They began the night pledging their allegiance to the country and ended with a common allegiance and understanding that there are problems in the government that must be solved.
Members of the Naples Tea Party and veterans gathered at the VFW Post 7721 in Golden Gate to hear best-selling author Martin Gross unveil the details of his yet-to-be-titled new book, which will be released in time for elections.
Like all his literature, Gross focuses on government overspending, the lack of an educational system and overall conspiracy of the government.
“We have an internal enemy,” Gross said, among cheers in the crowd. “The federal government has an assortment of tricks to fool the people and they are good at it. In my books I have named maybe a hundred of the thousands.”
Gross questioned the current education system of America, calling teachers “good people” who just don’t have the education to teach. Gross said the 77 billion dollar structure is failing.
“The public school system is destroying the mind of our young,” Gross said. “When it comes to stupidity, our children excel.”
Education is just one of the topics that Gross touched upon. He criticized the excessive government spending and the corruption of our political leaders.
“Washington tries to hide the truth from the American people,” he said.
But, despite the negative nature of the discussion the crowd was pleased to see him.
“I am just so happy he was able to speak,” said Sue Smith, of Naples. Smith said she is fighting for future generations. She feels a sense of responsibility for “solving” government issues.
“We as people must be thinking and involved,” Smith said “I will walk on a walker to do what I can.”
Gross has authored more than a dozen books, including the best-sellers “The Government Racket: Washington Waste from A to Z,” “A Call for Revolution” and “The End of Sanity.” Gross, who made his second visit to Naples in as many years, has been a guest on dozens of conservative radio shows and has been featured on national television. He is known for his staunch view of government conspiracy.
But not all agreed that the government is conspiring.
“If you want to call it a conspiracy, call it a conspiracy,” said Jude Reichenthal, 63, of Bonita Springs. “Mr. Gross pointed out a lot of problems, but I would have liked to see more solutions.”
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Comments » 1
jude1#221154 writes:
Mr. Gross was indeed brilliant at pointing out many of the failings of our political system. He is right about the rampant stupidity in many levels of our system.
However, I saw no evidence of a conspiracy presented yesterday. Who is conspiring? What do they have to gain? How long has this been going on? None of this was presented.
I would like to think that Mr. Gross is
thinking more of a vast manifestation
of stupidity, corruption, inertia etc.
I also saw disturbing evidence of some mental illness being stoked. While Mr. Gross was saying that in the 50s there would be no gays in the military because they would have all been shot, a man standing behind me was loudly chanting "shoot em, shoot em".
I know there is much wrong with our system, but encouraging crazies will only exacerbate the problems.
The tea party has a fresh perspective and could bring some honesty back into our political system. I saw many people who were there because they were truly hurting and angry and had legitimate complaints with our political system's leaders.
The system we are all fighting is populated by many people who are cold and calculating. We need fervor to defeat them, but not incitement to violence. We need to point out the problems but we also need to suggest some solutions. The tea party now has elected representatives in congress, in state houses and in cities across the land. It is no longer sufficient to say elect us because we are just as mad as you are. Now is the time to come up with some ideas that work, real ideas that go beyond merely cutting all budgets. Yes many projects will need to be cut but some will need to be expanded and some new ones will need to be created and supported.
How about extreme tax incentives and government matching funds for first stage venture funding? That is where future jobs will come from.
Jude
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