Report from Washington

Good morning Friends,
To continue with the recap of the history that Betsi and I witnessed yesterday in Washington at the anti healthcare rally, I must start with going back. A couple months ago, I became obsessed with the idea that we needed to add war drums to our protests. A couple weeks ago you may recall that we had the "Going on the WarPath" Protests in Tampa and St Pete when several of us dressed at Native Americans in the spirit of the first revolutionary Boston Tea Party. Our Member Linda brought 2 fantastic authentic Indian drums and they were especially effective on 4th St and Gandy in St Pete.
So, Friday before I left town I was able to locate Red Eagle in St Pete, a Lakota Sioux Native American, and I purchased 2 drums he had made to bring with us. Made from Buffalo and sinew. Can you believe it! And they are LOUD and booming. Unbelievable. Thank you Red Eagle for the last minute help you and your family offered!

So there we are wagging through the Halls of Congress with wardrums!

By 11am crowds were beginning to arrive and it was at this point we walked across the street to the Capitol Lawn to join the already huge crowd gathered on the West Lawn. We began to beat our drums in typical Indian War Beat...BOOM boom boom boom BOOM boom boom boom.
Truly, it was just the greatest touch to the agitated and energized mass of unhappy citizens! As the sun beat down and there were no leaves yet to offer the blessing of shade, Betsi and I moved under a stand of evergreen Magnolia trees at the foot of the Capital Building, where we stood all day and acted as the sound effects for the rally. By some miracle the ground security guards left us alone the entire time. Lots of People took our picture, and why not, we must have been a sight!
Then suddenly, across the landscape came the sound of a perfect "Charge" by a Trumpet! I look over on a nearby hill and there stands a man playing his bugle to the crowd to their roaring approval! Then he plays America the Beautiful and everyone sang.
This man came directly over to us later and said our drums had inspired him to return to his apartment to go get his trumpet as he lived only 8 blocks away! It was a tearful moment. The drums, the trumpet, the roar of the people was shaking the legislators inside. Mike Pence said they could hear all this "noise" inside!

Beginning at noon, the rally speakers came out one by one, conservative Representatives such as Michele Bachmann, Mike Pence, Steve King. The instructions were given by the organizers of the event to storm the Congressional offices at 2pm.
And to Surround the Capital at 5pm.
At 2pm straight up the crowd of anywhere from 50,000 to 70,000 started descending on the congressional offices. They consists of 3 mammoth buildings across the street from the Capital. They are the Longworth, the Cannon and the Rayburn. Betsi and I positioned ourselves under another tree in the middle of the moving crowd. A man in a suit was sitting on the ground reading the Bible, specifically the Book of Mathew. Betsi and I joined him in a wonderful prayer and he then moved over to the rolling lawn in front of the Capital and began a prayer group there. The rest of the day groups of people were joining him on that hill praying on their hands and knees.
At one point the huge throngs of people standing on the steps of the various congressional offices were screaming and sirens were wailing. It was pretty threatening, and Betsi and I decided not to go too close. It was very volatile.
As the afternoon wore on, people began to circle the Capitol, holding hands, completely encircling this huge complex. The legislators were inside. They were shook up by all accounts.
And I should mention, throughout the day there was no sign of any support for the legislation, no signs, no groups promoting the passage, except for a group of perhaps 10 young kids in their twenties that showed up in the evening. One kept yelling "Promote the public welfare" as though that means healthcare is a role of the Federal Government.
So, this was the day. And today, Sunday, we meet at 11am for a church service on the grounds of the Capital and the Christian Legislators are meeting at 11am on the inside in the Rotunda for the first time in 100 years to hold a religious service. The first time in 100 years!
Please, at 11am gather your family and pray for our country and for the defeat of this vote and the restoration of the Republic.
The vote is at 2pm the last I heard.
And if you know anyone living in the area encourage them to come to the capitol today to join, we need all the bodies we can round up, as many buses left yesterday to head home.

I took pictures last night standing on the backside of our beautiful Capitol as the sun was setting, to mark perhaps the last time the sun would set on our free republic. God bless America, God save America.