When I first started blogging a little over three years ago I decided to hide behind the curtain of anonymity, hence my alter-ego Mr Pink Eyes was born. Mr Pink Eyes has served me well, I have made many friends and found many brothers and sisters in arms– so to speak.
But there has been something gnawing at me for quite a while now, the feeling that it was time to let go of Mr Pink Eyes. I have been contemplating stepping out from behind the curtain, letting go of my alter-ego, and assuming my own name for several weeks. I just wasn’t able to pull the trigger, but now I am ready. It is time to move on.
While I have been ready for some time to assume my own name, I have been reluctant to do so mainly because of the fact that I have made a little bit of a name for myself around the conservative blogosphere among those that know me. It is quite ironic that after choosing Mr Pink Eyes as an alter-ego so that I could remain anonymous that in the end I couldn’t let go of Mr Pink Eyes because that is how I am known.
I made the final decision to make the change after the Tea Party in Manchester New Hampshire last week. That event has given me the possibility to gain access to some candidates who are running for various positions in the New Hampshire government– a chance that I intend to take advantage of– and I felt that if I was to take full advantage of this opportunity that I would be better off doing it from in front of the curtain, not as Mr Pink Eyes. This is not the only reason for the change, but it is the reason that finally convinced me that the time was right.
So this will be my last post as Mr Pink Eyes, tomorrow I step in front of the curtain and let go of my alter-ego. Tomorrow I post as myself– Steve Dennis– for the first time.
It will probably take me a few days to complete the transformation– updating my “about me” page, and other issues related to this blog, as well as updating my Yahoo and Google profiles, so please bear with me.
Mr Pink Eyes bids you adieu and says thank you, while Steve Dennis takes center stage and says thank you all for coming, let the show begin.
Manchester New Hampshire Tea Party slide show
Senate readies a compromise cap and trade bill
Last year the House passed a cap and trade bill that was dead on arrival in the Senate. The bill has languished there for many months while the congress decided to force healthcare reform legislation, that a vast majority of the people oppose, down our throats. But with healthcare reform legislation completed, cap and trade is back on the table and the Senate is in the process of completing a compromise cap and trade bill with the hope of voting on it in either June or July.
The president laid the foundation for this bill by announcing his intentions to begin more nuclear power projects and expanded oil drilling. This was an effort to win over some Republican votes for the cap and trade legislation that is soon to be debated.
Look for the congress to push forward aggressively with this legislation in an attempt to pass it before the November election. I fear that there is not much that we will be able to do to stop this bill as it already has some Republican support without the president’s promises on nuclear energy and expanded oil drilling. If the congress was not willing to listen to the American people on healthcare reform, and if the congress was willing to bend the rules in order to pass healthcare reform, it appears as if this bill is certain to pass the congress and be signed by the president on a relatively quick timeline.
There is nothing better to jumpstart a stalled economy like levying even more taxes against the American people– at least that is the way the president sees it. He believes that the “green jobs” opportunities will help the troubled economy, but he is forgetting about– or unwilling to publically admit– the devastating effects that more taxes will have on the economy if an already over-taxed people are taxed even further.
One of the biggest complaints that people have of Barack Obama is that he is arrogant on condescending– I am one that holds this opinion of him. While attending a $30,400 a seat fundraiser Barack Obama drilled this complaint home. While Barack Obama was raising over $2 million dollars from people like Gloria Estefan and the other beautiful people, regular people like you and I took to the streets to protest (I prefer the term “rally”) Barack Obama’s policies at Tea Party events all across the country.
While speaking at this event Barack Obama said that he was “amused” by the people who were protesting him, claiming that we should instead be “saying thank you” to him.
His exact words were, “I’ve been a little amused over the last couple of days where people have been having these rallies about taxes. You would think they’d be saying thank you.”
If you have had a chance to hear the audio of this statement you would know exactly how condescending these remarks sounded. Barack Obama has stated to the rich and famous exactly how he feels about average, ordinary Americans– we amuse him. Hey look at those people, aren’t the so cute? Don’t they realize how much I have done for them? Aren’t they silly people? That is the message he seemed to be sending to us.
But they he caps it off by saying that we OWE HIM A THANK YOU! This man’s arrogance prohibits him from seeing that people truly are upset with his policies that have leveled never before seen debt upon the future generations of Americans. He finds it funny that we do not think he is doing what is best for the future of this country. He really does not get it.
For him to stand up in front of actors, celebrities, entertainers, and other well to do liberal Americans and demean and make fun of the very people that pay many of their salaries is deplorable.
Is it any wonder why so many people find this man to be arrogant?
