a sea of bobbing placards and hand-lettered signs that spelled out a catalog of dissent.

There were antiabortion protesters and term-limit advocates. Critics of financial bailouts and the federal investigation into CIA interrogation techniques. Marchers who were worried about rekindling inflation and upset about the soaring national debt. Pickets opposed to Obama's healthcare reform plan and challenging the legitimacy of his election.

"Is This Russia?" one sign said. "Traitors Terrorists Run Our Government," read another. "Don't blame me. I voted for The 'American,' " a third stated.

The protest -- touted by organizers as the largest-ever outpouring of political conservatives -- was organized by a loose-knit coalition of anti-tax, small-government proponents, and widely promoted by sympathetic voices in the blogosphere and on TV and talk radio. Park police declined to provide an official crowd estimate.

The rally was embraced, after some hesitation, by congressional Republicans, some of whom were leery of associating with the more incendiary elements of Obama's opposition.

"The coming weeks and months may well set the course for this nation for a generation," said Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, the No. 3 GOP House leader, voicing the apocalyptic tone that rang through much of the day's rhetoric. "How we as conservatives respond to these challenges could determine whether America retains her place in the world as a beacon of freedom, or whether we slip into the abyss that has swallowed much of Europe in an avalanche of socialism." >>> Mark Z. Barabak | Sunday, September 13, 2009

THE WASHINGTON POST:
Picture Gallery: Conservatives Protest at the Capitol: Opponents of government spending held a massive demonstration on Saturday >>>


Massenprotest gegen staatliche Ausgabenflut: Zehntausende demonstrieren in Washington gegen die Politik Obamas
NZZ ONLINE: Mehrere zehntausend Demonstranten haben in Washington gegen die Politik von Präsident Barack Obama protestiert. Auf Spruchbändern warfen sie der Regierung am Samstag vor, die Rolle des Staates in der Gesellschaft übermächtig werden zu lassen.

Die Demonstration fand vor dem Hintergrund des anhaltenden heftigen Streits in den USA über Pläne von Präsident Barack Obama für eine umfassende Gesundheitsreform statt. Neben dem übrigen Ausgabenverhalten von Kongress und Regierung wurden vor allem diese von den Demonstranten scharf angegriffen.

Auf selbstgemalten Plakaten warfen einige Demonstranten dem Präsidenten vor, die USA Richtung Sozialismus führen zu wollen. So trug ein Immigrant aus der Ukraine ein Pappschild mit der Aufschrift «Ich hatte genug Sozialismus in der UdSSR.» >>> sda/dpa/afp | Sonntag, 13. September 2009

Tea Party Express Hits the Road in Protest at Obama Healthcare Plans
TIMES ONLINE: On a warm, wet night in Michigan, Jan Crandall stands to attention while Taps is played on the sound system in honour of America’s war dead. Then she explains why she is carrying a placard bearing an astonishingly large number: $11,801,149,166,949.

It is the US national debt — and it is rising by $3.5 billion a day. “We came out tonight because of the excessive spending,” she said. “We don’t like the Government trying to take over everything. We are for healthcare reform, but they are not going about it the right way.” After a pause Mrs Crandall added: “Gee, are we going to talk about Barack Obama? We might get on his hit list.”

A powerful cocktail of hard-headed conservatism and wilful paranoia is driving a quixotic bus convoy from California to Washington, where Mr Obama will try tonight to rebut its claims and regain the initiative in the most important domestic policy speech of his presidency so far.

The Tea Party Express has no leader, no big donors and no formal goal except to “take back our country” from an Administration it believes has fundamentally misunderstood the role of America’s federal Government — and from Republicans who abandoned fiscal restraint to bail out the country’s banks last year.

The convoy consists of two 12-berth coaches built for rock band roadies and a permanent crew of two singers, two speakers and a supporting cast of mild-mannered political consultants from California. It would be no more than a fringe attraction had its members not already wrong-footed the White House in the health reform debate with talking points for hundreds of Republican town hall meetings over the summer. One of the brains behind the movement is Sal Russo, of Russo, Marsh and Associates, a Sacramento campaigning firm, formerly an adviser to Ronald Reagan and Rudy Giuliani.

The Tea Party people are now targeting congressional districts won last year by Democrats that they think can be won back in next year’s midterm elections. The coaches have stopped for four rallies in Michigan in the past two days, including one attended by Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher — known to followers of John McCain’s presidential campaign as Joe the Plumber. Yesterday he railed against big government at a meeting in Brighton, and signed copies of his new book, Fighting for the American Dream.

Mr Obama’s version of that dream has always included universal healthcare. His speech tonight to both houses of Congress will be a “very forceful” argument for wholesale reform, aides said, and a reply to a misinformation campaign by opponents that has encouraged conspiracy theories about state-run “death panels” and “population control experiments”.

The President’s problem is that no US legislation this ambitious has ever been passed with a majority of Americans opposed to it. A Gallup poll yesterday showed that only 37 per cent of voters back the Bill now being worked on by the Senate Finance Committee.

Tonight’s speech will, therefore, stop short of demanding the public insurance plan — the “public option” — even though Mr Obama still supports the idea and even though it is considered non-negotiable by about 40 liberal Democrats in the House. >>> Giles Whittell in Jackson, Michigan | Wednesday, September 09, 2009