Keli Carender is a blogger (at Redistributing Knowledge) and Tea Party organizer who is helping build April 15 Tea Party events in Seattle, Washington.
This is the eighth in our series of e-interviews with local Tax Day Tea Party organizers. (There are links to the previous seven interviews at the end of this post.)
Keli, what motivates your involvement in the Tea Party movement?
In my mind we are fighting for freedom and liberty from an increasingly tyrannical, oppressive, and immoral government. The founders knew what men were capable of, and similarly, how easily corruptable man is as well. I find it absolutely immoral for the government to be able to come into your home and take your family’s bounty and give it away to basically bribe other voters. I think we need to hammer home the immorality, illegality, and unconstitutionality of this administration’s attempt to bring Marxism into our country.
Wasn’t Seattle one of the first protest sites?
Yes, the first protest I planned was on President’s Day, in February, before Rick Santelli’s rant! Without any support from a national movement, without any support from any official in my city, I just got fed up and planned it. We called in the Porkulus Protest. I had 120 people show up, which is amazing for the bluest of blue cities I live in, and on only four days notice!! This was due to me spending the entire four days calling and emailing every person, think tank, policy center, university professors (that were sympathetic), etc. in town, and not stopping until the day came.
The second protest was the first Tea Party on Feb. 27th. We more than doubled our attendance at this one, and that is very much due to the fact that I had collected email addresses at the first one and was able to tell a couple hundred people at once about the second rally.
Can you share any other lessons from your previous events?
Number one: just get it done. Do you need a permit? Find out and then just get it. Do you want a guest speaker? Get on the phone and call anyone you can think of and get them there. You will need to alert media, so just get that done. At the other end of taking the reigns and not worrying about anything, I would say, let people help you. Almost immediately I had two women email me and say, what can I do? And boom, I had two other organizers to start helping me with the next event.
Number two: make sure to GET EMAIL ADDRESSES at your event!! That way you will have a list to email later, when the next tea party or other event rolls around. If you are able to collect a lot of email addresses, you might need a formal emailing system in order to send out mass emails. I started using MailChimp and it is a GREAT service!
Number three: if this makes sense for your event, try to pack a lot of things into a shorter amount of time. My first protest was too long and kind of meandered at the end. Keep it structured, with a good pace (almost like a theater production.)
When did you decide that your efforts could make a difference?
I decided to get involved when I saw the manner in which the stimulus bill was passed. I felt like I was drowning, like I couldn’t breathe. I was calling my congressmen, writing emails, etc., but they were just being ignored. I decided the time had come to do something in the streets, visible to everyone, to let our voices be heard.
We heard you’re not attending the 4th of July Tea Party. What’s up with that?
I will not be able to attend the 4th of July event as I am getting married on that day! Hooray!
The very best thing the Tea Party could do to help save our great nation is to promote Voter Initiated Term Limits (VITL). We don’t need a third party, and both existing parties are filled pretty much with career politicians. We need to return to representative government - meaning those in DC, Olympia, your City Council - whatever, are folks who work for a living, raise families, and pay taxes.
The professional politicians will never vote for term limits as that would jeopardize their careers and their self imposed fat benefits packages. The 535 who represent the 300 million need to truly represent those whose backs are carrying the load - not the freeloading entitled peoples.
VITL - Voter Initiated Term Limits. Government by the people for the people. Voter Initiated Term Limits: 2 terms for Senators, 5 terms for Congressmen. VITL - now, more than ever.
I just want you to know that I think of you as a hero for taking your time to fight for the rights of all people in regards to our constitutional rights. I read an article about you in the NY Times where they claim you started the Tea Party movement. I hope you will continue your service to our country and I am very proud that you are a woman! Women ARE the backbone of this country and hopefully we will all contribute in some way to save it’s ass. Take care and good luck. Jen
I’ve been tracking the “Big Picture” for more than 20 years and in my opinion, the engine that drives the world economy (the monetary system), is in overdrive and bursting at the seams. The dollar is slowly losing its buying power and expanding at a rate that cannot be sustained. The time is now for the nation as a whole to take immediate action to protect the integrity of our currency.