He wants a thank you, below is mine (I have to confess, I got this idea from a caller to a Boston talk show radio host):
Leave it to “Animal House” to sum it up for us perfectly!
Manchester New Hampshire Tea Party wrap-up
Well, the Manchester Tea Party is over and what a great event it was. As you know, I was invited to participate in “bloggers row” by Skip from Granite Grok; I wasn’t sure what was expected of me so I planed on trying to “live blog” the event as it unfolded.
I consider it an honor to have been asked to participate in this event and I am thankful to Skip for inviting me. It turned out that live blogging the event was extremely difficult, and quiet honestly it was beyond my capabilities. I learned pretty quickly that I could not take dictation. After managing to throw together four short posts I decided that the best course for me to take was to write down some notes and write about it after the event was over.
It was a beautiful, sunny but chilly day in Manchester today and the people came out in full force. My initial reaction is that the crowd was comparable to last year’s event, probably bigger. I had hoped that this event would be huge and I was slightly disappointed that it was not even bigger than it was. But it was a great turnout none the less.
All of the major Republican candidates for office were there and Skip took the time to bring some of them over to bloggers row to meet us. I talked briefly with Ovide Lamontagne, Jeanie Forrester, Karen Testerman, and Jim Bender. All of whom are running for various offices. I was struck by how down to earth all of these candidates seemed. They seemed like normal, everyday Americans who just want to bring change to the country.
We exchanged information and there is a possibility that I will be in contact with the various candidates as the election heats up and any contact that I do have will be written about here.
Skip is also talking about setting up more bloggers meetings so that we can get together and spread the word throughout New Hampshire. It seems as if there are going to be some interesting times coming up in the near future, and I am looking forward to having more contact with the other New Hampshire bloggers that I met today.
As we waited for the festivities to start there was music playing through the sound system and the songs were of a patriotic and pro-military nature. At one point my son mentioned to me that they should play the song “The Uprising” by Muse before he went off to see what was happening on the grounds. Shortly after he left it seemed as if someone must have been listening to our conversation because “The Uprising” by Muse started playing. Up until just last weekend I had some of this songs lyrics posted in my sidebar:
Come let the revolution take its toll if you could
Flick the switch and open your third eye, you’d see that
We should never be afraid to die
Rise up and take the power back, it’s time that
The fat cats had a heart attack, you know that
Their time is coming to an end
We have to unify and watch our flag ascend
They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious
The festivities started off with a prayer, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, and then a moment of silence for all of our troops past and present. Then came the national anthem sung by Lisa Itse. What a great voice she has and it was made all the better by the people singing right along with her.
The speeches that were given were probably equally split between topics about the state government and the federal government as spending is out of control in not only the nation’s capital, but also in New Hampshire.
Some memorable quotes from the speeches:
Speaking about Nancy Pelosi’s claim that “we have to pass healthcare so that we can see what is in the bill” Skip said, “I consider this to be legislative malfeasance.” And then he started the crowd chanting, “THE BIGGER THE GOVERNMENT, THE SMALLER THE CITIZEN”
“do you want tyranny by the government or constitutional freedoms delivered from God”
“there is no difference between tyranny at the point of a sword and tyranny at the point of a pen”
Tom Thompson, who is the son of the late governor Mel Thompson, quoted two of his father’s most famous sayings; “low taxes are the result of low spending”, and “axe the tax.” In order to emphasize the latter quote he took the stage with an axe that was quite a bit bigger than the axe he brought on stage last year, symbolizing the 39 tax and fee increases that governor Lynch has signed in recent years.
Healthcare reform, taxes, and the economy were the issues most spoken about today. While all of the people there disagree with most of the president’s agenda, and while all of the people there disagree with the direction that New Hampshire is headed, and while the speakers were railing against the government’s policies, there was a positive message that all of the speakers tried to get across. There was no hate-speech.
The atmosphere in the crowd was festive and friendly, hardly the angry mob that the media likes to claim the Tea Partiers are. There were young people and old people, there were white people and yes there were black people there as well. I know what you are thinking, how could there be minorities there when the media is claiming that the Tea Parties are racists organizations and that the Tea Party movement is motivated by race? The answer is simple and it was summed up nicely by a sign that I saw. It’s the policies, stupid.
There was no trouble that I saw or that my sons saw. Former Democrat State Party Chairman Kathy Sullivan tried to rally Democrats around the idea that they should pose as Tea Partiers and hold up racist signs in an attempt to paint us as racists. I am happy to report that this idea was a failure. I did not see one person there who was trying to pose as one of us with nefarious intent. I saw plenty of signs that called Barack Obama a socialist, but I did not see one racially motivated sign in the crowd. People have legitimate concerns and they are voicing them. It’s the policies, stupid.
