SAN DIEGO FLASH PROTEST REPORT: “I can save more people killing this bill than by practicing medicine.”

WELC0ME GATEWAY PUNDIT READERS: I am glad to know that the St. Louis rally was a success! 🙂

Dear Reader: Over 100,000 Tea Party activists gathered in Washington DC today to demonstrate against BOTH Obama-care and the procedural tricks and legislative bribes used to pass it. Meanwhile, approximately 200 members of the Southern California Tax Revolt Coalition met for a rally adjacent to Horton Plaza today — receiving much support, honks, and interest during the 10 am to noon event.

The title came from my chat with a San Diego doctor, Brian K. He was passing out a list of phone numbers of persuadable blue-dog Democrats, urging our activists to call on cell phones as we were standing holding signs; two protests for the price of one. I like the idea so much, that I am going to use it for our next events (and, yes, there will be more rallies). He noted: “We have to get people to know that private insurance is going to go out of business, and when it goes bankrupt, the government will take it over through bailout — leading, ultimately, to rationed care.”

(Dr. Brian passing out Blue Dog Dem Phone Numbers)

As a Blue-Dog Democrat myself, I liked that Dr. Brian was focused on persuadable Democrats. One of our other Tea Party activists highlighted how much Tea Party/Citizen support will be available to Democrats who stand strong against the bribery, threats, obfuscation, and legislative tactics being utilized by Pelosi and crew.

Some of our intrepid organizers and long-term members were out today to help promote California causes, as well as send a message to Congress. Sarah Bond was out, her pretty daughter in stroller, collecting signatures for our two initiatives: California Jobs Initiative to repeal CA’s economically toxic version of Cap&Trade) and the Citizen Power Campaign Paycheck Protection petition.

“If they manage to pass this beast, then the next phase is to sue them into the dark ages,” said Sarah. “We will take them into court until hell freezes over, because what they are attempting violates so many aspects of the U.S. Constitution that it would be criminal of us not to fight back.”

My assistant, Charles Caesar with the DooDooEconomic.com blog, was kind enough to let me carpool to the event. He and his lovely girlfriend, Media, will be joining me at the Asian American Journalists Association benefit this Thursday to reprise our “Tonight Show Skit” (I play Sarah Palin). {For more info on the charity event open to the public, click here.} As we were driving to the event, Charles noted: “I am a consultant with a large number of diverse clients. All of the business owners I have talked to said they are going to have to fire employees if this bill passes.”

(Long-term Tea Party Activists, Charles and Media)

One of the nicest moments in the whole event was when a group of off duty Marines stopped by to support us. “You people are the ones defending the Constitution today, thank you,” stated one of these brave men. Needless to say, a round of thanks went to these American heroes by everyone standing in line.

There were a couple of dark moments as well, courtesy of the tolerant progressive crowd that likes to tout their “Coffee Parties” as the more civil version of the Tea Parties. Several young men biked or skateboarded aggressively through the crowd swearing at us. An elderly lady (about 90 years old) threatened Sarah with a cane while yelling “Same on you”. But the most chilling moment came when a bald Obamacare supporter chased one of our participants across the street and aggressively insulted our entire group, yelling “you are nothing but a bunch of Glenn Beck watching, red-neck, tebaggers.”

So civilized!

(MUT Note: I don’t watch Glenn Beck; I am usually listening to a Tammy Bruce podcast)

Long-time Tea Party activist Kirstin has this report: “It looked like a total set-up. There was a camera man nearby, it looks like from NBC. The bald guy only came over and started yelling when the camera was focused on him. He was aggressive, nasty, and totally came into people’s personal space. I was very proud that it was a bunch of us women who went over and talked to him, and I noticed his demeanor changed after the camera was off. His said is position was this: You ave to have massive change and the government has got to be fully involved.”

