Schakowsky wrong on Tea Party rallies

An open letter to U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky: How dare you mock the citizens of the United States of America with your derisive media remarks about those of us who attended National Tea Party rallies? Last time I checked, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is the part of the U.S. Bill of Rights that expressly prohibits the U.S. Congress from creating laws that prohibit the free exercise of religion, infringe the freedom of speech, infringe the freedom of the press, limit the right to assemble peacefully, or limit the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Seems to me that all of the rally attendees, including the few ACORN folk and counter-protesters hanging around, had every right to assemble and voice their beliefs. It is apparent from your rude remarks that you have a completely different understanding of U.S. Constitutional Rights than MOST AMERICANS... which leads me to the opinion that you should NOT be allowed to continue to represent the AMERICAN PEOPLE!

Look at how many times you and your colleagues have turned a blind eye to the immigration rallies where many lawbreakers lurked under the guise of undocumented (i.e. illegal) immigrants. Furthermore, you'd be interested to know that the Chicago Tea Party featured two fantastic guest speakers who were lifelong Democrats, and several speakers brought up their belief that the Bush Administration began this downward spiral of a controlling government supported by an out-of-control tax and spend philosophy. So, your public allegation that this is a shameful political stunt put on by Republicans holds no water with those of us who were in attendance with hardworking people of every race and political party affiliation.

Bottom line, Ms. Schakowsky, is that we the taxpayers of the United States are fed up with seeing our hard-earned dollars being siphoned from our pockets to support government pork projects, special-interest group bailouts, illegal immigrants and government programs that are poorly administered or have outgrown their original intent to assist (not support) able-bodied American citizens. And we have every right to raise our voices and be heard! I believe you owe the American people a public apology for your inaccurate and insensitive remarks.

Sandy Hartogh

Grayslake