This was a great event and I am glad that I was a part of it. I look forward to moving forward, now is the time to put on the full court press. I am looking forward to the possibility that New Hampshire bloggers might be ready to take this battle to the next level. Today I met quite a few good people and fellow bloggers and I look forward to working with them in the future. Today may have been the first united bloggers row, but there promises to be more events in the future. I am just thankful that I was asked to be a part of it.
My boys took allot of pictures today, I didn’t have the time to upload them tonight but I will tomorrow and I will share them all with you.
Update: here is the list of bloggers that participated in “bloggers row:
Citizens for Reasonable and Fair Taxes
I will be adding all of these blogs to my “New England sites” blogroll in the near future.
Manchester New Hampshire Tea Party part four
“Throw the bums out” is being chanted all across Victory park.
We were just informed that the Titanic sunk 98 years ago today. A little symbolism there.
The last speaker, whose name I missed, provided a list of who Keith Olbermann believes are radical, angry, right wingers:
If you utter the words socialism, communism or rail against the bailouts, TARP, and the stimulus, you are a radical.
If you watch Fox News, or read the Wall Street Journal you must be stopped.
Blogging without Keith Olbermann’s permission is a big no-no.
If you have read the constitution or the Federal Papers you are dangerous.
If you protest against Obamacare, cap and trade, or quote anyone who wore a powdered wig, you are on Olberman’s radicals list.
If you threaten a government official with the loss of his job, you will be investigated by the FBI (this actually happened in New Hampshire, so it isn’t that far-fetched after all.)
And most of all, if you listen to talk radio, you are a radical.
Guilty as charged.
Manchester New Hampshire Tea Party part three
I have decided that I will save the rest of the pictures until after the event is over, I feel that it takes away time from my blogging as I try to cover this event.
The event is underway, it opened with a prayer,the pledge, a moment of silence and then the National Anthem sung beautifully by Lisa Itse with the crowd singing along.
Tom Thomson is speaking, he showed up on stage with a much bigger axe than he had last year– symbolizing how much larger the deficit in the country and in the senate has grown. “axe the tax.”
The crowd is still growing as Thompson speaks out against amnesty for illegal immigrants. He is now railing against governor Lynch’s plan to steal the doctor’s malpractice fund that was ruled unconstitutional in the New Hampshire Supreme Court.
I was just introduced to Jim Bender who is running for senate, he has given me a CD about himself which I will check out, and post anything that I find interesting.
Manchester New Hampshire Tea Party part two
we are just minutes away from the start of the event and it is really beginning to fill up now. There are people of all ages here– young and old alike. There is a friendly, festive feeling in the air, hardly the angry mob that the media likes to portray us as. People are having fun and laughing and preparing for the speakers.
Muse is playing in the background– Uprising. This song is right on que as Andy just mentioned that they should play this song.
Here are the first pictures:
Manchester New Hampshire Tea Party Part One
Well I am here at the Manchester New Hampshire Tea Party and it is a very nice, sunny day although it is a little chilly. Set up is still in progress, the stage is being put together and the sound system is being tested. The event isn’t scheduled to begin for another hour and people are already beginning to file in, hopefully this is a sign of things to come.
Republican candidates for the house, senate, and the governor’s office are beginning to set up tables, but no candidates have been seen as yet.
Lots of flags and signs so far, but not much else to write about yet.
Blogging the Manchester Tea Party
Last week I was contacted by Skip from Granite Grok about the possibility of participating in a “bloggers row” at the Manchester Tea Party rally. I informed him that I would love to be involved in this opportunity but that I was unsure whether my work schedule would allow me this opportunity. I was almost 100% sure that I would be able to participate but it was not until I left work today that I knew for sure that nothing had come up at work that would prevent me from attending.
So I now give you my formal announcement that I will be live blogging the Manchester Tea Party on site, Skip has managed to provide several New Hampshire bloggers with wireless internet access at the Manchester Tea Party.
As of right now I plan on providing continual updates from the Manchester Tea Party, to the best of my ability, of what is going on at regular intervals. Hopefully I am able to pull this off and I do not embarrass myself too much.
As of right now, I do not know exactly how this will work out or what will happen, I am going to make it up as I go along. But I will have two able bodied young men to help me out. I have enlisted my two sons, Andy and Tim, to scout out the rally and provide me with pictures that I intend to upload during the event.
I am very excited about this opportunity, and I have to confess that I am also nervous about it as well. But I will do the best that I can and I hope to meet other New Hampshire bloggers and citizens that are as passionate about the issues as I am.
America's Watchtower 
