Two months ago, a Kansas stay-at-home mom organized a tea party outside of Kansas Third District Democratic Congressman Dennis Moore’s Overland Park office.

The Lenexa resident, Amanda Grosserode, had been expecting less than 20 citizens to protest the stimulus legislation Moore had supported and was shocked when hundreds of disgruntled taxpayers lined up outside Moore’s office.

Grosserode again helped organize a tea party at Johnson County Community College yesterday as a part of the national tea party movement. Grosserode was surprised once more when an estimated 10,000 protesters showed up at the event.

“We had no inkling it would be that big,” Grosserode told Kansas Liberty. “But people are upset. And we need to translate the tea party into people getting active with the government.”

Grosserode said she would continue to organize and support the grassroots tea party movement as long as her efforts motivate residents to become more concerned with whom they are electing.

“People have been so apathetic towards government for so long,” she said. “And if people would stop being so apathetic, then people can start being the government again, which is how it should work.”

The Johnson County Community College tea party was one of numerous parties across the state, and Derrick Sontag, state director for Americans for Prosperity-Kansas, estimated that more than 16,000 Kansans attended a protest yesterday.

“In order for things to change, the grassroots must take action,” Sontag told Kansas Liberty. “We need to stop these federal bailouts, stop the government from deciding who the winners and the losers are and stop this exploding amount of debt our children and grandchildren are paying for.”

A week prior to the national tax day tea party movement, the United States secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Ann Napolitano, sent out a warning to law enforcement across the nation titled “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.” In her blog, columnist and Fox News contributor Michelle Malkin explores how this report helped to promote misconceptions that the tea party movement was supported and organized solely by right-wing “extreme” conservatives.

“The grass-roots events organized by fiscal conservatives, independents, Libertarians, and yes, even some blue Dog Democrats were fueled by the 'current economic and political climate' of bipartisan profligate spending and endless taxpayer-funded bailouts,” Malkin said in her blog. “The growing success of the loose-knit movement has invited scorn, ridicule, and fear-mongering from Obama’s supporters. Liberal bloggers have likened the Tea Party movement to neo-Nazis, militias, and even Weather Underground terrorists.”

Sontag said the tea party attendees seemed more concerned about government spending than party preference.

“What we heard yesterday was that this is not a party thing; the Republican Party was booed just as much as the Democratic Party was when it was mentioned,” he said. “This is a rumor that a lot of people took offense to.”

Among the speakers at the Johnson County Community College tea party was Kansas City Democratic State Sen. Chris Steineger.

“Both parties in Washington, D.C., have been spend thrifts,” Steineger told Kansas Liberty. “And Democrats definitely have concerns about the long-term fiscal sustainability of our country. This borrow and spend mentality is prevalent throughout American society.”

Steineger said he personally spoke with several individuals in the crowd and estimated that one third of the tea party attendees were Republicans, one-third Democrats, and one-third just representing concerned citizens.

Earl F. Glynn, editor for Kansas Meadowlark, attended three tea parties in Kansas and said that a resonating theme throughout the tea parties was the concern for how the stimulus package would affect future generations.

“People are just really frustrated,” Glynn told Kansas Liberty. “And it really goes back to the enormous spending going on.”

One photo Glynn captured was of a young girl being depicted as a federal automated teller machine. See some of Glynn’s photos of the event here: www.kansasmeadowlark.com.

Glynn, who also has a blog on the Salina Journal web page, said he, along with bloggers at Voice for Liberty in Wichita and the Kansas Republican Assembly, would be providing additional coverage, including videos and photos, of the tea parties within the next week.

“The problem is a lot of news stories disappear within a week or two and you aren’t able to go back and see what really happened,” he said. 

Resources:

• Kansas Meadowlark: http://kansasmeadowlark.com
• Earl Glynn's Salina Journal blog: http://web.saljournal.com/blogs/wordpress/
• Voice for Liberty in Wichita blog: http://wichitaliberty.org/
• Kansas Republican Assembly blog: http://www.kansasra.org/blog/
• Michelle Malkin's blog: http://michellemalkin.com/2009/04/15/you-might-be-a-radicalized-rightwing-extremist-if/
• DHS Report: Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment

The Week in Review