I was invited to speak at two of the Taxed Enough Already parties today. As a member of the legislature, and one of those who have to vote on taxes in the state, I was a bit apprehensive.

If the pundits in the mainstream media were correct, I would be roasted alive by a group of right-wing radicals who had been whipped into a frenzy over the stimulus package. (This is the same stimulus package which is so onerous that the state legislature has had to take a recess from our session to try to figure out how it works, before we pass our appropriations bills for this year.)

Arriving at the site of my first speaking engagement, I listened to the person who preceded me. He was in a bit of a frenzy, but the crowd seemed calm enough. Some had placards decrying excessive taxation. So far so good. I didn't see anyone who appeared to be armed or dangerous, though some women had made earrings out of tea-bags. I prepared to take my turn at the stage.

I had geared my comments to be mostly about the importance of prudent government spending, and thanks to the internet, I had found some quotes by various sages on the subject of taxes. Some were serious, some were humorous. Sharing them with the crowd, I noticed that the crowd laughed at the funny ones. So far so good.

After the rally, I stuck around to visit with the folks who were in attendance. Most of them were worried about the price of car tags going up. No one was belligerent.

I left the first rally and went on to the next town to speak at the second event on my schedule. It was pretty much the same scenario.

For many years I worked as a volunteer in grassroots politics. The worst thing I encountered was apathy. I'm happy to say that there was none of that today. If getting together to talk with citizens about making government better makes us right-wing radicals, count me in.