AnAmericanCitizen
2009-03-23 01:09:46 UTC
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-locteaparty21032209mar22,0,426670.story
Orlando 'Tea Party' rally draws more than 4,000
By Helen Eckinger | Sentinel Staff Writer
March 22, 2009
POLITICO
Singer Lloyd Marcus told the crowd assembled in Lake Eola Park on Saturday that he
was going to give them his take on the first days of the Obama administration.
Then he shrieked.
That pretty much summed up the mood in the park Saturday afternoon, when more than
4,000 people attended the Orlando Tea Party, a conservative rally aimed at expressing
discontent with Washington.
"This is maybe the greatest single gathering of God-fearing patriots in the history
of Orlando, Florida," local conservative radio host Bud Hedinger, who emceed the
event, told the crowd.
The attendees, many of whom said they'd heard about the rally on Hedinger's radio
show, brandished flags and homemade signs bearing slogans such as "Repeal the pork or
our bacon is cooked" and "Obama lied, liberty died."
"We're really scared about what's happening in our country," said Debby Whisenand,
71, of Largo in Pinellas County. She waved a sign that read "The problem with
socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money" on one side, and
"You can't blame Bush anymore" on the other.
Her feelings were shared by Lisa Feroli, one of the event's organizers, who said that
a similar fear motivated her to e-mail Hedinger with the idea for the Orlando Tea
Party.
"The goal was to get people united, to let people know that they aren't alone in
their feelings on despair," Feroli said. "We want to speak out against the push
toward socialization that we feel is taking place in our country."
Several speakers addressed the crowd, estimated by Orlando police and event
organizers at 4,200, on a variety of topics, including gun rights, freedom of speech,
the dangers of communism and, most prevalently, the economy, especially the Obama
administration's bailout plan.
"We have had enough of massive government-driven bailout using our money," Hedinger
said, prompting the crowd to start chanting "U.S.A." over and over.
The country's economic woes weighed heavily on attendees, such as Ed Squire, 52, of
Winter Springs. Holding a sign that read "Obama he's robbin U.S. not Robin Hood,"
he said that he was worried about the current rate of government spending.
"There's absolutely no way as a nation that we can sustain that kind of spending,"
Squire said.
Several members of the crowd said they'd recently been laid off, including Ross
Iannarelli, 66, of Port Orange, who said he'd just lost his job at an
electrical-equipment company.
"They need to shove that bum out," he said, referring to President Obama. "I hate
seeing them spend my grandchildren's money."
Glenn Austin, 52, and his wife, Frankie, 43, of Oviedo, also said they were anxious
about the economy. They chose to express their worries, however, in a rather novel
way: They wrapped banners calling for the end of the Federal Reserve around the tiny
waists of their Chihuahua, Pepper, and miniature pinscher-Chihuahua mix, Peanut.
"Everything's gone to the dogs," Frankie Austin said.
Helen Eckinger can be reached at ***@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5934.
Orlando 'Tea Party' rally draws more than 4,000
By Helen Eckinger | Sentinel Staff Writer
March 22, 2009
POLITICO
Singer Lloyd Marcus told the crowd assembled in Lake Eola Park on Saturday that he
was going to give them his take on the first days of the Obama administration.
Then he shrieked.
That pretty much summed up the mood in the park Saturday afternoon, when more than
4,000 people attended the Orlando Tea Party, a conservative rally aimed at expressing
discontent with Washington.
"This is maybe the greatest single gathering of God-fearing patriots in the history
of Orlando, Florida," local conservative radio host Bud Hedinger, who emceed the
event, told the crowd.
The attendees, many of whom said they'd heard about the rally on Hedinger's radio
show, brandished flags and homemade signs bearing slogans such as "Repeal the pork or
our bacon is cooked" and "Obama lied, liberty died."
"We're really scared about what's happening in our country," said Debby Whisenand,
71, of Largo in Pinellas County. She waved a sign that read "The problem with
socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money" on one side, and
"You can't blame Bush anymore" on the other.
Her feelings were shared by Lisa Feroli, one of the event's organizers, who said that
a similar fear motivated her to e-mail Hedinger with the idea for the Orlando Tea
Party.
"The goal was to get people united, to let people know that they aren't alone in
their feelings on despair," Feroli said. "We want to speak out against the push
toward socialization that we feel is taking place in our country."
Several speakers addressed the crowd, estimated by Orlando police and event
organizers at 4,200, on a variety of topics, including gun rights, freedom of speech,
the dangers of communism and, most prevalently, the economy, especially the Obama
administration's bailout plan.
"We have had enough of massive government-driven bailout using our money," Hedinger
said, prompting the crowd to start chanting "U.S.A." over and over.
The country's economic woes weighed heavily on attendees, such as Ed Squire, 52, of
Winter Springs. Holding a sign that read "Obama he's robbin U.S. not Robin Hood,"
he said that he was worried about the current rate of government spending.
"There's absolutely no way as a nation that we can sustain that kind of spending,"
Squire said.
Several members of the crowd said they'd recently been laid off, including Ross
Iannarelli, 66, of Port Orange, who said he'd just lost his job at an
electrical-equipment company.
"They need to shove that bum out," he said, referring to President Obama. "I hate
seeing them spend my grandchildren's money."
Glenn Austin, 52, and his wife, Frankie, 43, of Oviedo, also said they were anxious
about the economy. They chose to express their worries, however, in a rather novel
way: They wrapped banners calling for the end of the Federal Reserve around the tiny
waists of their Chihuahua, Pepper, and miniature pinscher-Chihuahua mix, Peanut.
"Everything's gone to the dogs," Frankie Austin said.
Helen Eckinger can be reached at ***@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5934.