In February of 1860 Cassius M. Clay was scheduled to speak in Hartford, Connecticut.\u00a0 Five \u201cRepublican\u201d dry goods clerks decided spontaneously to meet him at the train station and give him an escort.\u00a0 They borrowed some whale oil torches, made some black capes to protect themselves from the dripping torches, and marched through Hartford with the Senator trailing behind wondering what happened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With a few days the organization had grown to about fifty members and they began marching silently, in unison, carrying torches and wearing black oil cloth capes and military hats.\u00a0 Somewhere along the way they picked up the name \u201cWide-Awakes.\u201d\u00a0 By summer time there were similar bands all across the country.\u00a0 They turned out to be one of the most effective grassroots political organizations this country has ever seen.\u00a0 By November of 1860, there were several hundred thousand young men who had joined and they helped elect Abraham Lincoln President of the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The stock market may rebound, slightly, today, but the long term trend is down.\u00a0 The real news is not the down grade by Standard & Poor\u2019s.\u00a0 What really matters is that a high percentage of American citizens agree.\u00a0 Along with the rest of the world, the American people have lost faith in their government.\u00a0 The American people have downgraded the American government.<\/p>\n
We are on the verge of a revolution.\u00a0 A clash is inevitable.\u00a0 In Europe we are already witnessing what happens when governments run out of money and start to cut entitlements.\u00a0 The demonstrations are becoming increasingly violent.\u00a0 We got a taste of this in Wisconsin with the wide spread demonstrations designed to intimidate the government in to giving unions what they want.\u00a0 We have been lucky that so far the demonstrations in the United States have been peaceful.\u00a0 However, when one watches the fires in London, it is wise to be concerned.<\/p>\n
In 1860 a grass roots organization rose up spontaneously to change the world.\u00a0 This was not a political party.\u00a0 There were no real leaders.\u00a0 This was merely a vehicle by which concerned citizens found a way to send a message to their government.\u00a0 The Wide-Awakes marched in silence, but they spoke with a loud voice.\u00a0 They would no longer tolerate a government that compromised with slavery, something they considered to be evil.<\/p>\n
The Tea Party movement has a lot of similarity with the Wide-Awakes.\u00a0 Both are spontaneous grass roots organizations that grew exponentially, not because of great leadership, but because of the strength of their cause. \u00a0The Tea Party is already winning the war that really matters.\u00a0 The latest polls show that a vast majority of Americans favor a balanced budget. \u00a0If the Tea Party sticks to its original principles and avoids becoming just another political organization, it has the potential to change the world.\u00a0 Determined men and women, marching silently in unison with great determination, are an irresistible force.\u00a0 When someone in the main stream media in 1860 watched the Wide-Awakes march through town he understood what really mattered.\u00a0 Quiet men, he said, are dangerous men.\u00a0<\/p>\n
TDM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In February of 1860 Cassius M. Clay was scheduled to speak in Hartford, Connecticut.\u00a0 Five \u201cRepublican\u201d dry goods clerks decided spontaneously to meet him at the train station and give him an escort.\u00a0 They borrowed some whale oil torches, made … Continue reading