Helen White is a dear friend who served as a US Senate page with me and is now a student at UGA. Yesterday, she participated in the 9/12 “March on Washington” and kindly offered to share her thoughts about the historic event as a guest post.

The so-called “silent majority” broke the still morning air of Pennsylvania Avenue on the morning of September 12th, 2009.  Approximately one million Americans congregated in our nation’s Capitol to make their frustrations known.

Grassroots efforts in opposition to the continued growth of government have recently been ignored or labeled as hordes of ignorant radicals.  People who have come to voice their concerns at town hall meetings have been disparaged by the leftist media (“tea baggers”) and degenerately denigrated as foolish due to their fervid efforts to raise logical and Constitutional concerns while desiring to engage in dialogue with their elected representatives – commendable actions if anything.  When the grassroots of T.E.A. parties began to spread around the country, I really started to take note of how much resistance they were coming up against; it was disheartening to see how the media was painting these patriotic citizens.  What was even more disturbing was the reaction of our leaders.

President Obama chose largely to ignore and belittle the earnest efforts of T.E.A. party participants.  Somehow, I have a hard time believing that he will be able to ignore the message we sent yesterday. The media also tried to stamp a negative label of  “angry mob” on the protesters; this tactic truly backfired.  I am very proud to have been a part of that patriotic mob, and I heard similar sentiments echoed by fellow protesters.

There was not an air of anger but rather of frustrated pride and heartfelt hope through our faith in liberty. This mob was composed of people from all walks of life and socio-economic backgrounds. Our uniting factor: we love this country and are concerned that we are going to lose everything our Founders fought for – that a government (regardless of party) ridden with special interests and Constitutional disregard continues to grow in power. Most importantly, we are concerned we are going to lose our voice – that we are going to forcibly become a part of a complacent flock that is controlled by the government.

As we marchers arrived in the Federal Triangle, it became apparent that the original plan of separating everyone by state was not going to work.  There were simply too many people there.  Moreover, because of the surplus of unexpected participants, the march had to begin early as people were spilling out into the side streets.  Once the march reached the Capitol, there was a multitude of speakers from various organizations including former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, founder of parcbench.com Kellen Giuda, and Reverend CL Bryant – just to name a few of my favorites; Senator Jim DeMint and Representative Tom Price were two of the few current legislators who spoke at the event.

At first I was confused as to why more political figures – especially from the media – didn’t show up, and then it hit me.  If a big name like Glenn Beck or Sarah Palin had attended, the media would have written this off as mere Republican rhetoric…as mere decriers of “oligarhy”.  Yet, the organizers and speakers (including Republicans, Libertarians, independents, and even some Democrats) at the march were frustrated Americans not looking to spread their name, but rather, to share their frustrations…not to speak to us but rather to stand with us.

Since the rise of so-called “progressivism” in the early 20th century with leaders like Wilson, who decried checks-and-balances and committed numerous Constitutional abuses, and FDR, who continued the special-interest ways of Hoover with programs like the NRA and the AAA, the government has grown tremendously in size.  According to Robert Higgs and other students of American Political Development, government has grown every single year except for one in the 20th century often under the guise of necessary government intervention in times of peril (the real “Shock Doctrine”). Remember how Rahm Emanuel declared the economic crisis as “an opportunity for us” aka the government? Well, it is time for we people to say enough is enough!

Legislation such as Cap and Trade and socialized medicine (…I mean national health care “reform”…) were what really woke this sleeping mob of patriots up.  As David Hume said, “it is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once.”  This injustice has been creeping up on us for far too long, and we can remain silent no longer.  Good government is small government that interferes in the private sphere as little as possible and does not jeopardize individual liberty.  Even if the media and our leaders choose not to recognize the historic march on September 12, 2009, they will surely recognize our demand for change on November 2, 2010 when the midterm elections occur.

In the words of the 9/12 mob, “can you hear us now?!”  Congress, can you hear us now?  Mr. Obama, can you hear us now?

The silent majority has awoken and will not be suppressed any longer…