The world’s financial system is being undermined by debt. Repairing the damage is the central issue of our time. Federal, state and local Governments must attend to the people’s business or be replaced by men and women of character and intellect who seek common sense solutions in the best interests of future generations.
We have precious little time for political debate the time is now for action.
Al Holtje
peacenow.blogster.com
Kelli, did you use federal loans to pay for your college education? Wouldn’t that be a form of socialism to obtain tax payer provided monies to gain your education?
I think that what Keli is doing is amusing. Kelli, do you also protest against department of sanitation workers for having to drive trash through your neighborhood even though they are there to just clean it up?
Keri, I have been tracking the world economy for over 20 years. I spent 35 years on Wall Street designing operating systems. My most notable was Depository Trust which illiminated the need to receive and deliver physical securities. In 1986, I was asked my opinion of a new computerized trading system. “Won’t work” I concluded. Does not have the capacity to shut down in the event of an emergency. NO! Ok I invested in put options (I have the confirmations)on the SP 500 late in 1987, the market crashed and I sold for a huge profit. My website says it all. We are very close to losing control of our national currency. Very close and I have the data to support my opinion. That scares me to no end. My wife and I have 8 grandchildren and to be honest with you, its not about us anymore, its about them. If we don’t do something and quick … socialism…
Yes, I care and yes, I’m ready to do my part.
Al Holtje (peacenow.blogster.com)
Go get em!
Great artical today in Riverside (Ca.)3.1.10 Press-Enterprise Newspaper about Keli Carender! I am 63 and retired and a family man! We need a clean sweep to fix this country! We need more people young and old like Kel1!
Bob Jacques
PS…… Time to Roll Americans!
Obama and any connection to Hitler truly proves how insane most of you are. He didn’t even obliterate the lives of young men and women in a retarded war. He’s trying to fix a mess others have made.
Unfortunately, Keli chooses, like many other tea partiers, to be uninformed about what happened before 2008 to put America in the position that it is now. According to the New York Times, she never bothered to vote. So her issues are a result of ignorance. Most tea partiers supported Bush and his Republican minions, and now they act like they had nothing to do with trying to destroy the American Economy.
Tea partiers need to look into the mirror and hold themselves accountable for the situation that we are in today.
They either supported it, or were too ignorant to inform themselves about what is going on in America.
Wow. Thank goodness for Keli. She has vindicated our agenda — proved it, actually. For example, we tea-party folks know that evolution is just an evil Obama plot to introduce socialism into the United States. But Keli has single-handedly proved that evolution is a fraud. Just by the fact that she never evolved beyond the neanderthal stage, and that no intellectual or moral truths could ever get her beyond that stage, just show us how fraudulent evolution is. She is proudly exhibit number one. Thanks Keli
Keli is fighting the good fight, against entrenched politicians of any party, but particularly energized by the current administrations corruption, lack of transparency and arrogance in believing the government knows how to spend our money better than we do. To coerce money from us by taxes, fees and pure skulduggery, is immoral. It is the most immoral thing a government can do.
Support your tea party activists with time, money and fervent support!
I’m a psychologist/social worker who has been following politics for 50+ years. Both the Dem and GOP “old boys” are corrupt, but the Tea Partiers are no better. Just take health care: Medicare is vastly more cost efficient than private insurers. The evidence is out there, for those willing to let it sink in. I won’t go into details, but the more complex a society, the more we need rules to keep things on the up-and-up - to the degree possible. Only governments can act as referees, imperfect as they are. Corporations are run by robber barons, just like 100 years ago. Tea Partiers should figure out who their real enemies are.
The only consistent message that I’ve heard from the Tea Party Movement is that white racists are furious about being led by a nonwhite president.
If nuclear energy is such a great idea, then why can’t the public sector build one?
contrapositively, If public sector is so great, why can’t it build a nuke station?
[...] is from a Seattle resident who actually startd one of the first "Tea Party" protests (Keli Carendar)… Instead of getting your perceptions from what Katie and Keith have to say, let’s go straight [...]
