The INCREDIBLE 9/12 March on Washington! (PICS & VIDEO ADDED!!!)

13 Sep, 2010 by Kathleen McKinley

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What a weekend! I always say I will blog when I’m at an event, but then I get too busy. Stick with me on this post. Lots of good stuff and pics at the end! I arrived in D.C. on Thursday for BlogCon 2010. Conferences aren’t usually that interesting, but this one was. We went to the the Capitol on Thursday to meet with communication directors from various Congressmen/women. It turned into a grouchfest though. Let me tell you why. Liberal Senators are very good at sending a story, or an issue, or a statement to the liberal blogosphere first, even before they give it to the NYT or the WaPo. That way the initial story is framed just the way they wish by a friendly source. The conservative Senators haven’t gotten that memo. They send it straight to the NYT or WaPo where it is framed with a liberal media bias. That was one of the many things we discussed, and I think it was very enlightening for the communication directors on our side.

I won’t go into the panels and such. I mean a conference is a conference, but it was very educational to me. FreedomWorks (Dick Armey’s group) just does a fantastic job at these things (thanks to their incredible director of this, Tabitha Hale).

There wasn’t any scheduling for Saturday naturally. Pres. Obama spoke at the Pentagon that morning. There hasn’t been an anniversary of 9-11 yet where I haven’t cried. It’s like that for many of us. I can’t imagine how it is for those who lost loved ones that day. I’m thrilled with the memorial that is now starting to look like it will finally happen at Ground Zero. It looks lovely.

Sunday was the big day. The 9/12 Taxpayer March that began last year. Let me just admit at the beginning, I’m not into marches. They serve their purpose, and I’m grateful that people have enough passion to put them on, but I’ve never been a fan of them. Conservatives are way too well behaved to crazy it up like they did in the 60’s. That being said, meeting and seeing the people at this march is one of the most inspiring and uplifting things I have ever experienced. People from all backgrounds come together in a spirit of love for our country. Their intense belief and love for our country just touches my heart. My plane was full of people from Houston spending their own money and time to come to D.C. to make a statement about limited government and fiscal responsibility.

Here is a list of speakers at the Rally, but let me talk about the ones who blew me away. But before I do that, let me tell you about a Houston connection. One of the speakers was Ryan Hecker. He is from Houston and “The Contract From America” was his idea. Back in Feb of 2008 I attended one of the first Tea Party meetings in the country here in Houston. This was way before the movement had taken off. There were about 50 of us at this restaurant. We literally passed around someone’s cowboy hat to fund the thing. Anyway, Ryan was there and he talked about this idea of the Contract From America! Now it is an official 10 point plan that all Republican (or conservative Democrat) Congressman MUST adhere to if they want us to elect them. Here it is. It’s simple. It’s critical, and it’s FROM US. Not some Washington bureaucrat:

1) Protect the Constitution
2) Reject Cap & Trade
3) Demand a Balanced Budget
4) Enact Fundamental Tax Reform
5) Restore Fiscal Responsibility & Constitutionally Limited Government
6) End Runaway Government Spending
7) Defund, Repeal, & Replace Government-run Health Care
8) Pass an ‘All-of-the-Above” Energy Policy
9) Stop the Pork
10) Stop the Tax Hikes

Now let’s start with the speakers that I hope will become the face of this new Republican party that preaches all of the above.

Rev. C.L. Bryant of The Runaway Slave (You have to click on the link to see the teaser trailer to see what I mean about Bryant). He is an incredible speaker that fires everyone up with his passion. He never holds back and it just makes you smile to listen to him. The crowd loved him!

Then there was Tito Munoz of the RPV Hispanic Coalition. Wow is just the only word to describe his speech. He became a citizen in 2008 and he’s all about the Hispanic community finding their home here in the GOP. Since that is one of my passions as well, I got to talk to him afterwards and I’ll be interviewing him here soon. He has a Spanish talk radio show (VIVA 900) in Virginia called, “America Eres TU” (YOU are America). He agrees with me that the GOP establishment doesn’t seem to get what is necessary to reach out to the Hispanic community, and it’s time they learned!

Here is the video of Tito!! ENJOY!!!:

Deneen Borelli, of one of my favorite organziations, Project 21 spoke. Andrew Breitbart spoke as well. I admit, Breitbart is a hot mess, but an effective guy in exposing media bias. He is also fearless. Another interesting speaker was Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia’s Attorney General. Keep an eye on this guy. He has what it takes to be President one day. Former Governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson spoke as well. He is notable for speaking about legalizing pot. It was the only time the crew from CNN (who I was sitting by in the press box) clapped at a speech…;-) That was kind of funny.

Stephen Kruiser, a comedian who regularly appears on RedEye on Fox, was hilarious. The only problem was they didn’t let him go on long enough. Take a look at him over at PJTV.

I got to know so many of my favorite bloggers too. All just incredible people. So down to earth. I got to know Ace from Ace O Spades, Bob Parks from Black and Right, Kevin Jackson from TheBlackSphere, Scott Ott from Scrappleface (also PJTV), Bill Whittle, Stephen Green, and Steven Crowder from PJTV, Jim Hoft from GatewayPundit, Redstate’s Erick Erickson and Caleb Howe, and of course, our own sweetie John Hawkins here at RWN, and just tons of others. Of course I got to hang with my best buddies, Melissa Clothier of Liberty Pundits, and Lori Bryd of Wizbang, and Tabitha Hale, the hardest working person in the blogosphere. Houston’s own (and my buddy) Apostle Claver from RagingElephants.org also spoke at the prayer rally right before the march rally.

I think after the “Restoring Honor” Rally and this rally, maybe Washington will realize that we are not going anywhere. This isn’t a flash in the pan movement. We are here. We are clear, and we are here to stay. We will be a thorn in the side of bureaucracy and big government as long as it takes to make things right.

I was almost dead by the time I got in last night. These guys know how to party, and I cannot keep up with them. Below is a pic of Tito Munoz, the most inspiring speech of the rally. I’ll get the rest up soon. I wanted to go ahead and post this though. CHECK BACK!

Oh, I almost forgot the most fun part! I was invited to go to the Michael Barone dinner! So much fun. Barone held court and told us hilarious personal stories about past Presidents and present Congressmen. I couldn’t wait to tell you the stories, but then I was sadly told that it was all of the record. Anyway, I learned a lot. It was a lovely dinner at Ben Domenech’s from NewLedger.com, a site I hope you have bookmarked!

Pictures!

Tabitha Hale and Jim Hoft from GatewayPundit!

Coal miners and their families.

Tito Munoz being interviewed by PJTV’s Stephen Kruiser!

Kevin Jackson of TheBlackSphere and his lovely wife & child with Cheryl Prater

Rep. Mike Pence and his lovely wife.

Dick Armey being interviewed by Fox News.

Brietbart talking to some African American Tea Party Activists.

My fav part of the crowd.

More….

View from the press stage of crowds pouring in.

Tabitha Hale and Bob Parks from Black & Right

Stephen Kruiser rockin’ the crowd!

The good Rev. Firing everyone up!

Michael Barone and I.

Michael Barone and Melissa Clothier.

My SmartGirlNation radio host and SmartGirlPolitics leader, Teri Christophe and Ben Domeneche’s lovely and gracious wife at the Michael Barone dinner.

Ben Domenche and bride!

One of our many panels with PJTV, Scott Ott, Bill Whittle, and Steven Green

The very funny Steve Crowder.

A discusstion with Congressional Communication Directors.

Amanda Carpenter and I. Amanda previously was a columnist for the Washington Times and she has appeared on Fox News quite a bit. Now she is working for Senator Jim DeMint.