REPORTING FOR DUTY
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Jul
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Recently, we received a comment asking us to post some information about the upcoming Chicago Independence Day Tea Party.
We did some digging to see what was shaping up, and we discovered some interesting and confusing facts surrounding the Chicago 4th of July Tea Party.
The first information we came across was from a website called TeaPartyDay.com. Their motto is Taxed Enough Already.
They listed Maurice Bonamigo as the organizer of the Chicago Tea Party. We had never heard of Maurice, but according to his website, he is a very successful conservative political consultant.
We phoned Mr. Bonamigo and he informed us that Chicago’s Independence Day Tea Party had been canceled. Wha Wha What? That’s right….canceled.
Mr. Bonamigo mentioned something to us about $16,000-$20,000 needed to stage the event in a city park. On the 4th of July, it is not surprising there would be a steep fee involved for a spot in the park.
Mr. Bonamigo said that the city would have allowed the Tea Party to take place in Federal Plaza (the location of the previous Chicago Tea Party), but there was a costly insurance requirement attached to the offer. He says the city wanted the Tea Party to carry $5,000,000 in insurance which he estimated would cost about $1500.00.
These requirements proved too cumbersome for the Chicago Tea Party efforts, and therefore according to Mr. Bonamigo, the Chicago Tea Party was canceled.
Mr. Bonamigo was unable to provide any information as to whom he spoke with from the city.
We continued digging, and came across another tea party website, teapartypatriots.org. This appears to be the group largely, though not solely, responsible for organizing the previous round of Tax Day Tea Parties.
This is what their site says about Chicago’s Independence Day Tea Party:
9/12 Project July 4th Tea Party & Veterans Tribute
Chicago Hub, Illinois
Saturday, July 4, 2009
ALL DAY and early evening.
NOT A LOCAL PHYSICAL EVENT
Coordinated in Sacramento
Dave Jenest (organizer)
Huh? Not a local physical event? We contacted Dave Jenest, and he confirmed that there is no Chicago event. He actually sounded a little surprised that he was listed as the Chicago organizer, because he is all the way out in Sacramento, where their Tea Party has been canceled.
Mr. Jenest is planning a virtual event that you can learn more about here.
We continued digging, and finally came up with a Chicago Tea Party that IS happening. We found this info on the Re-Tea Party website, chicago.reteaparty.com
Chicago, Il –FreeAndEqual.org and ReTeaParty.com have recently coordinated to host Tea Parties around the country on Saturday July 4th
The America’s Independence Day Tea Party Movement is a nationwide demonstration forum for any and all groups and individuals dissatisfied with the current governance of the United States, regardless of ideology, partisan identity, or political affiliation. On July 4th, 2009, we are asking Americans everywhere to re-declare our inalienable rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Chicago’s Tea Party will take place this Saturday, July 4th, 2009. The event will take place from12 Noon until 4pm Gateway Park at Navy Pier.
The Independence Day Tea Parties are very different in nature from other tea parties taking place around the nation. The Free & Equal/ ReTea Parties are non-partisan in nature, and will feature speakers and guests from across the political spectrum.
Confirmed speakers include:
* Jim Tobin, President of National Taxpayers United, Illinois
* Paul Jacob, President of the Citizens in Charge Foundation
* Theresa Amato, Campaign Manager for Ralph Nader for President 2004, and author of Grand Illusion: The Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party Tyranny.
*Isaac Hayes, Republican Congressional Candidate*Rosanna Pulido, former Congressional Candidate
*Charlie Howe, Green Party Activist & CandidateContact: Christina Tobin
Chicago Free and Equal / ReTea Party Coordinator
(312) 320 4101
christina@freeandequal.org
We spoke with Christina Tobin late last night, and she confirmed this Tea Party is in fact taking place.
What does this all mean? Is there more than one Tea Party movement? Is the Tea Party movement fracturing? Stay tuned…..
Comments
9 Comments so far
[The following email was sent to http://www.teapartyday.com today]
Hello Maurice & TeaPartyDay Organizers,
I’m the Founder and Chairman of the Board of Free & Equal Elections. We’re receiving numerous complaints that you’re informing people that the Chicago tea party has been cancelled. This is not true.
Here is a reference:
http://www.foundingbloggers.com/wordpress/2009/07/a-tale-of-two-tea-parties-one-is-canceled-and-one-is-not/
There is a Chicago July 4th Tea Party taking place at Navy Pier from 12-4pm. Please see our release that was sent to the entire Illinois press: http://chicago.reteaparty.com/2009/07/02/chicago-free-equal-reteaparty-at-navy-piers-gateway-park/
Thank you,
Christina Tobin
Founder & Chairman of the Board of Free and Equal
So is it a fake site or what…?
[...] Bloggers was searching for a Tea Party for July 4th and was confused about who was hosting one. I would like to shed a little light by providing them an example of what is happening is San [...]
Howwwwwwwwww boring tea party.!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for this excellent report; great blog here. I noted the confused and fractured nature of the “tea party movement” in early May. It’s not surprising, sadly. Americans have short memories, short attention spans, and are eager to jump off a “movement” when it’s no longer trendy. While protesters in Iran were – and are – willing to suffer fractured skulls and risk death to protest for their freedom, Americans are too willing to bend over and take it from the Government. A few hissy fits and they’re done, let’s move on. http://rogersparkbench.blogspot.com/2009/05/e-pluribus-pluribus-tea-party-confusion.html
[...] has Geraghty and an interesting email, but you want to go over there anyway for the Tea Party updates he’s running; keep scrolling down for pics and first-hand accounts. I confess I am impressed. [...]
[...] We contacted Dave Jenest, and he confirmed that there is no Chicago event. He actually sounded a little surprised that he was listed as the Chicago organizer, because he is all the way out in Sacramento, where their Tea Party has been …Continue Reading… [...]
The Chicago “tea party” situation continues to be in flux and unclear.
Multiple groups wrote about tea parties to be held on April 15. The most notable occurrence surrounding at least two “dueling tea parties” was the surprising sniping between the two groups.
Apparently the Chicago Young Republicans held a tea party at Navy Pier, while the RE Tea Party group (I think) held one near the Kluczynski federal building. At least some proponents of each tea party seemed annoyed that the other group also was holding a tea party — or at least that’s what some posts on this website or that seemed to indicate. The back and forth had the tenor of arguments over a high school election for prom queen or student body president.
There well could end up being multiple tea parties in a given city on a given day. None of them is “the” tea party — it’s “a” tea party.
The RE Tea Party group’s Chicago arm is difficult to judge. The original organizer listed for Chicago (at least his name was attacked to it nominally) is gone, and the current organizer seems to have as a primary cause third party access to the ballot. Great idea, but putting, say, Greens on the ballot doesn’t fit my own view of the tea party movement as more or less libertarian or conservative, at least on economic issues.
Albeit late, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank the authors of this great blog for clarifying what we now know was a glitch at the Party Patriots website. How our virtual tribute to America’s veterans among our Tea Party faithful became a Chicago event, we’ll never know.
I do want to report on our National Organizers Hub that is listed as a Chicago Meetup. http://www.meetup.com/Meetup-Organizers-National-HUB/ Our small group of 140+ group leaders are committed to sharing resources and information with the 90,000 or so members their groups represent. You are are a group leader or assistant organizer, you’re welcome to check out our member only Hub. We do have public areas when we post information that might be of interest to other Tea Party groups.
How did the July 4th Veterans Virtual Memorial tribute turn out? Feel free to click on our website and enjoy it.