“Shock and awe” is what I felt when I read the AP article titled, “Obama says tea party has legitimate concerns.”

The article was mind blowing. First, Obama reportedly stated “the core of the loose anti-government network is on the fringe.” He was referring, of course, to the conservative T.E.A. Party movement. The fringe of what, free speech?

He continues by acknowledging others have legitimate concerns about federal reach and spending. Well, in case he hasn’t figured it out yet, all of the members of the T.E.A. Party movement are concerned about federal reach and spending.

The article went on to say that this political phenomenon has leaders on both sides of the political spectrum puzzled. They would have to have their heads stuck in the sand to not know what the T.E.A. Party movement is about.

The Democrats surely have lots of practice ignoring this movement as evidenced by their voting records — and that, folks, is what it is all about.

Now, that wasn’t so hard to figure out, was it? Furthermore, the article stated that several Democratic officials say there’s no apparent strategy yet at the White House for combatting the network’s growing influence. That’s just a polite way of saying they would like to put a muzzle on all American people who don’t agree with their actions. That brings us back to the issue of free speech, doesn’t it?

The article went on to call the T.E.A. Party movement a “leaderless coalition, born in communities from coast to coast shortly after Obama’s inauguration last year.” Now, if the movement is “leaderless,” but born in communities from coast to coast, wouldn’t that indicate that concerned Americans are the leaders and didn’t need influence from anyone to begin organizing in an attempt to be heard?

All of us in this “leaderless, loose anti-government network” believe in the Constitution and in the process that our founding fathers began whereby we vote for officials to represent us in Washington and when they fail to do that, we feel we have the right to be heard.

The T.E.A. Party movement was born out of a frustration with apparently not having a voice in our country’s future and the future of our children and grandchildren. Washington should admit that they know what we are all about because they do, and their decisions should be based on what the American people want instead of their desire to be re-elected.

The T.E.A. Party movement is not going away, and the sooner Washington realizes that, the better off we will all be.

Kay Webb

Roxie resident