Tea Party in Bronx? You Betcha!

Here is a story from this week's Riverdale Review. Check the post below for a story from the Bronx Press.
 

By Miawling Lam

The Tea Party movement is brewing a potent punch in the Bronx.

More than a dozen rambunctious enthusiasts gathered in Morris Park for the party’s latest meeting on August 5.

Activists formed the independent, grass-roots group earlier this year to address voters’ deep-seated disillusionment with President Barack Obama.

Bronx Tea Party District Leader Bob Diamond said the meetings provided a forum for disgruntled residents to discuss the perilous state of the nation.

And although only six meetings have been held to date, Diamond said the Tea Party was alive and kicking in the Boogie Down.

“We are here because our wonderful country is dying and we’re fighting to try to save it,” he said.

“Right now, we are in a battle to save freedom in our country and we’re losing.”

The two-hour meeting, held in a non-descript, two-storey house last Friday evening, kicked off with the Pledge of Allegiance and a rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner before discussions on the economy, same-sex marriage laws and the debt ceiling agreement took over.

As predicted, the vitriol towards Obama was ubiquitous.

Chairman of the Bronx Conservative Party William Newmark labeled the president a “disaster” and said he needed to be booted from the White House.

“Barack Obama is a disaster,” he said. “Let’s just call it for what it is. He’s a disaster."

“I think Obama is such a danger to this country and to our Constitution, I would vote for any Republican against Obama and I’ve never said that in any presidential race. He’s that dangerous.”

Meanwhile, Diamond even went so far to describe Obama as a puppet for rich international banks and corporations.

“Our president is a dedicated Marxist,” he told the captivated crowd.

Jump below for the rest of the story.

“He has appointed czars all over the place and we are rapidly losing our freedoms. We’ve got to wake the American people up as quickly as we can.”

The Tea Party movement, underscored by fiscal conservatism, minimal taxes and immigration reform, has swept across the political landscape.

It is also beginning to wield tremendous influence, especially after activists played a powerful role during the recent debt ceiling negotiations.

Guest speaker Arshak Benlian, who migrated to New York in 1990, also offered his own experiences and spoke of growing up under communism in Bulgaria.

The Christian-Armenian said American people’s rights were being eroded and the country was being ruled akin to a totalitarianism state.

“Since I was six years old, I had been dreaming, living and breathing the notion that one day, I would see the Statue of Liberty and walk the streets of freedom,” he said.

“When I came to America, I thought I would live in a free world but low and behold, 20 years later, there is no focus on the individual rights.”

He said citizens’ rights were being impinged upon as a result of the Democratic and Republican parties insistence on implementing a European collectivist mentality.

However, he said the Tea Party was different because they were trying to restore individual freedom.

“I was very disappointed but there was glimmer of light in the formation of the Tea Party,” he said.

“They show that people still hope. They show that people care about their lives; they care about who they place in Washington and how Washington serves them.”

Given the magnitude of next year’s presidential race, Newmark urged voters to get involved by signing up to a political party and attend regular meetings.

“I think it’s very important that people not only attend Tea Party meetings but get involved in a political party as well. This election is just too important,’ he said.

“Our number job in 2012 should be to educate people on the issues and to make sure that Obama loses. It’s that simple.”