Tossing tea bags into the harbor

                             Tossing tea bags into the harbor.

         Several million Americans gathered together yesterday for “No kings” rallies. There was not a single violent episode in the hundreds of American cities where these folks gathered in protest. Collectively, they were protesting, among other injustices, goon squad tactics exercised by armed and masked flying squads of  Immigration personnel. (ICE) Watching Americans shot down in the streets by masked government gun men had struck a chord in the American Psyche.

          They were also calling attention to Trumpian efforts to limit voting rights and revert the United States of America to the “roaring twenties” era when government regulation was at its loosest, and Governmental protection in many areas, non- existent.

           The crowds were made up of all ranges of ages  in the American spectrum. These were not screaming radicals of college students. They people are the heart and soul of America. Was anyone in government listening? Or, were they all off playing golf?

            From the first protests of wet tea bags in Boston harbor, to hundreds of others, like the million-man march on Washington, these rallies and marches are an expression of American’s dissatisfaction with their government. What says the government in response?

       And what about those of us who are of different colors, religions and ethnicities? What of our grievances? America is the original “international melting pot,” formed from many lands and molded in the fires of revolution. All of our original patriot founding fathers were protesters, who were thought rather ill of, by the Hanoverian King in London, particularly after a “rabble” dumped all of his tea in Boston Harbor. The protestors  knew, then as now, as several patriots were quoted, that they must “ hang together or they would assuredly hang separately.” 

      When these estimable founding fathers created our constitution, first among the amendment in the Bill of Rights,  was the right to free speech and free assembly. The right to hold peaceful protests on things that American citizens did not agree with, like what they perceived as the heavy hand of autocratic British rule, crystalized in the phrase “taxation without representation.” The right of peaceful protest is central to the American character. It is indeed who and what we are as a nation.

       Ironically, we have to be reminded of this noble heritage by professional athletes, retirees and other groups , all seeking to rectify perceived injustices, in a cause that they feel is worth fighting for. You might not agree with any of the protestors, or in the manner in which they express their dissent. But, I would suggest that the United States Constitution gives them that right. I don’t see this day’s protest as any negative reflections on our national anthem or our country’s flag. 

Rather, a group of American citizens standing free as our founding fathers meant them to, are expressing an opinion about the redress of grievances that they feel important enough about to risk the wrath of their government and other  citizens alike.

The level of anger and vitriol that has risen, to oppose these protests, I find disturbing. It seems like the entire nation is at each other’s throats. I see a need here for real leaders, members of the clergy, constitutional scholars and others to try and calm the waters, while the debate over the issues carries on. We are indeed that one shining city on a hill,  that has tried to make the world a better place for all of its people to live on. 

Americans, by nature, are generous to a fault, forgiving of spirit and willing to help anyone who needs a hand. I think we all have to remember who we are in the weeks and months to come. Issues, however strongly felt, can and will be resolved eventually in a land that respects all of its citizens and their rights under the Constitution. May the Good Lord bless the United States of America and all that she stands for.

                                             -30-

                                       (665words)

                            Joseph Xavier Martin