"two counts have confirmed 315 people in the room"

Wow. Fantastic.

"Colleen Conley asked me to prevent the rabble from taking places at the table, which really isn't an activity toward which my personality lends itself"

Justin, we'll get you some Dracula fangs for next time ...

"Me, I'm interested in the plan to find four billionaires..."

No, no, no. We can't do that. Rich people are bad. Very bad. The only thing they do is grind poor people into the dirt. And maybe hire one or two to tend their polo ponies ...

" the conspicuous departure of so many people from state government, retiring, relocating, taking other jobs"

I've always thought that we'd have the state's problems at least half solved if we placed a residency requirement on all local and state pensions.

"The image that's been presented in our comment sections is of rats jumping off a ship."

Who stands a better chance of survival, the rat jumping ship or the captain going down with the ship?

The difference is all the "captains" of RI will be broke in their old age and no one will feel sorry for them.

"Describing what would be happening for the "breakout" sessions, Colleen noted that there are candidate recruiters here for the Republican Party. She called the Democrats, but they didn't return her call. She called the Moderates, but their answering machine was full."

Were there break out sessions? Did I miss it? Can someone please tell me exactly what it is the RI Tea Party is DOING in RI. Sure they throw a good meeting and people show-up...(did they come to see Laffey or the RI Tea Party tonight?) ...but what has the RI Tea Party done or what are they planning to do?

This is the second of a total of 2 public meetings since April. Breakout sessions or working groups were to be formed at both meetings.
That didn't happen.

So far all I have seen from the RI Tea Party is a couple of meetings full of speeches and Colleen drooling over Laffey like he is the savior. It does not matter WHO the Governor is if we do not change the General Assembly.

The RI Tea Party has had 9 months to start organizing, I'm still waiting for the first break out session. All I've seen so far is a webite moderated with an iron fist. November will be here before we know it...when will the RI Tea Party have a plan? Why aren't they banging on the doors of the current members of the GA?

There are plenty of groups that have formed and activities that have been accomplished by the grassroots in RI without the support of the RI Tea Party including the Rhode Island Voter Coalition and Tea Party Radio.

It is time for people to see that the RI Tea Party is not the force that is going to save this state. It is the People, but until the people stop looking for leaders and rock stars and start taking the initiative themselves to DO something to change the government and the entitlement attitude of this state nothing will change.

PS.
The head count guy can't help himself, he does it everywhere he goes....

Patrick,

Don't misunderstand. The "rats" are the folks in government who are fleeing a ship that they know is sinking, even as they put on a smiley face for everybody else. The analogy is not meant to indicate people who are fleeing the state as a rational economic decision.

Thanks Justin, I missed it.

Well, if those rats are fleeing, that gives us a chance to replace them with something better. It's much easier to fill a vacant seat than to defeat an incumbent.

Final headcount from the Manager was 370-380 people.

Gina, so bitter, my dear. Nobody's stopping you from doing any of the work that needs to be done. We're all in this together.

I see from the Projo that I did miss the workshops some how... now I feel silly...

Considering 2 of the team players (make that 3, with Anchor Rising) didn't know they were on the team, I'm still wondering what is the RI Tea Party doing?

Gina,

Part of the problem is that too many people don't realize that we really are all on the same "team." The enemy of my enemy is my friend. "Team" does not necessarily mean coordinating specific activities or even having formal ties. For instance, Anchor Rising has no ties to the Tea Party. However, because it's an important part of the conservative alternative to the mainstream print media, they have common interests. I think Justin could attest that he's never received a marching order from Colleen or anyone else.

The point, which seems to have been lost on some, is that the RI Tea Party is not the one in charge of all these other groups out there that want to create positive change -- they are all merely independent pieces of a much larger puzzle. The point: The mission is larger than the sum of the various organizations.

Colleen, in her presentation, was pointing out the various pieces of the puzzle you need in a state in order to enact real change. She referred to the Colorado model, which was successfully used to turn a red state blue. That doesn't mean that all those organizations she mentioned have to copy off of the same set of notes or parrot the same exact ideas. However, it would be nice of them for a change not to engage in unnecessary turf battles, especially when the turf is so small to begin with.