Other people didn’t see it that way, as the rally featured many hundreds of honks of support as fellow San Diegans drove by our location:

One of the best aspects about this spontaneous, grassroots rally was the number of families who attended the event. For example, software engineer Tim and his home-schooling wife Julie took the kids out for a hands-on civics lesson. Tim explained, “I want to send a message to Congress that we want to retain our freedoms and we want the right to choose. If they pass this measure through tricks and bribes, I will be enraged.”

(Family Tea Party Activists)

Most of the people I talked to specifically cited the bribes being offered to Congressmen to switch their vote, and were thoroughly disgusted by that aspect of this legislative process. Many also expressed admiration of Idaho’s stance of suing the federal government over a variety of issues, including the mandate to purchase health insurance.

“I am livid at the tricks, and I am livid that they are lying to us constantly,” said Celeste Panos, a business manager. “My sister is in DC today at the big rally, on the other side of the country, also doing her part to try and stop this thing from happening.”

As you will note from the above images, “Kill the Bill” was the theme of today’s event. It sounds as an impressive as it looks, as our team engaged in some group chanting:

One of the most dapper protesters was Jim Williams and a 12-year resident of San Diego. Jim indicated that his “greatest fear is that they will use similar tactics in the future to pass other items, like Amnesty and Cap&Trade. I think, at this point, the best response is to vote out as many Senators and Congressmen as we can.”

(Jim waving to the crowds who are honking in support).

I talked with a savvy group of Californians that included Paul Martens, who has actually run for Congress before and noted “I have only been a Republican for 39 months.” He has held a diverse set of careers (small business owner, golf course manager, stock broker, etc.), and is very knowledgeable about the U.S. Constitution. He indicated that the following sections of the Constitution have been violated:

The Ninth Amendment
The Tenth Amendment
Article 1 section 7
Article 1 section 8

What do you bet he knows more about the correct application of the Constitution than Speaker Pelosi!

I think that Temple of Mut friend, Rodney Murdock, made one of the most compelling points — directed not at Congress, but Obama: ” Obama’s legacy is not more important than our Republic”, he said.

(Rodney and MUT at a previous event)

Cynthia Yohasz, an owner and operator of a dental lab, had a sound financial reason to protest today. She said “already I make 40% of what I use to make, and if they dictate exactly what dentists can pay for my services, then I am going out of business. I am a small lab doing specialty work, essentially like a craftsman. This bill will ultimately lead to large scale labs that act like a “sweatshop”. Quality care and service will no longer be available.”

(Cynthia channels November in her sign)

While the rally was winding down, participants Pam M. and Laura F. were monitoring Michelle Malkin and noted that “Deem and Pass” was thrown under the bus. While we were all happy to hear that, I called my beloved husband to hear the the news that it looks like Pelosi had the votes to pass the Senate Bill and Reconciliation Package straight up. I can only urge my fellow Americans to keep debating, calling, faxing, and protesting. No matter what the outcome, be assured that the Southern California Tax revolt Coalition and its members will be engaged in any and all legal methods to push-back on these extreme measures.

Here is a glimpse of “Anthony’s Angles” — the three co-founders and one of our most active supporters:

Before I ended, I wanted to note that our opponents will do anything to mock our efforts, belittle us, dispirit our members, and undermine our will. Out of the thousands and thousands of topic-specific, moving, witty, and tasteful signs, they focus on one marginal work and unfairly condemn a vast number of their fellow Americans. Shame on them. Here is a record of the remainder of our signage — I will let my readers be the judge, based on this report, on which side is rude, angry, and uncivil.

UPDATE: I also met Left Coast Rebel during this event, and invite everyone to also read his account: Left Coast Rebel Meets Temple of Mut. It was practically a San Diego Bloggers convention, missing only our cherished hero – W.C. Varones.

Blogger Beers with Demo has this report: Tick-tock.

Gateway Pundit has news from a St. Louis Rally: Hundreds Rally as Russ Carnahan Is “Booted” and “Torched” in St. Louis (Video)

HillBuzz has great shots of the massive rally in Washington DC today.