This morning I intended to enjoy a patriotic parade with my wife and two sons with our decorated golf cart and a proud “Don’t Tread On Me” flag waving from the back.
A day of celebrating Americans’ common love of freedom and independence turned into a stark reminder of the political discourse that our nation now faces.
Near the end of the parade and after the Tea Party float, the Teen Republicans, and every Republican candidate running for office in Fayette County had passed, the Obama 2012 group approached.
Tired of the heavy dose of booing from the crowd, one of the Obama parade participants (a middle-aged adult male) didn’t care for the Silly String my 12-year-old son shot toward his direction.
He charged from the street and attempted to confront my son. When I intervened, he got in my face and tried to provoke me to fight.
These actions of a grown man toward a child are a demonstration of the totalitarian position of the hard Left. People like this man don’t want First Amendment rights for anyone but themselves. He exercised his First Amendment right to assemble and support Obama, and we exercised our right to free speech.
Our expression of displeasure with Obama was unacceptable for him, and he attempted in his feeble way to shut us up by intimidating a child. A day of celebrating freedom became a day of reckoning with the reality that many on the Left want to destroy the freedoms of the opposition.
At least 100 people (including my two sons) witnessed this sad event. This convinces me that the Left needs to take a hard look in the mirror before labeling the opposition groups as “racists” and “haters.” I’m quite sure no one from the Tea Party float charged the crowd.
Gary Wax
Peachtree City, Ga.