I would hope that we all want to change things for the better in Rhode Island? If we want to replace the status quo, as far as I'm concerned, we're friends (Facebook level friends, but still friends). The common goal entails getting rid of virtually all of the people now in power in the State House. Although I am a Republican, to be perfectly honest, I really don't care what the label individual candidates or groups use, as long as they do the right thing to move the state forward in the positive direction.

Just to clarify: Bill Felkner has included Anchor Rising in his vision of the "movement" since he first heard about the Colorado model quite some time ago. In other words, I wasn't surprised to be mentioned; I just didn't assume that I would be.

I'll add that disaggregated models such as the one Colleen described last night are difficult to place accurately into language because a lot of the rhetorical short hand ("for this purpose, we've got that group") implies hierarchy and ownership. I've been speaking of the various components as part of the same something for years.

So Gina, what are you doing that is more effective than what the Tea Party is trying to do? Perhaps they can learn from your excellent example. What, specifically, are you doing to "change the government and the entitlement attitude of this state"?

I have been attending School Committee meetings, joined a sub-committee, attending the School and Town budget workshops, writing the School Committee and my local paper, and affecting the conversation in my town.....among other things...

I've ended up at the speakers' table, and Colleen Conley asked me to prevent the rabble from taking places at it---Katz

I guess it's one thing to rouse the rabble but an altogether different thing to have them seated at your table.

"Colleen Conley asked me to prevent the rabble from taking places at the table, which really isn't an activity toward which my personality lends itself"
What or should I say who is Rabble and why are they not allowed at the table

I didn't think it would be necessary, but to explain: the "rabble" comment was a bit of self-effacing humor. Being nobody, myself, and interacting with the leader of a populist movement, I thought it would be clear that I consider myself to be among the rabble and was only kidding.

Gina, thank you. I am glad to hear it and thank you for being an involved citizen. Many other Tea Party members are doing similar things. Just because things aren't centrally tracked and publicized doesn't mean they aren't being done.

Ideally I would like to see a lot more activity, at a much more sophisticated level, but I have to remember the virtue of patience. We political junkies have been doing this stuff for some time now, but many, perhaps most of the Tea Party members avoided political activity for most of their lives until, in the last year or so, the offenses by government became unbearable. I am very hopeful that once more folks see how easy this stuff is, the activity will grow virally. Meanwhile, as with any volunteer organization, encouragement and leadership by example are the only available motivational techniques.

Katz

With your sense of humor it should occur to you how funny it is for a populist movement to have a segregated speakers table in the first place. What kind of operation are these people running anyway?

I guess I see the light, Phil. I mean, what could an organization be thinking... holding seats for speakers right next to the podium at which they'll be speaking? Who ever heard of such a thing?

Katz

Is this BobN a member of the RI tea Party?

Thanks for the great work, Justin and Andrew.

A count by club management put the number at more like 375 including those camped out in the bar.

Posted by BobN at January 28, 2010 5:56 PM

I suppose that depends on what the definition of "member" is. Best I can tell, no one in the room or in any way involved in the RI Tea Party has ever paid dues or gotten a membership card. It's pretty much open door, very wide open. Anybody who wants to be involved and contribute in some positive way is welcome.

PS As a member of the "rabble," I was not in any way offended whatsoever. After I was unceremoniously prevented from sitting at the exclusive "reserved" table, I had to walk 4 ft. to my left and find another seat in front of the podium. Oh, the indignity! I still haven't recovered...

Will

Thanks for the information. BobN gave me an answer to my question on another post. As the consumate political insider that you are that indignity must have chafed. If I would like to attend one of these events as a casual observer but not want to be involved or contribute in some positive way am I still invited?

Phil,

Anyone is invited to attend RI Tea Party meetings. There is no fee, and no dues. Apparently, the last event was "infiltrated' by Brown students who posted about the meeting on the lefty blog, and to their amazement, they actually agreed with much of the message presented (although they are clearly not Laffey fans). Despite what the national media says, tea party folks really are just regular people who are looking for responsible and accountable government and who have decided to take part in the process of active citizen governance.

Madmom

Are you a member?

Yes, Phil.