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Hundreds gathered outside the Allen County Courthouse to hear speakers who warned of eroding freedoms as politicians bankroll pork-barrel spending and government bailouts with loans from socialist countries like China.
The speakers called upon rally participants to forget party lines and unite in support of their country, their faith and capitalism.
The “Enough Already” tea party protest lasted more than two hours Saturday and featured a keynote address by Alan Keyes.
Before Keyes’ address, another speaker, Pat Miller, 54, of Fort Wayne, referred to similar tea party protests that have taken place nationally, pointing out that rather than being angry, participants are instead filled with “righteous indignation.”
“We rally here. We rally at the foot of the Constitution,” Miller said.
Guy Hinton, 38, organizer of the Fort Wayne-based True Conservative Movement, said there is a “disconnect” between the people and their representatives in Washington, D.C., and that politicians are turning a deaf ear to the average person.
“It’s time to resist the destructive, overgrown monster we call the government,” Hinton said.
As one rally participant waved a signed captioned “American Pirates” that bore photos of President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Hinton said if U.S. citizens forget they are one nation under God, the nation will be gone forever.
“No more bailouts. No more spending. Just say ‘no,’ ” Hinton said.
During his fiery address, Keyes said the U.S. crossed the “Rubicon to socialism” after last year’s election and that both the Democratic and Republican parties have failed to stand up for the U.S. Constitution.
While it might be easy to blame banks, politicians, and Wall Street for the country’s current problems, Keyes told his listeners to also look closer.
“I recommend that you go home and look in the mirror,” Keyes said, adding that the U.S. is a government “of, for and by the people.”
“You can’t have freedom if you don’t have courage,” Keyes said.
Nobody – whether they are bankers, politicians or individuals – should make “false promises on paper” to repay debt, Keyes said, adding that politicians’ deficit spending results in lost economic independence.
“They are spending our children into poverty,” Keyes said. “One generation stands guard not only for itself, but for the future.”
Bill Pontius, 44, of Fort Wayne, was among the rally’s participants. He carried a poster board sign woven between the tines of a pitchfork that read “New Game, Poke the Pork Barrel Politicians Till They Squeal.”
Pontius, who blames government interference with business for the current economic crisis, said the system has gotten out of hand and a bipartisan effort by the people is needed to resist it.
“I worry that this country’s moving toward socialism,” Pontius said.