We need to control spending. Hope tea party does not get sucked up into some 3rd party (which would probably lose), but works to elect conservatives who are into fiscal responsibility and constitutional principles,
May we all come to god……..and pray for charlatan opportunists
Y2K, 200M budget surplus, 5.6T nat. debt
Y2K9 1.3T budget deficit, 12.8T nat. debt
Between those years,
1T Iraq war……………Borrowed
600B Tax cuts………….Borrowed
600B Medicare part D……Borrowed
2T Budget shortfalls……Borrowed
Where were you when all that was taking place. Now Obama is trying to fix the mess you wake up. Tell me, Can you replace your leaking roof without spending money?
First, let’s look at the lives that were taken because of the Irag Invasion. Human life, not just USA or Iragi. Not money….but if it is money you are so obviously after….
Look at the contracts that were given to KBR, Cheney’s corporate cronies to support the war……robbing USA tax payers blind. If you want resources….look them up….don’t be lazy…you can find documentation.
It is money talking to you…. And you could stop there. Because, the GWB admin handed out contracts to make money for so many corporations, not just KBR formally a subsidiary of…??? Haliburten. Just in case you don’t know.
And did you see Tony Blair testify just this week. Or, don’t you read or listen to the news…kind of like another person you all might know Sarah is her name. Blair and Bush, I wonder what Bush did to get him on board.
Because, Rice and Tennant, they had warnings of 911. Look it up. It is there under their testimony.
And you people talk like health care that is would benefit society is a problem , or the IRS.
Two years ago we were talking about water boarding and torture. Today it is the economy and health care….Do you not see the difference?
Work to make USA stronger, not weaker.
Think for the sake of God. Think about what is good.l
Nice going, Keli, getting quoted in The New Yorker 2/1/20. It is, however, worth noting that Tea Party mania has its forerunners. How about the Know Nothings (a nativist movement of Lincoln’s time) or the People’s Party of the 19th century (southern and western farmers and miners opposing railroad speculators)?
This, too, shall pass! Hopefully along with Sarah Palin…..
I am hosting a “Tea Party” event in Lacey, WA at Huntamer Park on Tax Day (April 15th, 2010). You can contact me at chris.w.crew@gmail.com. I need a few more good speakers. We have a large formal stage, sound system, and a couple solid speakers lined up. I think this event will draw a lot of people and is now listed on the events section of a number of “Tea Party” websites including:
http://teapartypatriots.ning.com/events
http://www.teapartypatriots.org/State/Washington
Please come and take part or shoot me an email to find out more!
Congress is out of control with our money! We need to fundamentally transform America, not let Obama do it. Time to take the credit card away. Congress needs to join the real american worker. Make them start paying their own way. I hated it when they did it on our dime. Now they are doing it on China’s dime.
Wow. I hope to god, for my children’s sake, you’re illiterate, irrational feeding frenzy turns inward. And in your hate and hypocrisy, you consume yourselves.
Super video challenging Norm Dicks to come and plunder the first $20 for healthcare. Though I would have suggested everyone toss $20 in quarters, in rolls.
[...] here in Seattle with a protest rally held in February, organized by the contagiously exuberant Keli Carender. [...]
How do I join and what can I do to fight Obama (or as I call him Obitler?) Our country is being literally destroyed in days since he took office and I’m one of those who can’t find a job due to this idiot.
This is no easy task in Seattle, where 4 out of 5 people are quite liberal. It’s near miraculous that the Tea Party movement got it’s start in the heart of Seattle. Keli has taken an amazing stand, we’re lucky to have her out here!
[...] Interview with Keli Carender (Washington) [...]
I think we need to have a national effort to shut down the IRS. Surround them with rotating shifts of protesters/volunteers who are willing to use civil disobedience to defy the wannabe tyrants in D.C. who are robbing us blind. I’ve already lost over 50K. I’m pissed and not going to take anymore. PS I’m an elementary schoolteacher who has always played by the rules, worked hard and avoided complaining.
I’m done with their thievery in the guise of “It’s good for you.’
BTW I love your blog!
I think we need to have a national effort to shut down the IRS. Surround them with rotating shifts of protesters/volunteers who are willing to use civil disobedience to defy the wannabe tyrants in D.C. who are robbing us blind. I’ve already lost over 50K. I’m pissed and not going to take anymore. PS I’m an elementary schoolteacher who has always played by the rules, worked hard and avoided complaining.
I’m done with their thievery in the guise of “It’s good for you.’