Numbers down, decibels up at Tea Party on the Morristown Green

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Turnout for today’s Tea Party protest on the historic Morristown Green was a fraction of its prior best– about 600 people, compared with 6,000 in September, according to Morristown Tea Party media liaison Peter Glenn.

But the fervor was high, as a series of speakers denounced big government to cheers from spectators brandishing anti-Obama signs.

“I think our country’s run by a bunch of jackasses,” thundered Tom Adkins, a pundit with a Ted Nugent mane who has appeared on numerous talk shows. He mocked President Obama’s “Ebonics,” and tossed in a poke or two at policies of former President George W. Bush.

The audience included a nun, a waitress and a blogger in Continental Army garb who dubs himself  Manly Rash.

manly rash and sister dolores
'Col. Manly Rash,' left, and Franciscan Sister Dolores Alfone at Tea Party protest on the Morristown Green, July 3, 2010. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

“I’m here to warn contemporary Americans that if they don’t learn from their history, they will be doomed to repeat it,” said Manly, 50, a Gillette resident whose real name is Gene Hoyas. “If they have no wish to fight a future revolution, they are obliged to remember the one that happened over 200 years ago.”

Sister Dolores Alfone, a Franciscan nun from Ringwood, said she came today to show “my love for my country.”

“I feel this country is headed down the slippery slope of socialism, and our liberties have deteriorated,” said Sister Dolores, 78.  “I’m out here to support the basis for which this nation was established, under God.”

The nun opposed the recently enacted health care legislation, and contends it’s too easy to apply for public assistance.  Government’s traditional support for the downtrodden has been pushed too far, she said.

“Now, it’s being used to control the populace, to make decisions for the people,” Sister Dolores said.

courtney thomson
Courtney Thomson, 21, of Roxbury, at Tea Party rally on the Morristown Green. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

Courtney Thomson, a 21-year-old waitress from Roxbury, posed with an anti-Obama placard, beside a statue of George Washington. She came to protest “what we’re going to be paying for in the future, and what we’re paying for now. We have to vote them out,” she said.

Who would she vote in?

“I’m not sure yet,” she said. “I haven’t looked at the polls.”

Helena and Ella Lindner, 8 1/2 and 5 1/2, of Morris Township show their true colors, one day before Independence Day, at Tea Party rally on the Morristown Green.
Helena and Ella Lindner, 8 1/2 and 5 1/2, of Morris Township show their true colors, one day before Independence Day, at Tea Party rally on the Morristown Green. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

Helena and Ella Lindner, sisters from Morris Township wearing matching stars-and-stripes dresses, were among today’s youngest protesters, at 8 1/2 and 5 1/2 years old, respectively.

What was their beef?

“Politicians…have too much…control,” Helena said. Control of what?  She puzzled for a moment, glanced up at parents Hillary and Rich, and replied: “Of money.”

Her kid sister Ella was less hesitant when asked why she was on the Green.

“Tea Party!” she blurted.

What is that?

“You eat kind of stuff!” Ella explained. And the menu? “Sandwiches and fruit salad.”

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