Tea party should be taken seriously

Rep. Melissa Bean, as most Washington Democrats, RINO's and mainstream media do, miss the point of the tea party rallies and organizations. They are about local citizens gathering together and expressing an idea/opinion that will be heard in not only state governments, but in federal as well.

Rep. Bean "bristled" at the thought that this is a "movement." Hello, it is. I went to my first tea party in Lisle last year. I was shocked that there were probably 10,000 people there and very little media coverage.

As this "non-movement" grew during 2009, I along with my two teenage sons attended the Sept. 12 rally in Washington, D.C. We were amazed at the size of the crowd, estimated at anywhere from 700,000 to 1.5 million.

The tea party convention in Nashville was sold out with more than 1,000 delegates. It was a convention, not an inauguration of a president. Get your facts straight next time you give an opinion of a "non-movement" that has the liberal press and politicians like you very worried. The pendulum already has begun to swing, against you.

Brian T. Smith

Hampshire