Atlanta July 4 tea party silenced - Big Big Forums

SurferGirl · 06-25-2009, 07:00 PM

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/...rty_cance.html
June 23, 2009
July 4 Atlanta Tea Party Cancelled
Jason Lee
With as many as 20,000 people in attendance, the Atlanta Tea Party on April 15 was one of the largest and most successful Tea Parties in the country. The Atlanta Tea Party on July 4, 2009 had been expected to be just as large. Unfortunately, plans have changed. Simon Property Group has forced the cancellation of the Atlanta Tea Party.

The Atlanta Tea Party was forced to cancel its Independence Day celebration in Gwinnett, after losing its location due to the objection of Gwinnett Place Mall (a Simon company.) The Tea Party had been scheduled to take place in the parking lot of the old Macy's building at Gwinnett Place since March.

"It is unfortunate the event had to be canceled," said Julianne Thompson, event co-organizer. She continued, "The old Macy's building is on private property, and not owned by Simon Malls, however the mall manager asked the property owner and I to come in the office on Thursday of this week [June 18], and told us Simon does not want political events on its property. They were also concerned about the fact we were using the term 'protest.' Although the event was on private property, the mall was able to assert authority on the matter due to reciprocal property easement agreements."

Event Co-Chair Debbie Dooley stated, "Our Atlanta Tea Party team tried for the next day and a half to find an alternative location large enough for the event, and with the proper layout for our vendors, children's activities, and fireworks show, but we could not find anything suitable that would have been available on July 4th.

With just a few days left until the Fourth of July Tea Parties begin, this is very unfortunate timing! One wonders why Simon Property Group waited until now to interfere.

Liberal Atlanta paper's snarky reaction.

Following the money, connecting the dots:

Gwinnett Place Mall shut down the Atlanta Tea Party.
Simon Property Group owns Gwinnett Place Mall.
Melvin Simon (a Forbes 400 billionaire) is Co-chairman of Simon Property Group, Inc.
Melvin Simon has provided large political contributions to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Al Franken, John Edwards, the DNC and many other Democrats and Democrat organizations.
Melvin Simon was a major contributor to Barack Obama inaugural committee and has given at least $1 million to the William J. Clinton foundation.
Melvin's wife, Bren, personally donated almost $100,000 to various political candidates, was a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, and contributed to President Obama's inaugural committee.

Contact: Simon Properties
Posted at 09:45 AM | Email | Permalink | 112 Comments |

ElleGee · 06-25-2009, 07:04 PM

4th of July is to celebrate this countries independence from England.. Not protest taxes on tea from England. Or protest taxes in general.

YankeeMary · 06-25-2009, 07:14 PM

Georgia is a Republican state. Yet Obama supporter is the reason it was cancelled? Doesn't make since. It is private property. The owner has a right to say what goes on, on their property. I wouldn't want to hold anything political on my property especially if my property was a money maker. To many conflicts. I think it was a smart business decision.

Jolie Rouge · 06-25-2009, 07:18 PM

Quote:

With just a few days left until the Fourth of July Tea Parties begin, this is very unfortunate timing! One wonders why Simon Property Group waited until now to interfere.

Because they know that it will be difficult - if not impossiable - to reschedule an event on this scale in this time frame....

Quote:

4th of July is to celebrate this countries independence from England.

Not protest taxes on tea from England. Or protest taxes in general.

:

The 4th of July is to celebrate our Freedoms - including Freedom to Peaceably Assemble; Freedom of Speech ... those little things that our current crop of politicains seem to find so "inconvient" ... as did ole' King George.

One of the main reason we seperated from Mother England was because of the dissatisfactionwith the amount of taxes being levied and how they were being spent.

ElleGee · 06-25-2009, 07:21 PM

Quote:

In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indepen...(United_States)

Quote:

Independence Day honors the birthday of the United States of America and the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776

http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Independence_Day.shtml

Anyways before Jolie gets her long convoluted post I won't bother to read in I think it's disrespectful to protest taxes on our independence day

SurferGirl · 06-25-2009, 07:48 PM

Independence Day is no day to silence the voice of the people.
We are America and we do have a voice. We don't want to be treated like the people that live in Iran.

Read the part in the article that says to follow the money
Following the money, connecting the dots:

Gwinnett Place Mall shut down the Atlanta Tea Party.
Simon Property Group owns Gwinnett Place Mall.
Melvin Simon (a Forbes 400 billionaire) is Co-chairman of Simon Property Group, Inc.
Melvin Simon has provided large political contributions to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Al Franken, John Edwards, the DNC and many other Democrats and Democrat organizations.
Melvin Simon was a major contributor to Barack Obama inaugural committee and has given at least $1 million to the William J. Clinton foundation.
Melvin's wife, Bren, personally donated almost $100,000 to various political candidates, was a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, and contributed to President Obama's inaugural committee.

ElleGee · 06-25-2009, 07:49 PM

Yeah we're all being treated like the Iranians..

That has got to be the dumbest thing I have heard all day and I have heard some dumb stuff today

Very disrespectful.. Tsk tsk

SurferGirl · 06-25-2009, 07:54 PM

It was very disrespectful to the people who scheduled this event back in March.

Jolie Rouge · 06-25-2009, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElleGee

In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indepen...(United_States)

Wow ... look at the very next part of the very article you found ....

Quote:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indepen...s)Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, picnics, concerts, baseball games, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States.

Also : Customs

Independence Day is a national holiday marked by patriotic displays. Similar to other summer-themed events, Independence Day celebrations often take place outdoors. Independence Day is a federal holiday, so all non-essential federal institutions (like the postal service and federal courts) are closed on that day. Many politicians make it a point on this day to appear at a public event to praise the nation's heritage, laws, history, society, and people.

So why not have a "Tea Party" to celebrate our "Freedom of Speech"; "Freedom to Assemble" as well as the Life Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness discussed in the Declaration of Independance ??

meltodd69 · 06-25-2009, 10:09 PM

I see nothing wrong with the Tea Parties. There is nothing wrong with protesting.

There is something wrong with trying to silence people. I don't care if it is 4th of July, Valentines day or Christmas. You should be able to speak your mind on anyday at anytime.
I can't believe Atlanta is giving up so easy. Is that mall not a public place?

YankeeMary · 06-25-2009, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meltodd69

I see nothing wrong with the Tea Parties. There is nothing wrong with protesting.

There is something wrong with trying to silence people. I don't care if it is 4th of July, Valentines day or Christmas. You should be able to speak your mind on anyday at anytime.
I can't believe Atlanta is giving up so easy. Is that mall not a public place?

Yes the mall is a public place but on private property. It isn't owned by the city.