Local Tea Party plans 912 event Sunday

Published 1:14 am Saturday, September 11, 2010

The Covington County Tea Party Patriots are planning a Sunday march and activities to coincide with national 912 events.

Don Gaines, a leader of the 200-strong Covington County Tea Party Patriots, said his group will be on the square between 1 and 3 p.m.

“We didn’t plan a whole lot, because we aren’t sure how many people we can pull together,” Gaines said.

He said he believes the event originally was organized to protest things the Obama administration has been doing, but that it has expanded.

“I’ve seen 500 to 600 signs involved,” he said. “The main thing is to say, ‘Can you hear us now?’ ”

He said the event is more anti-politicians than anti-Democrat or anti-Republican.

“They are both responsible for the whole thing,” he said. “If one party goes out and the other goes in, they keep doing the same things.”

Nationally, the 912 event, which has been heavily promoted by Fox news host Glenn Beck, focuses on “nine principles and 12 values,” including:

9 Principles:

• America Is Good.

• I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.

• I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.

• The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.

• If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.

• I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.

• I work hard for what I have and I will share it with whom I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.

• It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.

• The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

12 values:

• Honesty

• Reverence

• Hope

• Thrift

• Humility

• Charity

• Sincerity

• Moderation

• Hard Work

• Courage

• Personal Responsibility

• Gratitude

Events are planned on Sunday across the country, and include a taxpayer march on Washington organized by the group Freedom Works.