Â
Â
The Branson Tea Party sends a clear message: If politicians don't work for the people their walking papers will be waiting November 2.
The pink slip. For years it has been the stereotypical symbol of getting fired in business, but last Saturday (October 23) the Branson Tea Party decided it was time to apply the same idea to politics. With the organization's first-ever Pre-Election Pink Slip Rally and Concert, more than a thousand citizens gathered at the Tri-Lakes Center for a roadside demonstration, a concert by musical comedian Ray Stevens and speeches from the event organizers and local political candidates. The rally organizers even printed stacks of pink sheets of paper with "You're Fired!" printed on them--symbolic pink slips, just for the occasion. The message: Politicians work for the people, not for themselves, and if they don't do their job in the eyes of the people they can, and will, be fired.
One could also argue the event was a sort of coming of age for the Branson Tea Party itself. In a little less than two years of existence the Tea Party movement has risen to become a national topic of discussion with its series of localized protests and rallies across the country, but it wasn't until recently that the movement began gaining momentum in Southwest Missouri. Close to 1,000 people filed into the 2,600-seat auditorium Saturday, significantly improving upon the turnout for the Tea Party's previous rally last April. It's little wonder: The November 2 mid-term elections on the horizon the organization is pushing hard to get its message across.
Key to that message would be Ray Stevens, a two-time Grammy-winning musician (and twice owner of his own Branson theatre) who has specialized in musical comedy and novelty songs since the '80s but whose 2010 release, We the People, was entirely focused on politics and the state of America. Stevens has aligned himself closely with the Tea Party movement almost since its inception, and for this particular appearance he performed "We the People" and "Throw the Bums Out" to an approving crowd while sneaking in the occasional joke in between. (For example, his response to his grandson's question about the meaning of the word "politics:" "Well, take it back to the root of the word. You have "poly," which means "many," and "tics," which means "blood suckers.") For Stevens, the album and rally appearance stem from concern about the direction of his country. "I don't believe the socialists should take us over," he said while signing autographs after his performance. According to Stevens, 99.6% of his fanbase agrees has responded positively to We the People. "Some folks do walk out," he says. "I wish I could talk to them, because I think I could get them to come back."
[Ray Stevens performance vid could go here.]
Other speakers at the Pink Slip Rally included keynote speaker Dr. Milton Wolf, a practicing physician and second cousin of President Barack Obama who began a blog called The Wolf Files chronicling Wolf's opposition to the president's health care plan; and Branson Tea Party Director Eric Farris, a local lawyer and concerned citizen who says he joined the Tea Party movement as a way to hold America's politicians accountable.
[Video of the Eric Farris interview would go here.]
Also present was Steven Reed, an independent candidate running against Sara Lampe (D) and John Sellars (R) for Missouri House District 138 (central and eastern Springfield). For him, the enthusiasm of the crowd at Tri-Lakes Center is a source of both encouragement and responsibility.
[Video of the Steven Reed interview would go here.]
Rallies can rightly be described as events rooted in angst toward the status quo, but this one had its touching moments as well. One in particular came when all of the military veterans in attendance--and there were many--were asked to come down in front of the stage so the crowd could show its appreciation. They then remained standing before the crowd for the singing of the national anthem as the entire room joined in.
[Video of national anthem would go here.]
Farris says the Tea Party's goal with this rally was to increase awareness and, hopefully, voter turnout for next week's elections in the hope of creating turnover in the seats up for vote. But the group's long-term goal, he says, would look more toward affecting legislation. The turnout at the organization's latest rally would suggest that the Branson Tea Party has the attention of a significant number of voters in Greene and Christian Counties; the turnout and results at the polls on November 2 will go a long way toward telling it if all of those people listened and acted.
