Poway Rally Message: Our Civil Rights "Shall Not Be Infringed"

In February 2009, Doo Doo Economics began with a message of concern about the future of our country.  We issued what we believed to be simple economic message, that "raising taxes during a recession is doo doo economics." For a growing number of Americans, concern for the future of our country is becoming dismay about the present. On Saturday February 23, 2013, our message of concern joined a larger message of resistance at the "Shall Not Be Infringed" rally in Poway, California.

Hundreds of patriotic Americans stood together to say "NO" to anti-civil rights forces in government and on the progressive left. A local news outlet, UTSanDiego.com reported the rally incorrectly:

POWAY — Several hundred people, mostly men, mostly older and almost universally conservative, descended on Old Poway Park Saturday afternoon to take part in a “Pro-Second Amendment” rally.

This statement is incorrect because there were many young, able-bodied military and ex-military at the rally. As I traveled the crowd, handing out invitations to visit The San Diego Local Order of Bloggers, I spoke with maybe a hundred people. Around 40% of the crowd consisted of young able bodied patriots. One of which informed me that he "had our back" and many more who echoed the sentiment of the rally.

The UT San Diego and other news organizations attended the beginning of the rally, but must not have stayed to the end. When we first arrived, along side a group of former Republican volunteer organizers and ex-officials, I was met with the statement "it is good to see younger people here." As the rally progressed, it became clear that the "mostly older" crowd was giving way to a younger, brasher, group of 2nd Amendment supporters.

Local reporter Bridget Naso of KUSI searched the crowd for television interviews. Her trained eye, focused upon scheduled speakers and older, radically dressed attendees. Since I have had the pleasure of talking with this reporter in the past, I reintroduced myself. The last time we met was on a long trolley ride to Comic-Con. She mentioned with surprise that, "this is a very different setting" to see me. I am a tall, young looking, well spoken, "normal" American. It was clear that I was not who she had been trained to find.

The report incorrectly describes the rally as the "Day of Resistance, Anti-Obama Gun Rally" and estimates the number of attendees at about a "hundred and fifty". My estimate of the crowd is three to four hundred. The opening video of the rally (:26) does show a younger crowd gathering in the center, behind the older seated attendees.

Where the tea party was largely comprised of concerned mothers and children, this crowd included a larger percentage of young, physically fit, men. One young, 2nd Amendment supporting, community college teacher informed me, "they have no idea what they are messing with." To put the statement in context, he was voicing the fact that without the Second Amendment, the U.S. Constitution is void, and that will not be tolerated.

The rally included the Citizen's Oath to the Constitution directed by Terri Linnell. The oath was based upon OathKeepers, but designed for citizens who have not served in the military or law enforcement. The crowd of patriots stood with hand on heart and recommitted to defense of the U.S. Constitution.

A rousing, poetic rally cry was also mustered.  Organizer Roger Cotton did an excellent job finding speakers. One blogger who spoke was Robert Morse of Slow Facts. Robert did a great job in an interview for the KUSI story linked above. His blog features photos of the rally.

The take-way for the event is simple. The divisive and false rhetoric of the left is pushing more Americans into irreconcilable differences over our constitutional civil rights. As Roger Cotton put it, "They HATE us. We do not hate them." Many Californians are fed up and Saturday they reminded us, "Don't Tread on Me" is a warning not a slogan.