LONDON TEA PARTY

April 1, 2009 Blog

Today is April Fool's Day. President Barack Obama landed in London last night at 9 PM and 15,000 police officers were on hand to protect him. Today, thousands of protesters took to the streets to protest what is being called "Financial Fools' Day."

At the bottom of these protests is intense anger over the growing financial crisis. More than a thousand delegates and representatives of the G-20 nations begin talks about global finances starting tomorrow.

Everyone seems to know by now that the people responsible for the world economic crises are the ones at the top of government, financial institutions and big business. And the common people do not believe that the people who created the problem can or will fix it. Their anger is understandable.

All this reminds me of the protests of early American colonists which became known as "Tea Parties."

GREENWICH TEA PARTY

Most Americans know that angry colonists burned tea in Boston Harbor in December of 1773, but few know about the Greenwich Tea Party. On a fateful December night in Greenwich Harbor, a load of tea which was to be hauled overland to Philadelphia, was torched by a group of 40 Patriots dressed as Native Americans.

One participant of the Greenwich Tea Party was Richard Howell, who later became the third governor of New Jersey. His granddaughter, Varina Howell, married Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy. Cumberland County Historical Society

The Cumberland County Historical Society erected a monument to mark the event at Market Square in Greenwich and a re-enactment of the event took place in September, 2008. Here are photos of that event.

All over America, angry citizens are planning "Tea Parties" in major cities on April 15th to protest the government's unfair treatment of tax-paying citizens. Karl Marx claimed that "religion is the opium of the masses," and I contend that OPM is the religion of socialism (OPM= "Other People's Money").

I plan to stage another tea party at Greenwich on April 15th at 10:00 AM. The monument at Market Square is the ideal place. Anyone else with me?