Meet the Tea Party

2010-02-20 Tea Party Rally in El Cajon – Images by Will Parson

This weekend I traveled to East County San Diego, where distance from the coastline starts to manifest itself in a way that’s consistent with many areas in California – with a populace that’s more rural and more conservative. Several hundred people gathered at a well-kept public park in El Cajon to voice their dissatisfaction with taxes and the government that collects them.

I tried to see past the signs and star-spangled denim, and found a group of humble folks who were just plain mad. Mad, and tired of a government they feel ignores them to such a degree that some of those same people decide to dress as revolutionaries to seal the commonalities with the British-suffering colonial America.

In any case, I ended up feeling drawn to these people, not just because of my own conservative upbringing, but as I’m always drawn to people who feel strongly and earnestly about an issue.

Speakers included congressional candidates, California gubernatorial candidates and 52nd District Congressman Duncan Hunter, whose brief speech seemed mild in comparison to the other speakers. Several even happened to express hatred for the same endangered fish.